Translations

We tried reasoning our way to Him:

it did not work...

Reason took us as far as the door;

but it was his presence that let us in.

- Sanai, tr. David Pendlebury

Reason started writing.

Self became the paper.

Matter took form and

Form took shape.

Love, be encouraged;

Trembling, be reserved.

Reason, be instructed,

Self, become aware:

As long as you are here

Your portion is your tomb,

Your home is distraction

And you live in deceit,

But set your eyes on the willow,

Let your soul see paradise;

Let your lips pronounce the letters

And perceive their deeper meaning

With your soul.

While your pleasure is desire

And desire is your treasure

You remain a little child:

Carry on, play away,

But you return with nothing

From the ocean but foam

And empty possessions

Scattered all around you

Like oyster shells

Marking your obsession

But missing the essence

Of the treasures left behind

At the bottom of the ocean.

Return to that place:

Beyond the mud, within the shells

Lies the purity of pearls,

But you must go to the depths

Of your soul.

Let this arrow be an arrow,

The reason I am writing.

The letters are written

And the work is framed,

But these words have no meaning;

They remain on the page

Until the reader starts reading

Past impurities, beyond

The mud and the shell

And the self’s own veil,

Past the blur of good and evil

To the truth in every scripture:

Open up your Quran

Crack the spine of your Bible,

But you’ll never grow fat

On the shepherd’s call.

The holiest of words

Is itself no panacea

For the soul.