A beam of Your beauty
shone forth in pre-eternity;
then love revealed itself
and set the universe on fire.
Your face appeared;
the angel saw it but felt no love.
Impelled by jealousy,
he caught fire and struck
the heart of mankind.
From that flame, reason lit its lamp;
a bolt of jealousy flashed
and threw the world in disarray.
The conceited one sought
to witness the mystery unveiled;
the hand of the unseen
struck the undeserving heart.
Others won a favorable destiny
and a life of plenty;
for its part, my woeful heart
received the sorrow of love.
My exalted soul yearned
for a glimpse of Your chin;
my hand reached up
and stroked the curls of Your hair.
Hafiz wrote “The Book
of the Joy Found in Loving You”
on the day he cut all ties
that bring solace to the heart.
[my translation]
Monday, December 29, 2014
Sunday, December 28, 2014
From Fariduddin ‘Attar’s Book of Secrets
O friend, if you awaken from your sleep
you will savor the most marvelous joys;
though immersed in sorrow and pain,
this I surely know: we will find joy, at last.
As there are thorns, there are also flowers.
As there is illness, there is also a cure.
The cure has not yet become manifest;
when the time has come, it will be revealed.
And our tale goes even further than this:
though pain is our lot in this world,
that World – where we will find its cure –
no tale may describe, no lot may apportion.
Without any lingering doubt I know
that beyond this world we will find felicity.
For every affliction we have endured here,
for every moment of pain and sorrow,
in that World we will receive a joy in return.
Come! Let us not tarry on the way;
to know nothing of the World beyond
this earthly realm we live in is a tragedy.
Why, O dervish, is your heart heavy,
when such sublime joys lie ahead of you?
The delights conferred in that World
surpass all other joys in their exalted purity.
If today you found one atom of that joy,
you would burn with yearning for the next.
The Eternal World is a realm of felicity
of which this entire earthly realm is a sign.
There, is found the station of Prophets;
the heart and faith, the soul and beatitude
are found there; all spirits reside there;
and in that assembly, all houris are confidants.
If you aspire to that place I have described,
detach yourself from ‘I’, and there you are.
If in this world you die to your self,
you will touch the doorstep of that World.
[my translation]
you will savor the most marvelous joys;
though immersed in sorrow and pain,
this I surely know: we will find joy, at last.
As there are thorns, there are also flowers.
As there is illness, there is also a cure.
The cure has not yet become manifest;
when the time has come, it will be revealed.
And our tale goes even further than this:
though pain is our lot in this world,
that World – where we will find its cure –
no tale may describe, no lot may apportion.
Without any lingering doubt I know
that beyond this world we will find felicity.
For every affliction we have endured here,
for every moment of pain and sorrow,
in that World we will receive a joy in return.
Come! Let us not tarry on the way;
to know nothing of the World beyond
this earthly realm we live in is a tragedy.
Why, O dervish, is your heart heavy,
when such sublime joys lie ahead of you?
The delights conferred in that World
surpass all other joys in their exalted purity.
If today you found one atom of that joy,
you would burn with yearning for the next.
The Eternal World is a realm of felicity
of which this entire earthly realm is a sign.
There, is found the station of Prophets;
the heart and faith, the soul and beatitude
are found there; all spirits reside there;
and in that assembly, all houris are confidants.
If you aspire to that place I have described,
detach yourself from ‘I’, and there you are.
If in this world you die to your self,
you will touch the doorstep of that World.
[my translation]
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