Sindidi

Posted on October 21, 2014 by sulaymanibnqiddees

Sindidi, one of the most-recited poems of Shaykh Ahmadu Bamba, is also considered a powerful prayer for protection, and as you can hear below, also makes for a beautiful recitation:

Translation:

In the name of God the Beneficent, the Merciful

1. Ya Allah! I implore thee by the blessings of Mustapha Ya Allah! And by the blessings of thy beloved friend Abraham Ya Allah!

2. And by the blessings of thy interlocutor Moses, and Salih, Al Khidr, and by the blessings of Shu’aib, and by the blessings of Ishmael Ya Allah!

3. And by the blessings of Solomon, Noah, Jonah, Job, and by the blessings of Zakariah, John, and Hud O Allah!

4. By the blessings of Aaron, Joshua, Elias, Adam, David, by the blessings of Dhul-kifl, Jesus, and Lot. Ya Allah!

5. By the blessings of Joseph, Isaac, and others among thy apostles and messengers Ya Allah!

6. And by the blessings of the unity of the Angels, and those among them encompassed with the purest, Divine Essence such as Gabriel and Michael Ya Allah!

7. By the blessings of Israfil who is entrusted with Blowing the Trumpet, and Azrael who shall duly seize the soul of every creature Ya Allah!

8. By the blessings of the companions of the Prophet and the friends of Allah, as well as those who actively practice their knowledge among the people of religious Authority Ya Allah!

9. By the blessings of Abu Bakr the truthful, Omar who distinguished truth from falsehood, Uthman the possessor of two lights, and Ali, the father of the two grandsons of the Prophet Ya Allah!

10. By the blessings of Imam Malik, the highly distinguished, Imam As Shafi, Imam Abu Hanafi, and the praiseworthy, Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal Ya Allah!

11. By the blessings of the Exalted Pen, the Preserved Tablet, thy Magnificent Throne and Exalted Footstool Ya Allah!!

12. By the blessings of the Quran, the Torah, The Psalms of David, and the Gospel of the Spirit of God, Ya Allah!

13. Transmit my salutations of peace and blessings upon him ( the Prophet), his family, companions, and wives Ya Allah!

14. O Lord! Drape over us the cover of well-being and bestow upon us our goals in this world and in the Hereafter Ya Allah!

15. Open for us all gates of graces that thou hath opened to those endowed with a complete state of piety Ya Allah!

16. Impel us to trod on the distinct path of righteousness, Preserve us from the pitfalls and from the Evils of the Jinn and Satan Ya Allah!

17. Grant us all our ambitions, allow us to attain our objectives, bestow upon us any grace we choose Ya Allah.

18. Soften for us the hearts of any possessor of reluctance and oppression, smoothen all the hardships Ya Allah!

19. Prolong our lives, strengthen our bodies, bestow guidance upon us, and grant us felicity (tawfiq) O Allah!

20. Destroy any enemy whose intention is to cause harm before he gains access to us Ya Allah! Ya Allah!

21. Protect us from all kinds of ruin, deliver us from the calamities of the world, all the time Ya Allah!

22. Protect us from epidemics, illness, agony, afflictions, vehement earthquakes as well as poverty Ya Allah!

23. Protect us from blemishes, insufficiency, from the fury of a tyrant, vileness, debility, hunger and thirst Ya Allah!

24. Protect us from all forms of trials, from disease from being burnt in fire, from being drowned in water, from lightning, thunder, theft and vain labor Ya Allah!

25. Protect us from excessive heat and cold, from plundering, from oppression, from hostility, from delusion, from grief, and from being paralyzed Ya Allah!

26. Protect us from anxiety, from transgression, from stumbling in error, from transmutation, and from defamation Ya Allah!

27. Protect us from lack of sustenance, from the influences of evil spirits, and from fading away due to illness Ya Allah!

28. Protect us from the evils of this world and of the next as well as their dreadful humiliations Ya Allah!Ya Allah!

29. O thou who hath power over all things, overwhelming the entire creation, being firmly established in Thine Magnificent Throne of Authority Ya Allah!

30. Verily, I beg thee for a fearing heart and a humble one, an extensive knowledge of tremendous use Ya Allah!

31. I beg thee for an accepted repentance, a lofty station, a virtuous and pious wife O God!

32. Be our fortress against the evils of the possessor of envy, against the evils of the tongue, as well as against the evils of the eye Ya Allah!

33. Be our refuge against the evils of sorcery, the evils of the creatures, men or jinns, and against the evils of venomous creatures Ya Allah!

34. O mine confident! I take Thee in this world and in the hereafter as my inaccessible fortress: the one in whom I seek shelter Ya Allah!

35. Abandon me not with my own soul (nafs), lest I go astray: be responsive whenever I beseech thee Ya Allah!

36. Cause my tongue and my heart to remember Thee and to hold a perfect belief in Thee at the crucial moment of death Ya Allah!

37. Establish permanently in mine heart the knowledge of Certainty (Yaqin); Let no fear abide therein, until I passionately love Thy Ultimate encounter Ya Allah!

38. Cause my death to be the announcement of good news, and to be a complete rest, and to be a protection against all pain, distress and fear Ya Allah!

39. Shield my body against tortures in the grave, whenever the soul is separated from me. Let it not undergo any deterioration nor hardship. Ya Allah!

40. Be my Assistant and Companion at the time my body is buried in the grave, where I may become lonely Ya Allah!

41. Join me not with that which causes terror in the grave, preserve me from anything that I fear Ya Allah!

42. Protect me, my mother and all those who bow to Thy will, Amen Ya Allah!

43. Forgive us and my mother, cover our defects, bestow benevolence upon us and her; protect us from terror Ya Allah!

44. Grant us complete forgiveness, have mercy on her. She has no one but Thee; and verily Thou art the kind One Ya Allah!

45. Be with us in the barzakh and in the grave, preserve us from any distress or any kind of fear Ya Allah!

46. Do not afflict my mother with that which she can not bear and do not disappoint the hope she has in Thee Ya Allah!

47. Quench our thirst and hers in the water of Kauthar, which Thou has reserved for the one whom Thou hath chosen over the entire creation Ya Allah!

48. That was he who provided guidance to he who roamed in error, destroyed he who rejected faith and yielded aid to he who had innermost fear in Thee Ya Allah!

49. Such a one was Muhammad, the Fine Flower of the elect, who will lead us into the everlasting Paradise on the Day of Resurrection Ya Allah!

50. Upon him be Eternal peace and blessings, forever and ever, and upon any who follows him till Doomsday Ya Allah!

Glory to Thy Lord! The Lord of Might and Power; He transcends what they ascribe to Him. And peace be upon the messengers! And praise be to Allah; the Lord, Cherisher and Sustainer of all the worlds

Translation modified from this site

al-Munfarijah, The Poem of Relief

Posted on July 25, 2014 by sulaymanibnqiddees

This remarkable poem/prayer was written in the 11th C by a famous Maghribi scholar/saint Ibn Nahwi, famous for his ability to bless and curse. The recitation of this poem is believed to relieve the difficulties and grant the wishes of the reciter and listener. If you wish to hear some powerfully rhythmic poetry, play some of the youtube clips below.

Translation:

Get worse, o trouble, so that you may be lifted

For your night has announced the breaking of the dawn

And even the darkness of the night has its gleams

until the father of these gleams overwhelms them

And the dark clouds of bounty carry rain

that comes when its time is nigh

The blessings of our Lord are many

so your soul and heart’s blood can roam free

And they (the blessings) have a life-giving scent

so go to the source of that scent

And sometimes there is an overflowing of life

oceans of waves of surging depths

All creation is in his hands, some are expanded (have it easy)

while others are constricted (have it hard)

Their descents and ascents are either down a level or up a step

and their lives and their ends are not happening at random

Their wisdoms have been woven together by the hands of fate

and they’ve been knitted into the weaver

And so if things seem narrow and bent

know that it was meant to be like this

Their marvels have been witnessed as proofs

establishing the matter upon these proofs

Contentment with God’s decree is the knot

so make it your focus and turn your mount towards it

So if the doors of guidance are opened

then hurry into their treasuries and stay there

If you seek their end prematurely

then beware, for that is deviation

So that you can be among the foremost,

when you arrive at those (heavenly) expanses

remain there, for there is found life and bliss everlasting

for the one who has arrived and he who is arriving

So hasten to renew your efforts when they become stale

For if you consistently renew them, they will become constant

So disobeying God and its ugliness become beautiful to one who character is bent

But obeying God and its light are the gleams of a radiant morning

Whoever proposes to the maidens of eternity with these [lights]

will surely win over these lovely ones

So be pleased with them through your mindfulness of God

for tomorrow you will be satisfied and saved

Recite the Qur’an with a heart full of sadness and a voice of sweet melancholy

And the night prayer, and its hours, go through them with understanding and return

And reflect upon it and its meanings; you will arrive at paradise and be relieved

And drink from Tasnīm as it gushes forth, unmixed or mixed

The intellect is praised for giving it guidance and

passion, preventing it from being ridiculed

The book of God, its gardens are for the embodied intellects of creation

The best of creation find rest therein, all other than them get ravenous hunger from it

So if you are brave and do not panic in the haze of war

and if you are made to see the lights of guidance,

then let them shine above the heights

and when the soul longs, it finds painfully by longing for relief

Goodness unfolds laughing and the completion of laughter is success

Flaws and secrets are gathered with their trusts under the saddle

Kindness endures for its owner while separation leads to chaos

The Blessings of God upon the Guided One (Mahdi), who guides people to the Way

And on Abu Bakr, always together with him in life and in speech

And on Abu Hafs (‘Umar), his nobility in the story of the staff

And on Abu ‘Umar (‘Uthman) He of the two lights, who blushed and made blush with delight

and on Abu Hasan (‘Ali) like a heavy raincloud of knowledge, fulfilling his promise

and on the two Hasans (Hasan and Husayn) and their mother (Fatimah), and the entire family (of the Prophet), success comes from them

and their Companions and close ones, following in their footsteps is the way

and on their followers, the scholars, the right way is in knowledge of their religion

I conclude my work with them, so that I may be delivered (with them) tomorrow in the gathering

O Lord by them, and by their families, hasten victory and relief

Original:

اشتدي ازمه تنفرجي قد آذن ليلك بالبلج
وظلام الليل له سرج حتى يغشاه أبو السرج
و سحاب الخير له مطر فإذا جاء الإبان تجي
وفوائد مولانا جمل لسروح الانفس و المهج
ولها أرج محي أبدا فاقصد محيا داك الارج
فلربما فاض المحيا بحور الموج من اللجج
والخلق جميعا في يد فذوو سعة وذوو حرج
ونزولهم و طلوعهم فإلي درك وعلى درج
ومعايشهم و عواقبهم ليست في المشي على عوج
حكم نسجت بيدي حكمت ثم إنتسجت بالمنتسج
فإذا اقتصدت ثم انعرجت فبمقتصد وبمنعرج
شهدت بعجائبها حجج قامت بالأمر على الحجج
****
ورضا بقضاء الله حجا فعلى مركوزته فعج
وإذا انفتحت أبواب هدى فاعجل بخزائنها ولج
فإذا حاولت نهايتها فاحذر إذ ذاك من العرج
لتكون منه السباق إذا ما جئت إلى تلك الفرج
فهناك العيش وبهجته فلمبتهج ولمنتهج
فهج الأعمال إذا ركدت فإذا ما هجت إذن تهج
ومعاصي الله سماجتها تزدان لذي الخلق السمج
ولطاعته و صباحتها أنوار صباح منبلج
من يخطب حور الخلد بها يظفر بالحور والغنج
فكن المرضي لها بتقى ترضاه غدا وتكون نجي
****
واتلوا القرآن بقلب ذو حزن وبصوت فيه شجي
وصلاة الليل مسافاتها فاذهب بها بالفهم وجي
وتأملها ومعانيها تات الفردوس و تفترج
واشرب تسنيم مفجرها لا ممتزجا وبمتزج
مدح العقل لأتيه هدى وهوى متون عنه هجي
وكتاب الله رياضته لعقول الخلق بمندرج
وخيار الخلق هداتهم وسواهم منه همج الهمج
فإذا كنت المقدام فلا تجزع في الحرب من الرهج
وإذا أبصرت منار هدى فاظهر فردا فوق الثبج
وإذا اشتاقت نفس وجدت ألما بالشوق المعتلج
وثنايا الحسنى ضاحكة وتمام الضحك على الفلج
وعياب الأسرار إجتمعت بأمانتها تحت السرج
والرفق يدوم لصاحبه والخرق يصير إلي الهرج
***
صلوات الله على المهدي الهادي الناس إلي النهج
وأبي بكر في سيرته ولسان مقالته اللهج
وأبي حفص وكرامته في قصه سارية الخلج
وأبي عمر ذي ا لنورين المستحي المستحي البهج
وأبي حسن في العلم إذا وافى بسحائبه الخلج
وعلى السبطين وأمهما وجميع الآل بهم فلج
وعلى الحسنين وأمهما وجميع الآل بهم فلج
وصحابته و قرابته و قفاة الأثر على النهج
وعلى أتباعهم العلماء بعوارف دينهم البهج
وأختم عملي بخواتمهم لأكون غدا في الحشر نجي
يارب بهم وبآلهم عجل بالنصر وبالفرج

mounfarija1

Near and Far

Posted on July 13, 2014 by sulaymanibnqiddees

Ibn al-Fāriḍ

لكَ قُرْبٌ مِنّي ببُعدِكَ عنّي وحنوٌّ وجدتهُ في جفاكا

…

فَتراءيتَ في سِواكَ لِعَينٍ بكَ قَرّتْ، وما رأيتُ سِواكا
وكذاكَ الخَليلُ قَلّبَ قَبْلي طرفهُ حينَ راقبَ الأفلاكا

You have nearness with me in your distance from me

…

In other than thee, You showed Yourself to my eyes

Which, delighting in you, saw nothing but you

Even so, before me did the Friend (Khalil) so turn his gaze

When he beheld the spheres [of planet, moon, and sun]

The verses above and below make reference to the following verses of the Qur’an:

Thus did we show unto Abraham the dominion of the Heavens and the Earth, that he might be of those possessing certainty. When the night grew dark upon him, he beheld a planet and said: ‘this is my Lord’. Then, when it had set, he said: ‘I love not things which set.’

And when he saw the moon rising, he said: ‘This is my Lord.’ Then when it set, he said: ‘Unless my Lord lead me, I must needs become one of the folk who have gone astray.’ And when he saw the sun rising, he said: ‘This is my Lord. This is the greatest.’ Then when it set, he said; ‘O my people, verily I am innocent of all that ye place beside God. Verily I have turned my face towards Him who created the Heavens and the Earth.” (6:75-9)

Shaykh al-‘Alawi’s commentary on these verses reads:

“He did not say ‘This is my Lord’ by way of making comparisons, but he spake thus in utter affirmation of God’s Transcendence, when there was revealed to him the Truth of all Truths that is indicated in the noble verse: Whereso’er ye turn, there is the face of God. He informed his people of this Truth that they might show piety unto God in respect of each thing. All this was on account of what was revealed unto him of the dominion of the Heavens and the earth, so that he found the Truth of the Creator existent in every created thing.”

qtd, in A Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century by Martin Lings

Hafez

On Love’s path, there is neither near nor far

I see you clearly, and I send you a prayer

‫در راه عشق مرحله قرب و بعد نیست‬

می‌ بینمت عیان و دعا می‌فرستمت

Though we are far from you, we drink to your recollection

There is no distance in the spiritual journey

گر چه دوریم به یاد تو قدح می‌گیریم

بعد منزل نبود در سفر روحانی

I am the comrade of the steed of imagination and patience’s companion

The partner of the fire of exile, and the intimate of separation

(lit. I have the same Qur’an of separation or I have the same joining with separation-the wordplay is impossible to translate)

رفیق خیل خیالیم و هم ركيب شکیب

قرین آتش هجران و هم قران فراق

The radiance of his face is not revealed to mine eyes alone

The sun and moon are also taking this mirror around

جلوه گاه رخ او دیده من تنها نیست

ماه و خورشید همین آینه می‌گردانند

I have not seen any equal to my friend even though I held

the mirrors of sun and moon before his face

نظیر دوست ندیدم اگر چه از مه و مهر

نهادم آینه‌ها در مقابل رخ دوست

Niffari

He stayed me in Nearness, and said to me:

1. Nothing is nearer to Me than any other thing, and nothing is farther from Me than any other thing, except inasfar as I establish it in nearness and farness.

2. Farness is made known by nearness, and nearness is made known by spiritual experience: I am He whom nearness does not seek, and Whom spiritual experience does not attain.

3. The least of the sciences of my nearness is, that thou shouldst see the effects of my regard in everything, and that it should prevail in thee over thy gnosis of it.

4. The nearness which thou knowest is, compared with the nearness I know, like thy gnosis compared with my gnosis.

5. My farness thou knowest not, and my nearness thou knowest not, nor my qualification knowest thou as I know it.

6. I am the Near, but not as one thing is near to another: and I am the Far, but not as one thing is far from another.

7. Thy nearness is not thy farness, and thy farness is not thy nearness: I am the Near and the Far, with a nearness which is farness, and a farness which is nearness.

8. The nearness which thou knowest is distance, and the farness which thou knowest is distance: I am the Near and the Far without distance.

9. I am nearer to the tongue than its speech when it speaks. Whoso contemplates Me does not recollect, and whoso recollects Me does not contemplate.

10. As for the recollecting contemplative, if what he contemplates is not a reality, he is veiled by what he recollects.

11. Not every recollector is a contemplative: but every contemplative is a recollector.

12. I revealed Myself unto thee, and thou knewest Me not: that is farness. Thy heart saw Me, and saw Me not: that is farness.

13. Thou findest Me and findest Me not: that is farness. Thou describest Me, and dost not apprehend Me by My description: that is farness. Thou hearest my address as though it were from thy heart, whereas it is from Me: that is farness. Thou seest thyself, and I am nearer to thee than thy vision of thyself: that is farness.

From The Book of Spiritual Stayings of Al Niffari. Edited for the first time, with translation, commentary, and indices, by Arthur John Arberry, Luzac & Co, London, 1935.

Shaykh Aḥmad al-‘Alāwi

“The outwardly Manifest is veiled by naught but the strength of the manifestations, so be present with Him, nor be veiled from Him by that which hath no being apart from Him.”

–Mināh al-Qudussiyyah, cited in A Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century by Martin Lings

Ibn ‘Arabī

“So glory be to Him who veils Himself in His manifestation and becomes manifest in His veil!

No eye witnesses anything other than He, and no veils are lifted from Him.”

Futūḥāt III 546.24, cited in The Self Disclosure of God by William Chittick

From the Ḥikam of Ibn ‘Atā ‘Llah

164
The Truth is only veiled from you
due to its extremity of closeness to you

إمنا حجب احلق عنك – شده قربه منك .

165
It is only veiled due to the intensity of its manifestation

and It is only hidden from sight

due to the splendour of Its Light

إمنااحتجب لشدة ظهوره ، وخفى عن األبصار لعظم نوره .

15
That which shows you the existence of His Omnipotence
Is that He veiled you from Himself
By what has no existence alongside of Him.

ما يدلك على وجود قهره – سبحانه – أن حجبك عنه مبا ليس مبوجود معه .

16
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is the One who manifests everything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him
since He is the one who is manifest through everything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is the One who is manifest in everything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is the Manifest to everything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He was the Manifest before the existence of anything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is more manifest than anything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is the One alongside of whom there is nothing?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is nearer to you than anything else?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since, were it not for Him,
the existence of everything would not have been manifest?
It is a marvel how Being has manifested in nonbeing,
and how the contingent has been established
alongside of Him who possesses the attribute of Eternity!

كيف يتصور أن حيجبه شيء ، وهو الذي أظهر كل شيء ؟

كيف يتصور أن حيجبه شيء ، وهو الذي ظهر بكل ؟ كيف يتصور أن حيجبه شيء ، وهو الذي ظهر يف كل شيء ؟

كيف يتصور أن حيجبه شيء ، وهوالذي ظهر لكل شيء ؟

كيف يتصور أن حيجبه شيء ، وهو الظاهر قبل وجود كل شيء ؟

كيف يتصور أن حيجبه شيء ، وهو أظهر من كل شيء ؟

كيف يتصور أن حيجبه شيء ، وهو الواحد الذي ليس معه شيء ؟

كيف يصور أن حيجبه شيء ، وهو أقرب إليك من كل شيء ؟

كيف يتصور أن حيجبه شيء ، ولواله ما كان وجود كل شيء ؟

يا عجبا ! كيف يظهر الوجود يف العدم !؟

أم كيف يثبت احلادث مع من له وصف القدم !؟

218
How can the Truth veil Himself with something
when He is apparent in that by which he is veiled,
and is present and found [in it]?

كيف حيتجب احلق بشيء ، والذي حيتجب به – هو فيه ظاهر ، وموجود حاضر !؟

223
Pleasure, even if manifest in many forms, is only through
viewing His closeness. Pain even if manifest in many forms
is only through being veiled from Him. the cause for
pain is the presence of the veil. The perfecting of pleasure is
by viewing His Noble Countenance.

النعيم وإن تنوعت مظاهره – إمنا هو لشهوده واقترابه ، والعذاب وإن تنوعت مظاهره – إمنا هو لوجود حجابه ، فسبب العذاب – وجود احلجاب ، وامتام النعيم – بالنظر إىل وجهه الكرمي .

As Hafez says,

I asked the doctor about the state of the Friend, he said

There is pain in distance from him, and health in nearness to him

پرسیدم از طبیبی احوال دوست گفتا

فی بعدها عذاب فی قربها السلامه

244

If it were not for the battleﬁelds of the souls,
there would be no travel for the travelers on the Path
since there is no distance between you and Him
that your journey would shorten
and there is no separation between you and Him
that your reaching Him would eliminate.

لو ال ميادين النفوس – ما حتقق سري السائرين ، إذا المسافة بينك وبينه ؛ حىت تطويها رحلتك ، وال قطعة بينك وبينه ؛ حىت متحوه وصلتك .

The Religion of Love

Posted on May 30, 2014 by sulaymanibnqiddees

In addition to Ibn ‘Arabi’s famous poem (see this post), the “religion of love,” the root of all religion and worship beyond all distinctions and differentiations, plays an important role in other Sufi poetry, especially that of Rumi, Hafez, and Ibn al-Fariḍ:

Rumi

ملت عشق از همه دین‌ها جداست

عاشقان را ملت و مذهب خداست

The sect of Love is different from all other religions

For lovers, their sect and religion is simply God

طریق عشق ز هفتاد و دو برون باشد

چو عشق و مذهب تو خدعه و ریاست بخسب

The way of love is outside of the seventy-two sects

Go to sleep, for your love and religion are deceit and conceit

خرد نداند و حیران شود ز مذهب عشق

اگر چه واقف باشد ز جمله مذهب‌ها

Wisdom is bewildered by the religion of love

Although it knows all other religions

بسگل ز جز این عشق اگر در یتیمی

زیرا که جز این عشق تو را خویش و پدر نیست

در مذهب عشاق به بیماری مرگست

هر جان که به هر روز از این رنج بتر نیست

Leave all that is other than this love, if you are an orphaned pearl

For apart from this love, you have neither family nor father

In the religion of lovers, whosoever’s suffering does not make him better

He is possessed of the sickness of death

تا شب میگو که روز ما را شب نیست

در مذهب عشق و عشق را مذهب نیست

عشق آن بحریست کش کران ولب نیست

بس غرقه شوند و ناله و یارب نیست

Until night, say that there is no night for our day

In religion, there is no Love, and Love has no religion

Love is that ocean without boundary or shore

Where lovers drown without sigh or cry

در راه طلب عاقل و دیوانه یکیست

در شیوهٔ عشق خویش و بیگانه یکیست

آن را که شراب وصل جانان دادند

در مذهب او کعبه و بتخانه یکیست

In the way of seeking, the sane and the mad are one

On the path of love, friend and stranger are one

That one who has tasted the wine of union with the supreme soul

In his religion, the Ka’aba and idol-temple are one

عاشق تو یقین دان که مسلمان نبود

در مذهب عشق کفر و ایمان نبود

در عشق تن و عقل و دل و جان نبود

هرکس که چنین نگشت او آن نبود

In loving you there are certainly no Muslims

In the religion of Love, there is no infidelity or disbelief

In Love, there is neither body nor reason nor heart nor soul

Everyone who does this is not separate from that

در عشق موافقت بود چون جانی

در مذهب هر ظریف معنی دانی

از سی و دو دندان چو یکی گشت دراز

بی‌دندان شد از چنان دندانی

In love there is harmony because you become pure spirit

you will know the essence of the religion of each subtle one

If one of the 32 teeth grows large

from that tooth, you will become toothless

rabbiwadudflower

با دو عالم عشق را بیگانگی

اندرو هفتاد و دو دیوانگی

سخت پنهانست و پیدا حیرتش

جان سلطانان جان در حسرتش

غیر هفتاد و دو ملت کیش او

تخت شاهان تخته‌بندی پیش او

Love is a stranger to the two worlds: in it are seventy-two madnesses.

It is hidden; only its bewilderment is manifest:

The soul of the spiritual sultan longs for it.

Love’s religion is other than the seventy-two sects:

Beside it the throne of kings is just a floorboard.

persiantowersky

unverified “Rumi”

I was unable to find Persian poems attributed to Rumi that correspond to these English verses that have been attributed to him. If these are indeed translations and you know the original from which they are derived please let me know in the comments section. In any event, I am sure Malwana wouldn’t object to these verses, even if they never came from his pen.

“I belong to no religion.

My religion is Love.

Every heart is My temple”

Whatever you think of War, I am far, far from it

Whatever you think of Love, I am that, only that, all that

Like a compass I stand firm with one leg on my faith

And, with the other leg, roam all over the seventy-two nations

The Seventy-Two nations learn their secrets from us:

We are the reed-flute whose song unites all nations and faiths

In all mosques, temples, and churches, I find one shrine alone

I profess the religion of love,

Love is my religion and my faith.

My mother is love, My father is love

My prophet is love My God is love

I am a child of love

I have come only to speak of love

Ibn al-Fāriḍ

The sights do not swerve in any faith

nor do the thoughts stray in any sect.

وما زاغت الأبصار من كل ملة
وما زاغت الأفكار في كل نحلة

Every part of me kissed her veil

With every mouth whose touch held every kiss

If she dissolved my body, she would see in every atom

each and every heart filled with each and every love

ويلثم مني كلّ جزء لثامها

بكلّ فم فى لثمه كلّ قبلة

فلو بسطت جسمي رأت كلّ جوهر

به كلّ قلب فيه كلّ محبة

As for my way in love, I have no way

If I turn from it (Love) for a day, then I have left my religion

And if I think of other than you, even momentarily

I would consider it as my apostasy

عن مذهبي في الحب ما لي مذهب

وإن ملت عنه يوما فارقت ملتي

وإن خطرت لي في سواك ارادة

سهوا على خاطري قضيت بردتي

And part of my way is love of lands for the sake of their people

and people, in what they love, have many ways

-Abu Firas Hamadani

و منْ مذهبي حبُّ الديارِ لأهلها وَللنّاسِ فِيمَا يَعْشَقُونَ مَذَاهِبُ

لابو فراس الحمداني-

He saw the lightning in the East and longed for the East,
but if it had flashed in the West he would have longed for the West.
My desire is for the lightning and its gleam, not for places and earth.

–Ibn ‘Arabi

رأى البرْقَ شرقيّاً، فحنّ إلى الشرْقِ، ولو لاحَ غربيَّاً لحنَّ إلى الغربِ
فإنّ غَرامي بالبُرَيْقِ ولمحِهِ وليسَ غرَامي بالأماكِنِ والتُّرْبِ

لابن عربي

Ḥallāj

تَفَكَّرتُ في الأَديانِ جِدّ مُحَقّق فَأَلفَيتُها أَصلاً لَهُ شَعبٌ جَمّا

فَلا تَطلُبَن لِلمَرءِ ديناً فَإِنَّهُ يَصُدُّ عَنِ الأَصلِ الوَثيقِ وَإِنَّما

يُطالِبُهُ أَصلٌ يُعَبِّرُ عِندَهُ جَميعَ المَعالي وَالمَعاني فَيَفهَما

Earnest for truth, I thought on the religions:

They are, I found, one root with many a branch.

Therefore impose on no man a religion,

Lest it should bar him from the firm-set root.

Let the root claim him, a root wherein all heights

And meanings are made clear, for him to grasp.

Diwan al-Hallaj, trans. Martin Lings, Sufi Poems, p. 34.

Hafez

همه كس طالب يارند چه هشيار و چه مست

همه جا خانه عشق است چه مسجد چه كنشت

Everyone, sober or drunk, seeks the beloved.

Every place, be it mosque or synagogue, is the house of love

در عشق خانقاه و خرابات فرق نيست

هر جا كه هست پرتو روى حبيب هست

In love, there is no difference between the monastery and the tavern

the rays of the beloved’s face shine every where that is

سراسر بخشش جانان طریق لطف و احسان بود

اگر تسبیح می‌فرمود اگر زنار می‌آورد

Whatever the beloved bestowed was all through grace and kindness

Whether praying with a tasbih or putting on a Christian belt

waws

خمِ زلفِ تو دامِ کفر و دین است

ز کارستان او یک شمه این‌است

The curve of your tress is the snare of belief and unbelief.

This is only a small part of its gallery of works

بجز ابروی تو محراب دل حافظ نیست

طاعت غیر تو در مذهب ما نتوان كرد

Except for your eyebrow, Hafez’s heart has no mihrab

No one but you can be worshipped in our religion

در صومعه زاهد و در خلوت صوفی

جز گوشه ابروی تو محراب دعا نیست

In the ascetic’s monastery and the Sufi’s khalwah (retreat)

There is no mihrab (prayer niche) save the curve of your brow

گر پیر مغان مرشد من شد چه تفاوت

در هیچ سری نیست که سری ز خدا نیست

If the Magian Pir became my master, what difference would it make?

There is no head that is without a divine secret

روشن از پرتو رويست نظرى نيست كه نيست

منت خاك درت بر بصرى نيست كه نيست

There is no vision unillumined with the light of your face

There is no eye unindebted to the dust of your door

ناظر روی تو صاحب نظرانند آری
سر گیسوی تو در هیچ سری نیست که نیست

Those who see your face are the seers of truth

There is no head that does not have the secret of your tress

در طريقت هرخه پيش سالك آيد خير اوست

بر صراط مشتقيم ايدل كسى گمراه نيست

In the Way, whatever befalls the traveler is for his own good

No one loses his way on a straight path, my dear

هر که خواهد گو بیا و هر چه خواهد گو بگو
کبر و ناز و حاجب و دربان بدین درگاه نیست

Whoever wants to enter, let him do so and say what he may

In this court, there is neither conceit nor vanity, nor spokesman nor guard

Allaheye

مردم دیده ما جز به رخت ناظر نیست
دل سرگشته ما غیر تو را ذاکر نیست

The pupil of my eye sees naught but your face

My bewildered heart recalls none but you

birgozleriahu_w

فکر خود و رای خود در عالم رندی نیست

کفر است در این مذهب خودبینی و خودرایی

In the gangster’s world there is no thought or opinion of self

In this religion, seeing or thinking of yourself is infidelity

روی تو کس ندید و هزارت رقیب هست
در غنچه‌ای هنوز و صدت عندلیب هست

No one has seen your face, and yet a thousand rivals hound you

You are still a bud, and yet a hundred deer surround you

یا رب به که شاید گفت این نکته که در عالم

رخساره به کس ننمود آن شاهد هرجایی

O Lord, to whom should I explain this fine point

That beauty who is everywhere, showed her face to no one

معشوقه چون نقاب ز رخ بر نمى كشد

هر كسى حكايتى به تصوّر چرا كنند

Since the beloved does not remove the veil from her face

Why does everyone make up a story from his imagination?

ترا خنانكه توئى هر نظر كجا بيند

به قدر بينش خود هر كسى كند ادراك

How can every eye see you as you are?

Each perceives only to the extent of his vision

ميدمد هر كسش افسونى و معلوم نشد

كه دل نازك او مايل افسانه كيست

Everyone tells her a tale, but no one knows

Whose tale her tender heart appreciates

هر كسى با شمع ر خسارت به وجهى عشق باخت

زان ميان پروانه را در اضطراب اندختى

Each person made love to the candle of your face in a different way

But it was only the moth that made you shake

Shabistari

مسلمان گر بدانستی که بت چیست

بدانستی که دین در بت‌پرستی است

If a muslim but knew what an idol is,

he would know that all religion is idolatry

حنیفی شو ز هر قید و مذاهب

درآ در دیر دین مانند راهب

تو را تا در نظر اغیار و غیر است

اگردر مسجدی آن عین دیر است

چو برخیزد ز پیشت کسوت غیر

شود بهر تو مسجد صورت دیر

Become primordial, from each restriction and every sect

and come to the monastery of the religion, like the monk

So long as others and otherness appear in your sight

Even if you are in a mosque, it is the same as monastery

When the veil of otherness is removed from you

The monastery’s form becomes a mosque for you

من و تو در میان مانند برزخ

چو برخیزد تو را این پرده از پیش

نماند نیز حکم مذهب و کیش

همه حکم شریعت از من توست

که این بربستهٔ جان و تن توست

من تو چون نماند در میانه

چه کعبه چه کنشت چه دیرخانه

I and You are the barzakh between them

When this veil is lifted up from before you

There remains not the bond of sects and creeds

All the rules of Shari’ah are from your ego

since it is bound to your soul and body

When I and You remain not in the midst

What is Ka’aba, what is synagogue, what is monastery?

trans. Whinfield. The Mystic Rose-Garden of Sa’ad ud-din Mahmud Shabistari. 1880

Like a Candle…

Posted on March 16, 2014 by sulaymanibnqiddees

from Figs and Thistles: First Fig

BY EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY

My candle burns at both ends;

It will not last the night;

But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—

It gives a lovely light!

Source: Poetry (June 1918).

Hafez

Translation:

In faithfulness to your love, I am famous like the candle

In the street of the rends, I burn all night like the candle

Day and night, sleep slips away, from my grief-stricken eyes

Sick from separation, my red eyes weep like the candle

The mountain of my patience melted like wax in your grief’s hand

Since I began to burn and melt in your love like the candle

My string of patience’s cut by the scissors of your hair

But still, in your love’s fire, I am smiling like the candle

If the horse of my rosy tear had not been so swift

How could my secret shine out everywhere just like the candle?

As ever, my poor desperate heart is occupied with you

Shedding tears of water and of flame just like the candle

Without your world-adorning beauty, my day is like the night

Within your love’s perfection, I am fading like the candle

Honor me with union for one night, o wild one

and with your visit, brighten up my house like the candle

Like the morning, your coming is just a breath away

Show your face, so I can give my soul up like the candle

In exile’s night, send me a promise of union, or else

With this fire, I’ll burn down the whole world like the candle

It’s amazing how your love lit Hafez all on fire

How can I quench my heart’s fire with tears, like the candle?

Original:

دروفایعشقتومشهورخوبانمچوشمـع
شبنشینکویسربازانورندانمچوشمع
روزوشبخوابمنمی‌آیدبهچشمغمپرست
بـسکهدربیماریهجرتوگریانمچوشمع

کوهصبرمنرمشدچونمومدردستغمـت
تادرآبوآتشعشقتگدازانمچوشـمـع
رشتـهصـبرمبهمقراضغمتببریدهشد
همـچـناندرآتشمهرتوسوزانمچوشمع
گرکـمیتاشـکگلگونمنـبودیگرمرو
کیشدیروشنبهگیتیرازپنهانمچوشمع
درمیانآبوآتشهمچنانسرگرمتوسـت
ایندلزارنزاراشـکبارانـمچوشـمـع
بیجمالعالمآرایتوروزمچونشباست
باکمالعشقتودرعیننقصانمچوشمـع
سرفرازمکنشبیازوصـلخوداینازنین
تامـنورگرددازدیدارتایوانمچوشـمـع
همـچوصبحمیکنفسباقیستبادیدارتو
چـهرهبنمادلبراتاجانبرافشانمچوشمع
درشـبهجرانمراپروانهوصلیفرسـت
ورنهازدردتجهانیرابسوزانمچوشمـع
آتـشمـهرتوراحافظعجبدرسرگرفت

Ibn al-Fāriḍ

If not for my sighs, these tears would drown me

If not for these tears, my sighs would scorch me

ولولا زفيري ٔاغرقتني ٔادمعي

ولولا دموعي ٔاحرقتني زفرتي

John Donne

Hero and Leander

Both robb’d of air, we both lie in one ground ;
Both whom one fire had burnt, one water drown’d

A Burnt Ship

Out of a fired ship, which by no way

But drowning could be rescued from the flame,

Some men leap’d forth, and ever as they came

Near the foes’ ships, did by their shot decay;

So all were lost, which in the ship were found,

They in the sea being burnt, they in the burnt ship drown’d.

Rumi

A candle is made to become entirely flame.

In that annihilating moment

it has no shadow.

It is nothing but a tongue of light

describing a refuge.

Look at this

just-finishing candle stub

as someone who is finally safe

from virtue and vice,

the pride and the shame

we claim from those.

(Coleman Barks’ “translation”)

There is a candle in the heart of man, waiting to be kindled.

In separation from the Friend, there is a cut waiting to be stitched.

O, you who are ignorant of endurance and the burning fire of love–

Love comes of its own free will, it can’t be learned in any school.

THE SHIP SUNK IN LOVE

Should Love’s heart rejoice unless I burn?
For my heart is Love’s dwelling.
If You will burn Your house, burn it, Love!
Who will say, ‘It’s not allowed’?
Burn this house thoroughly!
The lover’s house improves with fire.
From now on I will make burning my aim,
From now on I will make burning my aim,
for I am like the candle: burning only makes me brighter.
Abandon sleep tonight; traverse for one night
the region of the sleepless.
Look upon these lovers who have become distraught
and like moths have died in union with the One Beloved.
Look upon this ship of God’s creatures
and see how it is sunk in Love.

Mathnawi VI, 617-623
The Rumi Collection, Edited by Kabir Helminski

O light, from seeing your beauty, my soul became candle-like

Turn my fortune so I can shed myself candle-like

The promise of the morning breeze, of joining Thee day and night

Burning, yellow, shaking, crying and humble, candle-like.

Thy flowing hair, like scissors sheer my soul at its height

In this fire of separation burn me no more, candle-like.

Pearls overflowing from the sea of my eye, fill my bosom in delight

My burning heart sent its flames blazing upward, candle-like.

Solar flares set in the celestial lantern, sooth the sight

Every morn dam my tears and shed no more, candle-like.

Thy face is spring-like, thy fire sorrows fight

How long burn in this solstice of separation, candle-like?

From the memory of thy light, every night flames take flight

If only my heart’s fire would burn my soul candle-like.

How long burn thyself Shams-e Tabrizi, thy love beaming bright?

We know of nothing other than this burning, candle-like.

(trans. by Shahriar Shahriari)

Original:

ای منور از جمالت دیده ی جانم چو شمع
از در بختم درآ تا جان بر افشانم چو شمع

از هوای خنده ی صبح وصالت روز و شب
زرد و لرزان و گدازان زار و گریانم چو شمع

زلف چون مقراض بر كش رشته جانم ببر
بیش از این در آتش هجران مسوزانم چو شمع

آستین و دامنم پر در شد از دریای عشق
تا علم زد آتش دل از گریبانم ، چو شمع

آتش خورشید را ، در مشعل سبز فلك
هر سحر از آبگیر دیده ، بنشانم چو شمع

ای رخت نوروز عالم زآتش ، جانسوز شمع
چند سوزی در شب یلدای هجرانم چو شمع

آفتاب از خاطرم ، شعله فروزد هر شبی
آتش دل گر بسوزد ، رشته ی جانم چو شمع

چند سوزی خویشتن را شمس تبریزی ز عشق
ماورای سوختن ، كاری نمیدانم چو شمع

Ana Moura

Translation:

My eyes are two candles
Casting a sad light on my face
Your eyes are two candles
Casting a sad light on my face

Marked by the pains
Of longing and grief

When I hear the ringing of the bells
And the afternoon is coming to an end

I pray, out of longing for you
An “Our Father” for me

But you do not know how to pray
Nor how to ache with longing

Why do you disturb me so
Why do I want you so much?

For my despair you are like
The clouds that fly high

Every day I wait for you
Every day you stand me up

Original:

Os meus olhos são dois círios
Dando luz triste ao meu rosto
Os teus olhos são dois círios
Dando luz triste ao meu rosto
Marcado pelos martírios
Da saudade e do desgosto.

Quando oiço bater trindades
E a tarde já vai no fim

Eu peço às tuas saudades
Um padre nosso por mim.Mas não sabes fazer preces
Não tens saudades nem pranto

Por que é que tu me aborreces
Por que é que eu te quero tanto?

És para meu desespero
Como as nuvens que andam altas

Todos os dias te espero
Todos os dias me faltas.

From http://lyricstranslate.com/

Maranâus

I am not happiness, but only

The tragic substance that produces it.

In the great darkness, I am a burning flambeau

And I don’t see my own light.

Original:

Eu não sou a alegria, mas apenas

A trágica matéria que a produz.

Na grande escuridão, sou facho a arder

E não avisto minha própria luz!

(Pascoaes, 1920, p.216)

If you are sweet…

Posted on March 13, 2014 by sulaymanibnqiddees

Some of my favorite verses of poetry…

The captive prince Abu Firas Hamadani penned this plea to his cousin,

the famous Sayf al-Dawla. The latter, however, didn’t ransom the poet,

leaving him imprisoned for years to write some of the most beautiful poetry (collected as the Rūmiyāt) of a language of incredible poets. Maybe Sayf liked his cousin’s poetry more than he liked having him back…

In any event, as often happens with poetry of exceptional beauty that strikes a universal chord, these verses were adopted by the Sufis and attributed to various saintly figures, demonstrating the unity and universality of Love and longing in all its forms.

Translation:

As long as you’re sweet, let life be bitter

As long as you’re pleased, let all men be wroth

As long as there’s a bond between me and you

Let all between me and the worlds be in ruins

If truly you love me, then all things are easy

And let all that’s over the dust, be dust

Original:

فليتك تحلو والحياة مريرة وليتك ترضى والأنام غضاب

وليت الذي بيني وبينك عامر وبيني وبين العالمين خراب

إذا صح منك الود فالكل هين وكل الذي فوق التراب تراب

Increase me in love for you…(version 2)

Posted on February 18, 2014 by sulaymanibnqiddees

Translation:

Give me an excess of love for you and wonder

And have mercy on a heart scorched by a glance of your love

And if I ask to see you truly

Then allow me, graciously

And let not your answer be, “Thou shalt not see“

O heart, you have promised me to be patient in loving them

So be sure to bear it do not dismay

Passion is life, so die in it lovingly.

Your duty is to die and be absolved

My heart, say to those ahead of me, and those behind me,

Whoever has seen the sacrifice of my sorrow

“Follow my example and listen to me

And tell the tale of my love amongst mankind “

I was alone with the Beloved and between us there was

A secret more subtle than the dawn breeze when it blows

And he allowed my eyes a glance

So I became famous, having been unknown before

I was awestruck between his beauty and majesty

And tomorrow, the tongue of my state will explain

Turn your gaze to the beauties of his face,

Where all beauty has been gathered

If all beauty were perfected into one form

on seeing him, it would exclaim [in wonder],

“There is no god but God, and God is greater.”

Original:

زِدْني بفَرْطِ الحُبّ فيك تَحَيّرا وارْحَمْ حشىً بلَظَى هواكَ تسعّرا

وإذا سألُتكَ أن أراكَ حقيقةً فاسمَحْ ولا تجعلْ جوابي لن تَرى

يا قلبُ أنتَ وعدَتني في حُبّهمْ صَبراً فحاذرْ أن تَضِيقَ وتَضجرا

إنَّ الغرامَ هوَ الحياةُ فمُتْ بِهِ صَبّاً فحقّك أن تَموتَ وتُعذرا

قُل لِلّذِينَ تقدَّموا قَبلي ومَن بَعدي ومَن أضحى لأشجاني يَرَى

عني خذوا وبي اقْتدوا وليَ اسمعوا وتحدّثوا بصَبابتي بَينَ الوَرى

ولقد خَلَوْتُ مع الحَبيب وبَيْنَنَا سِرٌّ أرَقّ منَ النسيمِ إذا سرى

وأباحَ طَرْفِي نَظْرْةً أمّلْتُها فَغَدَوْتُ معروفاً وكُنْتُ مُنَكَّرا

فَدُهِشْتُ بينَ جمالِهِ وجَلالِهِ وغدا لسانُ الحال عنّي مُخْبِرا

فأَدِرْ لِحَاظَكَ في محاسنِ وجْهه تَلْقَى جميعَ الحُسْنِ فيه مُصَوَّرا

لو أنّ كُلّ الحُسْنِ يكمُلُ صُورةً ورآهُ كان مُهَلِّلاً ومُكَبِّر

Ḥallāj: Amazed by you and me…

Posted on February 17, 2014 by sulaymanibnqiddees

Ḥallāj:

Translation:

Amazed by you and by me, O you, the desire of the desirers

You drew me closer to thee, until I thought that you were me

I vanished in ecstasy until you erased me from myself by thee

O my blessing in life and my rest after death

I have no intimacy with anyone but thee

When I’m afraid or in safety

O you, the gardens of meanings that surround all my art

If I want anything, it’s you, my utmost desire

Original:

عجبتُ منك و منـّـي يا مُنـْيـَةَ المُتـَمَنّـِي

أدنيتـَني منك حتـّـى ظننتُ أنـّك أنـّــي

وغبتُ في الوجد حتـّى أفنيتنـَي بك عنـّــي

يا نعمتي في حياتــي و راحتي بعد دفنـــي

ما لي بغيرك أُنــسٌ من حيث خوفي وأمنـي

يا من رياض معانيـهْ قد حّويْـت كل فنـّـي

وإن تمنيْت شيْــــاً فأنت كل التمنـّـــي

Blow winds, blow

Posted on February 16, 2014 by sulaymanibnqiddees

Ḥallāj:

Translation (a bit of license taken):

O wind of the dawn, I say to the gazelle

it only makes me thirstier, the water of this well

I have a beloved whose love lives within me

And if she likes, she walks on my cheeks as well

Her spirit is my spirit and my spirit is her spirit

If she wills, I want, and if I want, she wills

Original:

يا نَسيمَ الريح قولي لِلرَشا لَم يَزِدني الوِردُ إلا عَطشا

لي حَبيبٌ حُبُّهُ وَسطَ الحَشا إِن يَشَأ يَمشي عَلى خَدّي مَشى

روحُهُ روحي وَروحي روحُهُ إِن يَشَأ شِئتُ وَإِن شِئتُ يَشا

Ibn ‘Arabi:

Lyrics from Ibn ‘Arabi’s tarjuman al-ashwaq:

ألا يا نسيم الريح بلغ مها نجد بأني على ما تعلمون من العهد

فان كان حقا ما تقول و عندها إليّ من الشوق المبرّح ما عندي

إليها ففي حرّ الظهيرة نلتقي بخيمتها سرا على أصدق الوعد

Translation:

O Morning breeze, go tell the gazelles of Najd

that, “I’m true to the vow you know of”

And if what she says is true and she

has for me the desperate longing I have

for her, then in the heat of noon we’ll meet

in her tent secretly, with the most sincere promise

Hafez:

Translation:

The dawn breeze of your curling tress keeps me drunk constantly

the magic of your charming eyes keeps me wasted always

After so many night vigils, O Lord, will I ever be able to light

the candle of my sight at the mihrab of your eyebrow?

The black of the tablet of my vision is precious to me

Because, for my soul, it is a copy of your black mole

If you want to adorn the whole world forever

Tell the morning wind to lift the veil from your face for a while

If you want to banish all traces of fidelity from the world

Let down your hair, and let thousands of souls fall from every strand

The morning wind and I are two poor, hopeless wanderers

I from the magic of your intoxicating eyes, and he from the scent of your hair

How great is Hafez’s focus! For nothing in this world or the next

appeared in his eye save for the dust of your street.

Original:

مدامم مست مي دارد نسيم جعد گيسويت

خرابم مي کند هر دم فريب چشم جادويت

پس از چندين شکيبايي شبي يا رب توان ديدن

که شمع ديده افروزيم در محراب ابرويت

سواد لوح بينش را عزيز از بهر آن دارم

که جان را نسخه اي باشد ز لوح خال هندويت

تو گر خواهي که جاويدان جهان يک سر بيارايي

صبا را گو که بردارد زماني برقع از رويت

و گر رسم فنا خواهي که از عالم براندازي

برافشان تا فروريزد هزاران جان ز هر مويت

من و باد صبا مسکين دو سرگردان بي حاصل

من از افسون چشمت مست و او از بوي گيسويت

زهي همت که حافظ راست از دنيي و از عقبي

نيايد هيچ در چشمش بجز خاک سر کويت

Translation:

O dawn breeze, where is the friend’s place of rest?

Where is the home of that lover-slaying beauty?

Original:

ای نسیم سحر آرامگه یار کجاست

منزل آن مه عاشق کش عیار کجاست

Translation:

All night I hope that the the dawn breeze will caress

this friend with a message from the friends

Original:

همه شب در این امیدم که نسیم صبحگاهی

به پیام آشنایان بنوازد آشنا را

Rumi:

Coleman Barks’ “Translation”:

No one knows what makes the soul wake up

so happy! Maybe a dawn breeze

has blown the veil from the face of God.

A thousand new moons appear.

Roses open laughing.

Hearts become perfect rubies

like those from Badakshan.

The body turns entirely spirit.

Leaves become branches in this wind.

Why is it now so easy to surrender,

even for those already surrendered?

There’s no answer to any of this.

No one knows the source of joy.

A poet breathes into a reed flute,

and the tip of every hair makes music.

Shams sails down clods of dirt from the roof,

and we take jobs as doorkeepers for him.

Original:

مگر این دم سر آن زلف پریشان شدهاست

که چنین مشک تتاری عبرافشان شده است

مگر از چهره او باد صبا پرده ربود

که هزاران قمر غیب درخشان شده است

هست جانی که ز بوی خوش او شادان نیست

گر چه جان بو نبرد کو ز چه شادان شده است

ای بسا شاد گلی کز دم حق خندان است

لیک هر جان بنداند ز چه خندان شده است

آفتاب رخش امروز زهی خوش که بتافت

که هزاران دل از او لعل بدخشان شده است

عاشق آخر ز چه رو تا به ابد دل ننهد

بر کسی کز لطفش تن همگی جان شده است

مگرش دل سحری دید بدان سان که وی است

که از آن دیدنش امروز بدین سان شده است

تا بدیده است دل آن حسن پری زاد مرا

شیشه بر دست گرفته است و پری خوان شده است

بر درخت تن اگر باد خوشش می‌نوزد

پس دو صد برگ دو صد شاخ چه لرزان شده است

بهر هر کشته او جان ابد گر نبود

جان سپردن بر عاشق ز چه آسان شده است

از حیات و خبرش باخبران بی‌خبرند

که حیات و خبرش پرده ایشان شده است

گر نه در نای دلی مطرب عشقش بدمید

هر سر موی چو سرنای چه نالان شده است

شمس تبریز ز بام ار نه کلوخ اندازد

سوی دل پس ز چه جان‌هاش چو دربان شده است

Carminho

Translation of lyrics:

I wrote your name in the wind

Convinced that I was writing it

Upon the page of oblivion

That was lost in the wind (x 2)

And when I saw it still buried

In the dust of the road

I thought my heart was free

From the bonds of your affection (x 2)

Poor me, I had no idea

That just like me

The wind would fall in love

With that name of yours

And as the wind tosses and turns

so does my torment

I want to forget you, believe me

But there is more and more wind

Me:

O wind of the dawn

Blow into my breast

Make the embers of my heart

Rise up from their death

O wind of the dawn

Blow into my breast

Sway my veins and let them shake

Love’s birds out from their nests

O wind of the dawn

Blow into my breast

Make my blood ripple

your reflection with your breath

O wind of the dawn

my heart’s caught in your grasp

your spirit’s within

whirling round inside it trapped

You can’t hold it in

and I can’t give it back

whisper something in my ear

take my soul with each gasp

My art is loving that beauty

Posted on September 19, 2013 by sulaymanibnqiddees

Translation:

Go tell the faqih for me

My art is loving that beauty

My drink is with him, from the glass

and the Ḥaḍra, with those gathered round

and my dear friends around me

lifted all my burdens from me

Go tell the faqih for me

My art is loving that beauty

Which Way do you think I follow?

The Law revives me

and the Reality annihilates me

so know that I am a Sunni

Go tell the faqih for me

My art is loving that beauty

Know there’s no one at home but you

So cut this talk short.

Come onto the field with me

Trust me, don’t push me away

Go tell the faqih for me

My art is loving that beauty

If you could see me in my home

When we raise the curtains

My love’s naked with me alone

I’m happy in this union

Go tell the faqih for me

My art is loving that beauty

So leave me, spare me your delusions

for you’re the slave of your ego

and this world is your bedroom

wake up, you’ll see my beauty

Go tell the faqih for me

My art is loving that beauty

-Abu’l Ḥasan ash-Shushtarī

Original:

قُولُوا للْفَقِيهْ عَنِّي عِشْقُ ذَا المليحْ فَنِّي

وشُرْبِي مَعُو بالْكاسْ

والْحَضْرَهْ مَعَ الْجَلاَّس

وحَوْلِي رِفاقْ أكْياسْ

قد شالُوا الْكَلَفْ عنِّي

قُولُوا للفقيه عَني عِشْقُ ذا المليحْ فنِّي

أيَّ مَذْهَبٍ تَدْرِينِي

الشَّرِيعَةُ تُحْيِيني

والحقِيقهْ تُفْنيني

واعْلَم أنَّني سُنِّي

قُولُوا للفقيه عَني عِشْقُ ذا المليحْ فنِّي

وعْلَم أنْ ليْسَ في الدَّار

غيركْ فاقطعِ الأخبارْ

وادخُلْ معِي المِضْمَار

أو مَوْر لا تُصَدِّعْني

قُولُوا للفقيه عَني عِشْقُ ذا المليحْ فنِّي

لَوْ تَرانِي في دارِي

وحِينْ نَرْفَعُ اسْتارِي

وحِبي مَعي عَارِي

بِوَصْلُوا يُمَتّعْنِي

قُولُوا للفقيه عَني عِشْقُ ذا المليحْ فنِّي

فَدَعني ومِنْ وهْمَكْ

فأنْتَ غُلام نَفْسَكْ

هذا الْكَوْن هُ دارْ نُوْمكْ

إِستيْقظْ تَرَى حُسْنِي

قُولُوا للفقيه عَني عِشْقُ ذا المليحْ فنِّي

Translation:

Thou that wouldst describe beauty,

Here is something of her brightness
Take it from me. It is my art.
Think it not idle vanity.

From

“Laylā” by Aḥmad al-‘Alāwī

Original:

يا واصف الحسن عني
هاك شيئا من سناها

خذا مني هذا فني
لا تنظر فيه سفاها

Get worse, o trouble, so that you may be lifted

For your night has announced the breaking of the dawn

And even the darkness of the night has its gleams

until the father of these gleams overwhelms them

And the dark clouds of bounty carry rain

that comes when its time is nigh

The blessings of our Lord are many

so your soul and heart’s blood can roam free

And they (the blessings) have a life-giving scent

so go to the source of that scent

And sometimes there is an overflowing of life

oceans of waves of surging depths

All creation is in his hands, some are expanded (have it easy)

while others are constricted (have it hard)

Their descents and ascents are either down a level or up a step

and their lives and their ends are not happening at random

Their wisdoms have been woven together by the hands of fate

and they’ve been knitted into the weaver

And so if things seem narrow and bent

know that it was meant to be like this

Their marvels have been witnessed as proofs

establishing the matter upon these proofs

Contentment with God’s decree is the knot

so make it your focus and turn your mount towards it

So if the doors of guidance are opened

then hurry into their treasuries and stay there

If you seek their end prematurely

then beware, for that is deviation

So that you can be among the foremost,

when you arrive at those (heavenly) expanses

remain there, for there is found life and bliss everlasting

for the one who has arrived and he who is arriving

So hasten to renew your efforts when they become stale

For if you consistently renew them, they will become constant

So disobeying God and its ugliness become beautiful to one who character is bent

But obeying God and its light are the gleams of a radiant morning

Whoever proposes to the maidens of eternity with these [lights]

will surely win over these lovely ones

So be pleased with them through your mindfulness of God

for tomorrow you will be satisfied and saved

Recite the Qur’an with a heart full of sadness and a voice of sweet melancholy

And the night prayer, and its hours, go through them with understanding and return

And reflect upon it and its meanings; you will arrive at paradise and be relieved

And drink from Tasnīm as it gushes forth, unmixed or mixed

The intellect is praised for giving it guidance and

passion, preventing it from being ridiculed

The book of God, its gardens are for the embodied intellects of creation

The best of creation find rest therein, all other than them get ravenous hunger from it

So if you are brave and do not panic in the haze of war

and if you are made to see the lights of guidance,

then let them shine above the heights

and when the soul longs, it finds painfully by longing for relief

Goodness unfolds laughing and the completion of laughter is success

Flaws and secrets are gathered with their trusts under the saddle

Kindness endures for its owner while separation leads to chaos

The Blessings of God upon the Guided One (Mahdi), who guides people to the Way

And on Abu Bakr, always together with him in life and in speech

And on Abu Hafs (‘Umar), his nobility in the story of the staff

And on Abu ‘Umar (‘Uthman) He of the two lights, who blushed and made blush with delight

and on Abu Hasan (‘Ali) like a heavy raincloud of knowledge, fulfilling his promise

and on the two Hasans (Hasan and Husayn) and their mother (Fatimah), and the entire family (of the Prophet), success comes from them

and their Companions and close ones, following in their footsteps is the way

and on their followers, the scholars, the right way is in knowledge of their religion

I conclude my work with them, so that I may be delivered (with them) tomorrow in the gathering

O Lord by them, and by their families, hasten victory and relief

لكَ قُرْبٌ مِنّي ببُعدِكَ عنّي وحنوٌّ وجدتهُ في جفاكا

…

فَتراءيتَ في سِواكَ لِعَينٍ بكَ قَرّتْ، وما رأيتُ سِواكا وكذاكَ الخَليلُ قَلّبَ قَبْلي طرفهُ حينَ راقبَ الأفلاكا

You have nearness with me in your distance from me

…

In other than thee, You showed Yourself to my eyes

Which, delighting in you, saw nothing but you

Even so, before me did the Friend (Khalil) so turn his gaze

When he beheld the spheres [of planet, moon, and sun]

On Love’s path, there is neither near nor far

I see you clearly, and I send you a prayer

‫در راه عشق مرحله قرب و بعد نیست‬

می‌ بینمت عیان و دعا می‌فرستمت

Though we are far from you, we drink to your recollection

There is no distance in the spiritual journey

فَتراءيتَ في سِواكَ لِعَينٍ بكَ قَرّتْ، وما رأيتُ سِواكا
وكذاكَ الخَليلُ قَلّبَ قَبْلي طرفهُ حينَ راقبَ الأفلاكا

165
It is only veiled due to the intensity of its manifestation