Tabriz. Noon by the Gate
تبریز. ظهر کنار دروازه
In the sky the lilac smoke -
Trace of April frail as hope;
Bird is singing sweetly trill -
Orange melody of rill...
I am sitting mix'd with shade,
Hours into yesterday
Are running; brown walls
Cast the brown shade on stones...
Pavement red methinks at noon;
Neither heat I feel, nor lassitude;
Wrapt in mantle black, I see
From the North approaching wind...
Russian wind: Rare shells and branch of lilac
I have brought for you, the tidings
Do you have for us..?
Me: I'm a simple keeper, but
Hearken to the master of Baghdad:
حكى أن بني إسرائيل أصابتهم شدة فاجتمعوا
إلى نبي من أنبيائهم فقالوا له خبرنا بما يرضي الحق
عز وجل حتى نتبعه فيكون سببا لدفع هذه الشدة
عنا، فسأل الحق عز وجل عن ذلك؟ فأوحى الله
إليه قل لهم إن أردتم رضاي فأرضوا المساكين،
فإن أرضيتموهم رضيت، وإن اسخطتموهم سخطت
'Tis narrated that when calamity struck
Israel, they repaired to one
of thier prophets, and asked him, "Say
what we should do to please God that He may
repel His bale from us...
We beseech thee, ask!"
Then God inspired him, "Tell them:
If ye wish to please Me, then
please the needy and poor! When ye
please them, - ye please Me;
But when you anger them, ye anger Me."
Al-Jilani
On the maple leaf the wind
Had writ it down, took his leave...
On the street the tints of ochre
Murmur softly; Over
The city - melting feeling -
Cloud light and fleecy...
I am sitting wrapt in shadow,
Yet I see from yellow valley
Is approaching wind...
Eastern wind: I have brought the olden lantern,
For you, say...
Me: The homily by Lord I have:
Jesus said unto her, I am
the resurrection, and the life: he that
believeth on me, though he die, yet shall
he live; and whosoever liveth and
believeth on me shall never die.
Believest thou this?
John 11:25,26
High on fiery cliff the crane
I asked, "The mystery do say..."
- I everywhere fly and seek,
Where I descend - I pick...
الوراثة الكاملة هي التي تكون
من كل الوجوه لا من بعضها
The perfect inheritance is from all
the directions, not from some of them.¹
Ibn 'Arabi
Not all the lakes are plainly seen -
Some are concealed...
The owl I asked, "In drowsy wood
Is there any lunar brook..?"
She hooted, "Hoot...
Poetic lake unique we have, -
Our imagery - ethereal maze,
And murmur of October leaves,
The gossamer of thoughts; And walls
By angels painted, living, we
Have...
ولنا في كل حظ شرب معلوم
ورزق مقسوم فاجتهدوا
And for us in every treasury there are
drink and sustenance apportioned, so
exert yourself.²
Ibn 'Arabi
May 2020
Abd Al-Qadir Al-Jilani, The Opening of Lordship
الفتح الرباني والفيض الرحماني
1 Ibn 'Arabi, The Epistle to Imam Al-Rāzi
رسالة إلى الإمام الرازي
2 Ibn 'Arabi, The Book of the Days of Affair
كتاب أيام الشأن
Translations from Arabic and Farsi
by Denis Bezmelnitsin
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