CHAPTER I

In the name of Allah, The Most Beneficent,  The Most Merciful

Has the thought of Dhi-Salam[i] stirred

A stream of tears with blood from your eyes?

Indeed, it is the winds that blow from Kazima[ii],

                                     And the lightning striking from Idham[iii].

Why do my eyes teem with tears when told not to?

And the heart rebels, untrammeled, unrestrained?

Love can't be suppressed, in peace or turmoil;

                                            Only the one who loveth, knoweth it well.

The ruins bear witness to the wailing lovers

Who cry rivers on Ben[iv] and Alam[v].

Can you deny love when tears and frailty

                                               Are the two veracious witnesses?

And tears sanguineous carved two lines,

Like flowing streams, on your pallid face?

Yearning tears follow my beloved's memory,

                                                  Pain and pleasure are companions eternal.

Reproach me not for my love sublime;

Were ye judicious, would not condemn.

                                                             Neither my secret is safe from rivals,

                                                               Nor anything palliates my raging pain. 

Counseled you well, but heedless was I:

Impervious to counsels are those in love.

                                             As the greybeard summoned reason, I demurred,

                                               While the old doth not blame the young in love.

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CHAPTER II

 "Weak and old are ye", cautioned Reason.

"Nay!" replied Ignorance and Ego.

                                                     Suddenly came the chance for good deeds,

                                                        And scornfully my hauteur turned it back.  

If only I could bar the folds on my face

To give the chance that youth lost, a chance!   

Can someone rein in my temptations,

                                                       As a wild pony is harnessed?

You cannot satiate your sinful proclivities,

For surfeit of food whets the appetite.

And thyself! A baby that suckleth,

                                                        If weanest off, giveth up.

Rein its desires and let depravity not succeed!

When depravity prevails, it either blots or kills.

Like grazing cattle, it must be watched.

                                                         It strays where pastures are green. 

Many a deadly pleasures did Man relish,

Gnawing at the sweet nectar of poison ivy.

Fear the evils of hunger and satiation,

                                                 Dearth is worse than surfeit.

Shed tears from the eyes frail,

And repent the sins ye committed.

                                                            And obey not Satan, nor thy own self,

                                                              For their truth is but crass falsehood.

And do not follow nor hearken to them,

Utterly misleading, they take you astray.

May Allah forgive me! For words without deeds

                                     Are like offspring of a mother sterile.

"Do good!" said I, while I erred. 

Lame men lead no armies.

                             Behold! My account for the Day of Judgment:

Five times' prostration and compulsory abstinence[vi]!

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CHAPTER III

Indeed a mistake grave was disobedience to Prophet,

In supplication, the night witness to his feet sore. 

                                                 Stones clung to his belly, bruising his skin, 

King of the two worlds, privation his treasure.

"Shall we be gold?" Beseeched the mountains.

“Nay!” Said he, with faith aloft.

                                                         Stronger than mountains his faith grew,

That worldly needs could never surmount.

Unrelenting, his faith stood before them.

To him, owe the world its birth and end.

Muhammad, sole master of all worlds, exclusive,

                                                Those of Man and jinn, of Arabia and beyond.

Ours is the Prophet, ordains good, forbids evil,

None equal to him in words and deeds.

                                     Allah’s beloved, he shall save us all

                                                     On that fearful Day, interceding for sinners.

He called Mankind unto Allah.

He who holds tight to His rope, shall not stray.

                                           He transcends in good deeds and kindness.

No parallel in knowledge, Prophets or Mankind.

All before him fill their pitchers

From the inexhaustible fountain of his faith.

With deference, they stand in ranks,

                                                                  Perhaps a drop from wisdom abound.

None save him perfect, in ken and physique,

Chosen and most loved of all by the Creator.

Unique and precious, indivisible are his virtues,

                                           Unparalleled, sterling, beyond emulation.

Say not what followers of Jesus claim.

Praise him, but let wisdom be your guide.

Ennoble thy prophet the way ye may wish.

                                                       Exalt and glorify him as ye may choose.

Limitless his blessings, inenarrable.

Dumbfound and mute are all tongues.

If miracles were to happen equal to his status,

                                              Dead bones would rise on hearing his name.

Simplifying faith, he rid us of complexities,

Rescuing minds from confusion and doubts.

                                      Who he really is? Defeated stands the mind!

                                               Blind or seeing know him not, only the truly loving.

Like the sun, miniscule from a distance,

But when you stare at it, glares your eyes.

Can a people fast asleep and smug

                                                              Comprehend his true status?

"Just another man!" Sayeth the savant.

Best among all created, beyond ordinary's perception.

Source of all miracles given to His messengers

                                  Is the light given to him by Allah.

Sun of Allah’s blessings, others his planets

That guide Mankind from darkness to light.

How winsome your face is, Allah's creation,

                                                    A blend of beauty and freshness radiant.

Fresh as a bud, lucent like a full moon.

In forgiveness, an ocean and courage like steel.

To the enemy, alone he is an army,

                                                         Awesome and impressive.

A pearl in an oyster his smile is!

And oratory, dulcet and trenchant.

No perfume sweeter than the dust on his body.

                                          Blessed is he who smelleth and kisseth it!

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CHAPTER IV

 Beginning to end, pure and perfect, 

All prays be to Allah, none equal to you.

                                           And the people of Persia recalled that day,

When they had been warned of the tribulations.

As the pillars of Xerxes'[vii] palace crumbled,

No cronies around to succor him again.

The fire of Persians sighed over his end,

                                                           And their river aghast, forgot flowing.

Sawa[viii] dried up, grieved, her source lost, 

Turning back many thirsty and wrathful.

Grief-laden water turned into fire,

                                                                     Bearing drops of sadness.  

As Prophet-hood rose, jinns clamoured!

Righteousness evident from his light and words.

                                           Deaf were their ears to the glad tidings, 

                                             And blind their eyes for the lights of warnings.

To their priests when the jinns presaged

That baseless was their religion. 

Then the idols of worship fell on their faces,[ix] 

                                           And flames of fire were seen falling on earth.

And the disciples of Satan fled in tandem

From the truth that hath been revealed.

                                     They resembled Abraha’s[x] armies as they fled

When scores of birds were pelting them with stones.

Like Yunus was thrown out of the fish’s belly

When he recited Allah's verses.

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CHAPTER V

"Come hither!" he summoned.

Came the trees, scurrying footless.

Writing on the ground, novel and beautiful

                                       Straight lines as they walked.

Sheltering him from beastly heat,

Went along a cloud wherever he went.

I swear by the moon, which was split into two[xi]

                                      Like his heart was, this oath is justifiable.

The Cave! Replete with blessings and kindness;

The infidels blinded.

                                                  Truth and Siddique[xii] snug inside:

                                                          Infidels outside enouncing, “No one here.”

The dove and the spider unperturbed, infidels perplexed!

To protect the best of all, they knew not.

                                            Allah’s protection had rendered needless

Their worries of shelter in castles and armour.

When the ravages of time oppressed me, 

Prophet's love was nigher to rescue and protect.

And when I sought blessings of the two worlds,

                                              He always extended his hand with kindness.

Refute not what was revealed in his dreams,

For when his eyes slept, his heart was awake.

Verily, Muhammad's are revelations beyond doubt:

                             Thus, Allah affirmed his prophet-hood.

True, the revelations cannot be earned.

Allah teaches all that prophets know. 

The touch of his hand cured many,

And lunatics regained their sanity.

His prayers quenched the thirst of lands,

And turned the worst into the best of times.

A cloud poured on the dry valley   

                                                               As though unleashed from a dam.

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