Journey to Konya
سفر به قونیه
غاية أسفار القوم قرب الحق،
السير سير القلوب سير الأسرار
The goal of journeys of the mystics be
proximity to God; The motion is
the motion of hearts, the motion of
mysteries.
Al-Jilani
I hold in hand a yellow leaf,
This summer, ah, so quick, so quick...
The second summer in Baghdad -
Just on the river vision, but
Do tell me, tell me, Tigris deep,
The autumn boding trip...
"Where winds in valley vast
Are whirling in a gust..."
The river hath replied to me.
The foliage falling slowly;
The river's water - lone and dark;
I dropped the leaf, we part...
I go along forgotten street,
In rustle faint, melancholíc
The trees are muffled up...
"You leave us, ah..."
The tint of parting - brown, sad -
The tint of summer fled...
I've woven from the tinctures wreath
In memory of autumn this...
The leaves are wincing wet,
Wet are the windows, or perhaps
It is my eyes...
Sheikh: But why
Upon the sand you sadness write?
But come with me,
Here is an inn with sweetest tea...
Thus in the olden inn we sate,
And the delicious tea did taste...
Sheikh: You know, in autumn birds depart,
And thereof the rain is sad;
You have the questions, ask...
Me: Tell about the mystics, please...
Sheikh:
فاستلانوا ما استوعر منه المترَفُون،
وأنِسُوا بما اسْتَوْحَش منه الغافلون.
صَحِبوا الدنيا بأبدانٍ أرواحُها معلَّقة
بالمحلِّ الأعلى، أولئك أولياءُ الله من
خلقة، وعماله في أرضه، والدعاةُ إلى دينه
They soften what the profligates have made
uneven, they bring kindness to forsaken
by the ignorants. Their bodies are on the earth,
while their spirits are attached to the lofty
planes; They are elects of God among
the creatures, and His doers on the earth,
and callers to His faith.
Al-Makki
On precipice inbreathing wind
A poet with a brush and ink
Does limn upon the fog
The mysteries of rocks,
Himself as mystery...
Me: But who is he?
Sheikh: In China, charméd poets, who
Saddle wind and drink the dew,
They have become the spirits of
The mountains and rocks...
ولا يطلبون من الحق عز وجل جزاء
على أعمالهم بل يريدون وجهه وقربه
They seek not the reward from God,
majestic and great is He, for
their deeds, but they desire His
Face and proximity to Him.
Al-Jilani
Abide in me, and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself, except it abide in the vine;
so neither can ye, except ye
abide in me.
John 15:4
They crave
For entity divine, and rank...
اختاروا الخراب وسواحل البحار
والبراري والقفار
They prefer the shore of sea,
ruins, desert, or heath.
Al-Jilani
A stranger blended soot
Nocturnal, murky, mute
In solitude moonlit,
And made the living ink;
Then uttered prayer, made a stroke,
On paper shadow, fog, and smoke
Did sigh; behind and here mingled; And
Has opened door to yonder realm...
Me: Thus painting by master is
As if a window, or a living myth?
Sheikh: Do you hear lisping leaves?
They whisper, "Yes..."
Me: The way of Abdāl what is?
Sheikh:
فقلت له: يا سيدي بماذا يصير
الأبدال أبدالاً؟ فقال لي بالأربعة
التي ذكرها أبو طالب في "القوت"،
الصمت والعزلة، والجوع والسهر
I asked him, "O master, how
does Abdāl become Abdāl?
To me he responded: By four,
which mentioned Abu Talib in
"The Sustenance of Hearts":
Silence, Solitude, Hunger, and Vigil.
Ibn 'Arabi
The way of crane
Goes through the burning waste...
کو بَدَل گشت وبَدَل شد کارِ او
لطف گشت ونور شد نارِ او
Who's become Abdāl, and changed his deeds -
Kindness he's become, and light - the fire his.
Rumi, Masnavi 2:3440
But at the window look!
Away is carrying noon
The flock of birds, and so
The time has come to leave the shore...
September 2020
Abu Talib Al-Makki, The Sustenance of Hearts 1
قوت القلوب في معاملة المحبوب
Abd Al-Qadir Al-Jilani, The Opening of Lordship
الفتح الرباني والفيض الرحماني
Ibn 'Arabi, The Book of Mantle of Abdāl
كتاب حلية الأبدال
Translations from Arabic and Farsi
by Denis Bezmelnitsin
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