Translations

from Walled Gardens

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.