All that I have brought

 

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Nūr ad-Dīn 'Abd ar-Rahmān Jāmī, one of the most prolific writers, scholars and poets of Islam is known for several odes to the Prophetﷺ . This particularly moving ode, titled,  (صد سلامت می فرستم هر دم ای فخر کرام), Oh glorious one ﷺ, I extend hundred greetings to you with every breath of mine, is often recited in prayer assemblies of pious people, especially in my homeland Kashmir.

 

یا شَفیعَ الْمُذْنِبین بار گناه آورده ام
بر درت این بار با پشت دو تاه آورده ام

 

 چشمِ رحمت برگُشا، موی سفیدِ من نِگر
گرچه از شرمندگی روی سیاه آورده ام

 
آن نمی گویم که بودم سال ها در راهِ تو
هستم آن گُمره که اکنون رو به راه آورده ام

 
عجز و بی خویشی ودرویشی و دلریشی و درد
این همه بر دعوی عشقت، گواه آورده ام

 
دیو رَهْزن در کمین، نفس و هوا اعدای دین
زین همه با سایه لُطفت پناه آورده ام

گر چه روی معذرت نگذاشت گستاخی مرا
کرده گستاخی زبان عُذرخواه آورده ام

بسته ام بر یکدیگر نخلی ز خارستان طبع
سوی فردوسِ برین مُشتی گیاه آورده ام

     

  

Oh intercessor of sinners, I come bearing a load of sins

To your door,  I am stooping with this burden I am carrying

 
With your merciful gaze, glance at my white hair

Despite, shamefully, I have brought a blackened face

I don’t mean to say to have been on your path for years

I am that astray person who just turned back towards the right path
 
Inability, kindredless-ness, heartbreak, being a dervish and pain

I declare my love for you, bringing these witnesses
 
The deceiving demons lying in ambush, ego and desire - enemies of faith

I seek refuge from them all, under your beneficent shadow
 

Although my impudence left no room for excuses
Having been impudent, I come with an apologetic tongue 
 

I have tied together a few stalks of palms from my nature

To the green paradise I just have brought these handful of plants
 

This is a simple recitation for your benefit:

Bani Adam

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Muslih al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī better known as Saadi Shīrāzī (1210–1292),  in one of the poems from his collection the Rose Garden or Gulistan,  tried to remind us on what it means to be human. This particular section of the poem became rather popular recently and is known as Bani Adam:

بنی آدم اعضای یکدیگرند
که در آفرینش ز یک گوهرند

چو عضوی به درد آورد روزگار
دگر عضوها را نماند قرار

تو کز محنت دیگران بی غمی
نشاید که نامت نهند آدمی

The translation with my limited abilities is as follows:

بنی آدم اعضای یکدیگرند
که در آفرینش ز یک گوهرند

The children of Adam are like the parts of one another
Sharing their essence and origin in creation

چو عضوی به درد آورد روزگار
دگر عضوها را نماند قرار

When one part is fated to be in pain
How can the other parts be at ease?

تو کز محنت دیگران بی غمی
نشاید که نامت نهند آدمی

If the tribulations of others leave you unperturbed
Perhaps you are not fit to be known as a human


There is an excellent recital here:

God is sufficient

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Al-Shafi‘i (767–820),  in one of his poems, gives us an apt reminder considering the state of panic outbreak:

يا صاحبَ الهمِّ إنَّ الهمَّ مُنْفَرِجٌ

أَبْشِرْ بخيرٍ فإنَّ الفارجَ اللهُ

اليأسُ يَقْطَعُ أحيانًا بصاحِبِهِ

لا تَيْائَسَانَّ فإنَّ الكافيَ اللهُ

اللهُ يُحْدِثُ بعدَ العُسرِ مَيْسَرَةً

لا تَجْزَعَنَّ فإنَّ الصانعَ اللهُ

فإذا بُلِيتَ فثِقْ باللهِ، وارْضَ بهِ

إنَّ الذي يَكْشِفُ البَلْوَى هو اللهُ

واللهِ مَا لَكَ غيرُ اللهِ مِن أحدٍ

فحَسْبُك اللهُ في كلٍّ لكَ اللهُ

The translation with my limited abilities is as follows:

يا صاحبَ الهمِّ إنَّ الهمَّ مُنْفَرِجٌ
أَبْشِرْ بخيرٍ فإنَّ الفارجَ اللهُ

O anxious one, relief is forthcoming
Give glad tidings of good,  For the Capable Reliever is God

اليأسُ يَقْطَعُ أحيانًا بصاحِبِهِ
لا تَيْائَسَانَّ فإنَّ الكافيَ اللهُ

Despair can sometimes make one forlorn
Do not despair as God is the Sufficient

اللهُ يُحْدِثُ بعدَ العُسرِ مَيْسَرَةً
لا تَجْزَعَنَّ فإنَّ الصانعَ اللهُ

God forges ease with every hardship
Do not be perturbed, as the Designer is God

فإذا بُلِيتَ فثِقْ باللهِ، وارْضَ بهِ
إنَّ الذي يَكْشِفُ البَلْوَى هو اللهُ

If you are tested then place your trust in God and depend on him wholeheartedly
Indeed the One who Removes the tribulations is God

واللهِ مَا لَكَ غيرُ اللهِ مِن أحدٍ
فحَسْبُك اللهُ في كلٍّ لكَ اللهُ

By God, there is no one for you save Him
Take God as Sufficient for you, He truly is on your side

There is an excellent recital here:

Who will be there for me?

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Mansour Al-Hallaj reportedly wrote this very moving ode to his Beloved

 

إِذا هَجَرتَ فَمَن لي

وَمَن يُجَمِّلُ كُلّي  

وَمَن لِروحي وَراحي

يا أَكثَري وَأَقَلّي

أَحَبَّكَ البَعضُ مِنّي
فقَد ذَهَبتَ بِكُلّي

يا كُلَّ كُلّي فَكُنْ لي

إِنْ لَم تَكُن لي فَمَن لي  

يا كُلَّ كُلّي وَأَهلي

عِندَ اِنقِطاعي وَذُلّي

ما لي سِوى الروحِ خُذها

وَالروحُ جُهدُ المُقِلِّ

If You renounce me, then who will be there for me
Who will embellish all of me
And who would be there for my soul and solace
 O (you who is) the most of me and the least of me
I loved You with only a part of me
And you left with all of my being
O all of the entirety of my being, be there for me
For if You won't be, then who else would be there for me
O all of the entirety of my being and my kin
At the time of my isolation and humiliation
I have nothing but my soul, so take it
As it is the best thing that a destitute possesses 

 

There are several compositions in audio, I have selected a couple of them here, this one without music:

And this one with singing and music:

On sin and the decay of nations

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak (726-797),  a famous scholar, noting the decline of morality in the Muslim societies  lamented:

رَأَيْت الذُّنُوبَ تُمِيتُ الْقُلُوبَ
وَقَدْ يُورِثُ الذُّلَّ إدْمَانُهَا

وَتَرْكُ الذُّنُوبِ حَيَاةُ الْقُلُوبِ
وَخَيْرٌ لِنَفْسِك عِصْيَانُهَا

وهل أفسد الدين إلا الملوكُ
وأحبارُ سوء ورهبانُها

وباعوا النفوس فلم يربحوا
ولم تغل في البيع أثمانها

لقد وقع القوم في جيفةٍ
يبين لذي اللب إنتانها

The translation with my limited abilities is as follows:

رَأَيْت الذُّنُوبَ تُمِيتُ الْقُلُوبَ
وَقَدْ يُورِثُ الذُّلَّ إدْمَانُهَا

I saw that sins do away with the hearts
And only disgrace is bequeathed by addiction to sin

وَتَرْكُ الذُّنُوبِ حَيَاةُ الْقُلُوبِ
وَخَيْرٌ لِنَفْسِك عِصْيَانُهَا

And abandoning sins is what brings the hearts to life
And it is better for your soul (نَفْسِ)  that you disobey it( do not give in to its desires )

وهل أفسد الدين إلا الملوكُ
وأحبارُ سوء ورهبانُها

And has religion been corrupted other than by the Kings
And evil scholars and its own monks?

وباعوا النفوس فلم يربحوا
ولم تغل في البيع أثمانها

They sold their souls, but gained no profit
The transaction fetched them but a measly sum

لقد وقع القوم في جيفةٍ
يبين لذي اللب إنتانها

People have fallen into rot and decay,
Its foul smell clear to one with discerning intellect.

You can listen to the recitation here:

Do not lose yourself

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Shahāb ad-Dīn" Yahya ibn Habash Suhrawardī  (1154-1191), the Shaikh al-Maqtul(Executed Master), warned us of the dangers of getting lost:

هان تا سر رشته خود گُم نکنی
خود را ز برای نیک و بد گم نکنی
رهرو تویی و راه تویی؛ منزل تو
هشدار که راه خود به خود گم نکنی

The translation with my limited abilities is as follows:

هان تا سر رشته خود گُم نکنی

Take care not to lose control of your self

خود را ز برای نیک و بد گم نکنی

Lest you lose yourself in the pursuit of "Good and Evil"

رهرو تویی و راه تویی؛ منزل تو

You are the traveler, and are also the road, and the destination is you as well

هشدار که راه خود به خود گم نکنی

Beware that you do not lose your way to yourself


There is also an alternate version for the first line:

هان تا سر رشته خِرَد گُم نکنی

Behold ! Never lose the "threads of wisdom"

Source of my honor

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Qadi ‘Iyad ibn Musa (1083–1149), a famous scholar is supposed to have said these verses, which should be the pride of every Muslim.

ومـما زادني شـرفـاً وتـيــهـاً
وكدت بأخمصي أطأ الـثريا
دخولي تحت قولك يا عبادي
وأن صـيَّرت أحمد لي نـبيـا

The translation with my limited abilities is as follows:

ومـما زادني شـرفـاً وتـيــهـاً

And among what increased my honor, pride and bewilderment

وكدت بأخمصي أطأ الـثريا

That my feet almost tread upon the stars

دخولي تحت قولك يا عبادي

Is my being embraced in your statement "O My slaves"

وأن صـيَّرت أحمد لي نـبيـا

And you chose Ahmad  (ﷺ)   as a prophet for me