Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

You cannot - O wiseman -

on the Worldtree

see other fruit than

the man of Wisdom;

to a gnostic like you

the sage is a plum

and the ignorant

are thorns

- the good are hidden

among the bad

as a lonely datepalm

in a desert of brambles.

But you object: Nasir!

If you re such a noble spirit

why do you vegetate here in Yamgan

lowly and alone?

For me Yamgan

is God s refuge.

Look well! Don t imagine me

some sort of prisoner.

No one claims

that silver, diamonds, rubies

are base or held captive

in the mine;

Yamgan itself may be

base and worthless

but here I am held

in high esteem.

After all if the serpent

is abject and vile

the snakestone in its head

is treasured and praised

and a perfect pearl s worth

is none the less to the buyer

for having been born

in a scabby shell;

the fragrant bloom

is unstained

even if it roots itself

in furrows of dung.

And you, my visitor

- to return to my first simile -

are a sublime tree

whose fruit is speech.

It s up to you: choose

whether to be fruit without thorns

(choose now!)

Or thorns without fruit.

The apple of wisdom

can be yours -

otherwise you re are nothing but

a sterile poplar -

for the wiseman s branches

yield a produce

of precious gems

and leaves of gold dinars;

but knowledge and wisdom

are better than gold and gems

to him whose heart is illumined,

eyes open and awake.

Then come,

speak,

pour down your

yield of words

and as much as this fruit

is rich and sweet

so will your deeds be judged

as virtuous as your talk -

but if you re a man of

words without action

you re no better than

counterfeit coin.

Utter the right word

in the right place -

a fine stallion s at its best

in the battlefield

- and utter it only

to one who knows its worth,

for what use is turban

without a head to wear it?

Only the heat of battle

can tell

a coward deserter

from a fierce brave.

Know what you want to say

then say it:

fix the compass point

before drawing the line.

If your words are not free

of stain and rust

how will they polish

the hearts of others?

Keep silence

when you do not know:

don t be the type who flashes

his genitalia in the bazzar!

How dare you ride an ass

before noble arab steeds?

You re roped

in ignorance s bonds

led astray by demons -

you deny it?

Why then have you bulled

through the rosebed?

You? A doctor of souls???

Never!

How can one sick man

treat another?

Please - don t rasp my soul

like some wretched file

with words like

jagged bits of steel.

Are you not ashamed

of your ignorance?

Do you not blush

before true learning?

Bow your head,

submit - or else

on the Final Day you will not snatch

your soul from the bonfire.

Mortify your flesh

with pious deeds

that tomorrow your soul

may go un-singed.

You claim to be

free of guilt - what!

When your back s bent double

with burden of sin!

If future bliss

is what you want

cease now to work so hard

for the world -

for the world

couldn t care less.

Don t let it agonise you

with fleshly cares:

it s an evil-tempered leviathan;

beware!

Furious, merciless

greedy.

How often do you need

to try and taste again -

it s the same world you ve seen

a hundred times before.

Hold fast to Faith;

religion conquers the world

and sews up its maw

with spikes.

If you become

a prince in religion

the surely the world

must become your slave.

You! Look well

into your own affairs:

if you want justice

do justice.

If you want

to be upright

don t bow your neck to earthly kings

as the hoopoe to Solomon.

Shun the eagle of Greed

for its beak

and vicious claws drip

with venom

and if you d like

avoid a quarrelling with dogs

give up your taste

for carrion meat;

otherwise - admit it -

your aching face, weary hands:

the cause of suffering

is yourself.

Take this advice from the PROOF

for he is awake

to the habits of this tyrant,

the revolving sphere.

Of all the people in Khorasan

no one has battled

as much as he with the

vicissitudes of Fate

and was saved at last

from the claws through Faith,

the decree of God

the One, the Almighty.

If the world causes you pain

follow in his wake.

Other than this there is no

better Way.