S. R. Faruqi:

(1) I know myself to be my own aim and purpose.
Do I ever believe that anyone but I exists?

[This verse and the next four express a state of supreme spiritual elevation, when the Sufi finds himself completely immersed in God. It is a state that some Sufi orders describe as sair fi'allah (Arabic,"traveling into God").]

(2) My submission, my humbleness, are all directed toward me alone.
This handful of dust is all I regard as worthy of prostration and adoration.

(3) True reality can never gain a form or appearance except when I am there.
Those who see with the eye of discrimination know me alone as the Adored One.

["Adored one": ma'bud, "one who is worshiped." Theologically, the One and Only God is Ma'bud. In everyday Urdu, it means "the one whom one worships." It does not necessarily mean God.]

(4) All praise for the wisdom of those who believe that all else but I myself
is worthless, of no substance, nothing.

(5) My sole purpose in making apparent my radiance was to enjoy the sight of me alone.
But that's a secret known to just a handful of people.

(6) Every bud and bloom in this park prepares for departure, oh God.
But as far as I know, the road of fidelity is blocked and barred.

[This verse is a comment on the state of man in the universe: love is not requited, the lover is fated to be alone. Fidelity does not exist. The rose, once gone, never returns. The poet expresses regret and surprise that every bud and bloom is preparing to depart, and leaves us with an ambiguity: where are they going? The road of fidelity is blocked as far as he knows. Return is not possible.]

(7) This injustice is extreme, and supremely hard to bear: the lovely ones
regard as admirable their ill disposition, their rudeness!

(8) What can he know of the customs, concerns, and the force needed to keep company with those who are lost to their own selves?
The pious shaikh knows nothing but a bit of jumping up and down in an assembly.

[That is, doing the ritual Muslim prayer (namaz), which involves repeated bending, prostrating, and rising.]

(9) The beloved is actually free of charge, Mir, if she comes to hand in exchange for your life!
Heartache and even loss of life I regard as plain profit in this business.

 

FWP:

(inspired by SRF's translation)

(1) I know my object to be myself alone.
Besides myself, whom else do I know to be present?

(2) My humility and submission is all toward myself.
This handful of dust, I know as the object of prostration.

(3) Without me, those aspects can never at all take on shape.
People of insight know me as the worshiped one.

(4) Praise be to their wisdom, who apart from me
know everything to be nothing, nonexistent!

(5) To enjoy exploring myself, I became manifest.
But only a small number know this mystery.

(6) Oh Lord, every bud of this garden has harnessed its camel,
I know that the road of faithfulness is closed.

(7) The cruelest oppression, made crueller still: that the lovely ones
Know their bad behavior to be praiseworthy.

(8) What would he know of the subtleties of the self-less?
The Shaikh Sahib knows how to jump around in the gathering.

(9) If she's bought at the cost of your life, Mir, she's still a steal!
I know the loss of life to be a profit.

 

Zahra Sabri:

Zahra Sabri is a special guest translator for this site.

(1) We consider ourselves alone to be what we seek after
Who do we consider existent beyond our own selves?

(2) Our humble prostration and supplication is all directed towards our own selves
This fistful of dust is what we consider worthy of worship

(3) That essence is in no way capable of appearance without us
The ones with perception consider us alone to be the Worshiped One

(4) Bravo to the wisdom of those, who, apart from us
Consider all else nothing and non-existent

(5) It was to gaze upon our own self that we became manifested
However, only a few know this secret

(6) Every bud in this garden girths up its camel, oh Lord
As for us, we consider the path of faithfulness to be obstructed

(7) This limitless cruelty – even more difficult is that the beautiful ones
Consider their rude behaviour as laudable

(8) What can he know of the elevated refinement of the ones who are wholly lost to themselves
The esteemed shaikh knows merely to jump up and down a bit in the assembly

(9) If attained only upon dying, even then “Mir”, she is for free
Even the loss of our life is something we consider a profit