Original content

English translation

The Prophet said to that sick man, When he visited his suffering friend,

"Perhaps you have prayed some kind of prayer, Out of ignorance, you have eaten some poison.

Remember what prayer you were saying, When you were agitated by the deceit of the ego (nafs)."

He said, "I do not remember, except that through your spiritual resolve With me, I might remember it in a moment."

Through the light-bestowing presence of Mustafa, That prayer came back to his mind.

There shone from that window, which is from heart to heart, The light that distinguishes truth from falsehood.

He said, "Now I remember, O Messenger, That prayer which I, the meddler, said.

When I would become a captive to sin, Like a drowning man, I grasped at weeds.

From you, threats and warnings would arrive, To the sinners, of very severe punishment.

I would become distressed, and there was no remedy; The bond was firm and the lock unopened.

Neither a place for patience, nor a way of escape, Neither hope of repentance, nor a place for struggle.

I, like Harut and Marut, out of sorrow, Would sigh, saying: 'O my Creator!

Out of clear danger, Harut and Marut Chose the pit of Babylon,

So that they might suffer the punishment of the hereafter here, Though they are exalted, wise, and like magicians.

They did well, and it was the right place; The pain of smoke is easier than the fire.

The description of the pain of that world has no limit; The pain of the world is easy compared to that.

O happy is he who makes a struggle, Inflicting pain and justice upon his body,

So that he may escape the pain of that world; He takes upon himself this pain of worship.'

I kept saying: 'O Lord, that punishment, In this very world, hasten it upon me,

So that I may have leisure in that world.' In such a request, I was knocking at the door.

Such a sickness appeared in me, My soul became restless from the pain.

I have been held back from my litanies (dhikr) and prayers; I became unaware of myself, and of good and bad.

If I had not seen your face now, O auspicious one, and your blessed scent,

I would have slipped entirely from my bond; You showed me this kingly sympathy."

He (the Prophet) said, "Hey, hey! Do not make this prayer anymore; Do not tear yourself up from the root and foundation.

What strength do you have, O wretched ant, That such a high mountain should be placed upon you?"

He said, "I have repented, O King, so that I May not boast of any skill out of rashness.

This world is a wilderness (Tih), and you are Moses, and we Are left afflicted in the wilderness by our sin.

The people of Moses were traveling the road; In the end, they were (still) at the first step.

For years we travel the road, and at the end, We are still captive at the first stage.

If the heart of Moses had been pleased with us, The way and edge of the wilderness would have become visible.

And if he had been entirely disgusted with us, How would any table of food have reached us from heaven?

How would springs have gushed from a rock, Becoming the security of our lives in the desert?

Nay, instead of a table of food, fire would have come; In this stage, flames would have struck us.

Since Moses became of two minds in our matter, Sometimes he is our enemy and sometimes our friend.

His anger sets fire to our belongings; His forbearance repels the arrow of affliction.

When will it be that the anger also becomes forbearance? This is not rare from Your grace, O Dear One.

Praising one present is an offense, because of this, I intentionally mention the name of Moses in this way.

Otherwise, how would Moses allow that I Should mention anyone before you?

Our covenant broke a hundred and a thousand times; Your covenant is established, firm like a mountain.

Our covenant is like straw, subject to every wind; Your covenant is a mountain, and greater than a hundred mountains.

By the right of that strength, upon our changeability, Have mercy, O Commander of states!

We have seen ourselves and our own disgrace; Do not test us anymore, O King!

So that You may have hidden the other shames, O Generous One, Whose help is sought!

You are boundless in beauty and in perfection; In crookedness and error, we are boundless.

Apply Your boundlessness, O Generous One, Upon the boundless crookedness of a handful of base ones.

Beware, for from our severance only one thread remains; We were a city, and only a wall remains.

Have mercy on the remnant! The remnant, O Lord! So that the soul of the devil may not become entirely glad.

Not for our sake, (but) for the sake of that first grace, By which You sought out the astray.

Since You have shown Your power, show mercy, O You Who have placed mercies in flesh and fat!

If this prayer increases Your anger, You teach us a prayer, O Chief!

Just as Adam fell from Paradise, You gave him a return so that he escaped the ugly devil.

Who was the devil that he should surpass Adam, And win the game from him on such a chessboard?

In truth, it all became Adam's benefit; That trickery became the curse of the envier.

He saw one game and did not see two hundred games; So he cut the pillar of his own house.

He set a fire at night in the crops of others; The wind blew the fire onto his own crop.

The curse was a blindfold to the devil, So that he saw that deceit as the loss of the enemy.

His deceit actually became the loss of his own soul; As if Adam were the devil of his devil.

The curse is this: that it makes him see crookedly, It makes him envious, self-conceited, and full of rancor.

So that he does not know that whoever did evil, In the end it will come back and strike him.

He sees all the queen's moves (in chess) in reverse; Checkmate turns upon him, and loss and diminution.

Because if he were to see himself at all, He would see the wound as fatal and incurable.

Pain would arise within from such seeing; Pain would bring him out from the veil.

Until the pains of childbirth grip the mothers, The child finds no way to be born.

This trust is in the heart, and the heart is pregnant; These advices are like the midwife.

The midwife says that the woman has no pain; Pain is necessary; pain is the way for the child.

He who is without pain is a highway robber; Because painlessness is saying 'I am the Truth' (inappropriately).

Saying that 'I' at the wrong time is a curse; Saying that 'I' at the right time is a mercy.

That 'I' of Mansur (Hallaj) certainly became a mercy; That 'I' of Pharaoh became a curse, behold!

Therefore, every untimely-crowing bird, Must be beheaded for the sake of public notice.

What is beheading? Slaying the carnal soul In holy war, and abandoning the heat of passion.

Just as you pull out the sting of a scorpion, So that it may find safety from being killed.

Pull out the venomous tooth of a snake, So that the snake may escape the affliction of being stoned.

Nothing kills the ego except the shadow of the Pir (Spiritual Guide); Hold tight to the skirt of that ego-slayer!

When you hold on tightly, that is the divine grace of Him; Whatever strength comes in you is His attraction.

Consider as true 'Thou didst not throw when thou threwest'; Whatever the soul sows is from the Soul of the soul.

He is the helper and the forbearing one; Moment by moment, keep hoping for that breath from Him.

There is no sorrow if you have remained long without Him; You have called Him 'taking late' and 'taking hard.'

His mercy may take late and take hard, (But) His presence does not keep you absent for a moment.

And if you want an explanation of this union and friendship, Read 'By the morning brightness' (Surah Ad-Duha) with thoughtfulness.

And if you say, 'Evils too are from Him,' But how is that a defect in His grace?

To give that evil is also His perfection; I will tell you an example, O respected one.

A painter painted two kinds of pictures; Beautiful pictures, and a picture without beauty.

He painted a picture of Joseph and fair-natured houris, He painted pictures of ugly afreets and devils.

Both kinds of pictures are his mastery; It is not his ugliness, it is his bounty (of skill).

He makes the ugly in the extreme of ugliness; He weaves all uglinesses around it.

So that the perfection of his knowledge may become apparent, And the denier of his mastery may be disgraced.

And if he does not know how to make ugly, he is deficient; For this reason, He is the Creator of the infidel and the sincere.

Therefore, from this perspective, infidelity and faith are witnesses To His Lordship, and both are bowing in prostration.

But know that the believer is prostrating willingly, Because he is seeking His pleasure and intending it.

Unwillingly, the infidel is also a worshipper of God; But his intention is for another purpose.

He maintains the fortress of the Sultan; But he claims leadership (for himself).

He has become a rebel so that the kingdom may be his; In the end, the fortress becomes the Sultan's anyway.

The believer keeps that fortress populated for the King, Not for the sake of rank.

The ugly says: 'O King who created ugliness, You are capable of both the beautiful and the great ugly.'

The beautiful says: 'O King of beauty and value, You have purified me from defects.'