اَی کَریمی کِه اَز خَزانَهٔ غَیْبگَبْر و تَرْسا وَظیفِهخُور داریدوستان را کُجا کُنی مَحْرومتو کِه با دُشْمَن این نَظَر داری
Meaning
O Gracious Bountiful One! From Your Treasures UnseenThe Guebre (infidel) and the Christian are honoured by Your bestowalsHow can Your friends/adherents ever be deprived?When You view dissenters/adversaries with such benevolence?
Language
Persian/Farsi
Transliteration
Ae Kareemey ke az Khazana-e GhaybGabr o Tarsa Wazeefe KhordaariDoostan Ra Kuja Kunee MehroomTu Ke Ba Dushman Een Nazar Daari
The Most Generous does not withhold His Bounties from those of different faiths, or even from unbelievers, so how on earth will the faithful be deprived? This is a poem of utmost optimism and inclusion. It uses contrasting terms such as friends and adversaries to drive the point home.
Background
These lines are included in the preface of Saadi Shirazi’s Gulistan, or Flower Garden/Rose Garden, one of his two major works, the other being Bustan, or the Orchard. In South Asia, this landmark of Persian literature is a must-read for scholars of literature, Central Asian culture, and the religion of Islam. These verses, on the one hand, reflect optimism and, on the other, are essentially inclusive, underscoring the importance of Allah’s Benevolence to all—even those who are unbelievers on the face of it.
کَریما، بِبَخْشای بَر حالِ ماکِه هَسْتیم اَسیرِ کَمَنْدِ هَوانَداریم غَیْر اَز تو فَریادْرَستُویی عاصِیان را خَطا بَخْش و بَسنِگَهدار ما را زِ راهِ خَطاخَطا دَرْگُذار و صَوابَم نَما
Alternative wording for the second line
(یا: کِه هَسْتیم گِرِفْتارِ کَمَنْدِ هَوا)
Meaning
O Generous One! Pardon our condition
For we are captives in the snare of our desires!
We have none other than You whom we can call upon for help!
You alone are the Forgiver of sinners.
Guard over us/Protect us from the path of sin
Pardon our mistakes, and guide us to righteousness.
The prayer to the Most Generous One asks for forgiveness, realising that we human beings are easily waylaid by our desires unless protected by the Lord—who else but Him? It goes further to seek protection from sins and asks for guidance.
Background
These lines are the beginning of Saadi Shirazi’s Pandnamah, or Scroll of Wisdom, and it is often known as “Kareema” due to the line Kareemaa bi bakhshai bar haale maa. In South Asia, this is one of the first encounters with Persian poetry for any scholar interested in exploring the rich mother-lode of oriental wisdom. It is also considered a blessing to study the poem because it is itself a prayer.
The truly humble believer knows that he or she is weak, full of sin, constrained by inability, and devoid of meaningful existence unless he or she truly surrenders to the Lord. At the same time, the believer is witty enough to realize that Allah is free from all such shortcomings—indeed, from all shortcomings altogether—and hence the wit behind the poem.
Background
Legend has it that as Shams al-Dīn Muhammad Suzani Samarqandi (سوزنی سمرقندی) was approaching the end of his time here on earth, he uttered the lines above.
The world is not, as many suppose, the pursuit of wealth, family, and the like; rather, it is the pursuit of sensuality in utter heedlessness of God.
Background
This couplet from the piece de resistanceMathnawi of Maulana Rumi tries to explain the true nature of the ephemeral world, دنیا, which has been the subject of discussion by many thinkers, and also by the divinely revealed religions. There are several variants of it that have made it into conventional wisdom, so we thought that we should share them as well. Sometimes it is misattributed to others, but the first version is very clearly recorded in the Mathnawi and can be accessed here and here.
The poem implies that utter heedlessness of God—being unmindful—will debase us and restrict us in this physical body or being. That is the true meaning of being involved in the world.
Many thinkers, saints, and pious people have suggested living lives of simple means, yet meaningful. There is a highly evolved concept of (زُهْد)zuhud, variously translated as asceticism, abstinence, or detachment, which encourages having no love for the material world, or being detached from this corporeal and sensual existence.
However, Rumi points out that the key area of focus is not the possessions themselves, but within ourselves, by remembering that God is the sole purpose and that the pursuit of anything else is heedlessness.
The son-in-law and beloved companion of the Prophet ﷺ, ʿAlī ibn ʾAbī Ṭālib (may Allah ennoble his countenance), has put it beautifully:
“Detachment is not that you should not own anything, but that nothing should own you.”
It is implied that nothing should own you other than God.
The Mercy of the Benevolent Lord will manifest itself upon the one who is most needy, and according to Hafez, who else is more needy than the sinners? Khuda Shanas, translated as “Theologian,” could also mean anyone who claims to know God by heart or claims to speak on behalf of God and makes salvation the exclusive right of those who follow them.
Background
As is often the case with friends of God, Hafez was targeted for being anti-religion due to a lack of understanding, and even a lack of effort to understand what he was all about. He did not go against those who condemned him, but rather went along a different paradigm altogether.
His thought process accepts human imperfections and the propensity to sin, but argues in favor of the principle of God’s unlimited forgiveness and leniency (since in Islam, God is, first and foremost, “Benevolent” and “Merciful”). His argument revolves around the manifestation of this Mercy, and who else but the (repenting) sinners would be the recipients of such Mercy? This is, of course, in line with a tradition of the Prophet ﷺ, which can be seen here:
Abu Ayyub Ansari reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said:
If you were not to commit sins, Allah would have swept you out of existence and would have replaced you by another people who have committed sin, and then asked forgiveness from Allah, and He would have granted them pardon.
God has given guidance to every nation, and as long as they remain consistent with that guidance and tradition, they are on the right path.
Background
Amir Hasan 'Ala' Sijzi Dehlawi, a disciple of the Beloved of God (mehboob-e-ilahi), Shaykh Nizamuddin Auliya (may Allah be pleased with him), writes about a conversation between the shaykh and his favorite disciple, Amir Khusrau (may Allah be pleased with him), enshrined in verse form in his compilation of poems.
The two were making ritual ablutions (wudhu') by the river one early morning, and a group of Hindu ascetics (sadhu) came by for their morning bath and prayers. During ablution, it is pertinent to note that the shaykh had pushed his cap back so it was tilted. Amir Khusrau, upon seeing the sadhus, was thinking to himself, saddened by the fact that they were unbelievers, and thus misguided. The shaykh felt his misgivings and uttered a statement, which came to be the defining statement of Sufi Muslim creed in South Asia:
هر قوم راست راهي، ديني و قبله گاهي
Every nation is on the right path, towards their respective Qiblahs, to which they turn
Embarrassed by the fact that his thoughts were read by the shaykh, as well as by the spontaneous correction, Amir Khusrau was humbled, amazed, and immediately rectified his mistake by responding:
ما قبله راست كرديم ،بر سمت كج كلاهي
I have straightened my Qiblah in the direction of your tilted cap
And, devoted to his shaykh and remaining true to his word, Amir Khusrau—as well as all the Chisti saints, even to this day—remained compassionate, inclusive towards other faiths, and humble.
