Droplets of Rain
واعلم أَنه جلّ ثناؤه يحيى بقطرة
من غيث رحمته، موات ما أَنزلها
عليه من بريته
Know, that He, exalted and great be praises
to Him, doth revive by droplet of rain
of His campassion the dead and barren waste.
Al-Junayd
Where shed the rain seeds of light,
Whereto the God decreed to the clouds, "Fly,
And give to the wasteland drink, and sate
Her reserves, in so far as they may... to contain..."
Then regard, a garden hath grown thereat after dead
Forgotten wold... Did you know? Did you expect?
But nay, you look and you wait only within
Thy clime being so haughty, and miss
The droplets of rain... And God, as if saith,
"Find Me there!" Beware to become as a lake
With stale waters, slowly turning into the swamp.
Like a scroll divided into the pieces be Divine lore,
Sundry nations keep parts of it. Holy Writ
Thus narrates... Can you find and restore mosaic?
فتحرَّى طلب الحياة تكون السقيا
Hie to seek life to be sated.
Al-Junayd
Hie O seeker while calls you thy heart,
Feel this moment while moment does last,
Taste the rain, don't avert, do not let
Stream of life to whelm thee and make you forget
Words of God and thy dreams; seek and be
Like a stranger - a catcher of rain; where gleam
The lightning and shower doth shed, thereat
Is Mecca, thither hasten for boon; yet is said,
"Do perform a journey." But know,
That to learn foreign culture, language and lore -
Is true journey, so go...
O seeker, beware, beware of the fleeing fugitive sands -
That which only one moment exists, which is pent
In cell of this world, of this time; which lasts not,
And with years flows away into nought...
The fraud and delusion and veil of this age...
Look at the sky, - thereat is eternal demesne,
Spirit and Art vanish not, but remain...
تحمد الله أَبداً فيما أَنعم به عليك
Praise always God for what He
bestowed upon thee.
Al-Junayd
Praise always God, be glory to Him
For everything given to thee, and for this
What has been denied, - maybe for thee it is good - you shall realize
In some time... Or maybe something is wanted from thee, just find
It out, anow, something to accomplish or learn...
Ways of God fathomless are, in result you shall know,
That for you it was good, that you changed -
Praise God and stop not on your lane...
Another meaning of this: To glorify God verily is
To manifest and reveal His precious gifts
Given to thee; pronounce it right, do not hide,
And inurn in the earth, deep in the night.
But strive and exert yourself - the very talent as gem -
Must needs to be burnished; first toil - then merriment.
Yet again, beware to use gifts of God,
And knowledge for evil, the spirit will leave ye, and pall
Of the blindness shall swathe ye, and earth
Shall gulp thee, and grow a moss
On that spot... Remember, remember these words...
August 2017
Al-Junayd, Epistles
رسائل الجنيد
Translation from Arabic
by Denis Bezmelnitsin
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