PRESENT-DAY
POLITICS
It strengthens the chains of the slaves;
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the inexperienced call it “freedom”.
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When it saw the people’s agitation,
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it drew a curtain over the face of imperialism.
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It characterised State as multi-national,
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and thus covered its trickery under this naïve phrase.
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One can hardly move about freely in its environment,
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no door can be opened by its keys.
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It said to the bird in cage, “O sorrow-stricken bird,
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build thy nest in the house of the hunter;
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he who builds his nest in meadows and gardens
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cannot be secure from falcon and hawk.”
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Under its spell, the self-deluding bird, enamoured of grain,
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choked its wailings in its throat.
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If you desire (real) freedom, do not get caught in its coils,
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remain thirsty rather than pine for moisture from its vine.
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May God protect you from its speech and its equivocal word!
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The eyes (of the people), through its collyrium, become more
blind,
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and the helpless are rendered more helpless through its
subterfuges;
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may God protect us from the wine of its cup,
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and from its gamester’s tricks.
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The free man does not neglect his ego;
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protect yourself, do not take its opium pill.
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Speak the word of (truth like) Moses before Pharaohs
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so that your stroke may split the river into two.
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My heart is grieved at the dishonour suffered by the caravan,
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I do not see the light of soul in its leader;
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he is a worshipper of the body, ambitious of worldly honour
and short-sighted.
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his heart devoid of the light of la
ilah,
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he was born a Muslim but is a disciple of the church,
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he rent asunder the veil of our honour;
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to catch hold of his skirt is the height of foolishness,
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his breast is devoid of a shining heart.
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In this path rely on yourself, for nobody
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goes hunting deer with the help of blind dogs.
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Alas! for the nation that shuts its eyes from itself,
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gives its heart to the other-than-God, and breaks loose from
itself.
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When khudi died in the breast of the
millat,
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the mountain became a straw and was blown away by the wind.
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Although it has la ilah in its very constitution,
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yet it gave birth to no true Muslim.
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One who gives faith to the faithless,
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whose self-prostration makes the earth tremble,
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who utters “there is no god” at the risk of his life,
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from whose blood grows (the flower of)
there is no god;
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that ecstasy, that ardour of longing, has disappeared,
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no longer is there such a man of heart in the sanctuary.
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O Muslim, in this ancient tavern,
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how long will you remain in the snares of Satan?
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Ask (of God) His blessing in your striving and delight
therein,
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nothing is attained without midnight supplications.
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How long to live in the ocean like a floating straw?
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Become hard like a mountain through self-control.
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Although the wise do not reveal the state of their heart to
anybody,
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I cannot hide from you my heart’s grief.
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Being a slave and born in slavery,
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I have wandered away from the threshold of the
Ka’bah.
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When I recite salutations in the name of Mustafa,
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my whole being suffers acutely through shame.
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Love says: “O slave of others,
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your breast is like a temple full of idols;
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so long as you do not have the colour of Muhammad
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do not pollute his name by your salutations.”
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Do not ask me about my inattentive standing in prayer
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and about my prostration lacking in ecstasy.
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God’s manifestation, although it may last but for a moment,
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is enjoyed by free people alone.
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When a free man falls down in prostration before God,
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the blue sky revolves round him ecstatically;
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we slaves are unaware of his might
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and of his beauty and grace.
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Do not seek the ecstasy of faith in a slave,
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even if he be a hafiz of the Qur’an.
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He is a Muslim but behaves like an Azar,
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his religion and gnosis are all kufr (unbelief).
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If you have life’s ardour in your body,
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you will know that the ascension of a Muslim is in his
prayer.
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If you have no
warm blood in your body,
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your prostration
is but conformity to an ancient custom;
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the ‘Id of
the free people is the glory of State and religion,
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the ‘Id of
the slaves is but a congregation of Muslims.
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