A Poem on the Path to the Most High

and Knowing the Master of the Way 

By Hājj Mīrzā Hasan Safi AliShāh Isfahāni

(May God sanctify his Mystery [2])

 

Adapted from the basic translation by Nima Hazini

1. O my heart, I would efface you in the vision of the Beloved,

And make you a mirror reflecting the Possessor of Hearts,

Drive you mad by that moon-like Face [3],

Bind you to the Trickster’s tress

And then console you in Love’s tortures.

 

2. Until you become an outcast from house and city,

A stranger to friend and kindred;

And until you sever the chains of reason and will,

And step into the desert of insanity,

I shall bind you to a lock of the Friend.

 

3. Last night, as I was lost to myself and my inner self was made empty,

Appeared that ravishing image of Beauty and Love,

After which my ‘no’ (‘lā’) became an affirming ‘except’ (‘illā’) [4],

And said, ‘Hey you, who are the shameless boon of My Love,

I desire to unburden you of existence.’

 

4. If you boastfully pretend unto the Path,

Be aware that you must first place the whole world behind you,

And not still desire its vanities.

Only when you have relinquished all hope of this world,

Shall I bestow My bountiful favours upon you.

 

5. Reflect for a moment who you are,

From whence you have come, what your origin is, and what you are;

What kind of life do you live for in this world?

Place this whole existence in the scale of non-existence, [5]

So that I may inform you of your portion.

 

6. You blind one, you were naught in pre-eternity [6]!

I desired to bestow existence upon nothingness,

So from the storehouse of being, in My generosity, I first made you into mineral,

But if presumption or vanity overtake you, you will once again be what you were,

And by your own ‘self’, I shall hold you captive to your selfhood.

 

7. From your minerality I brought you forth to planthood [7],

And there gave you life and sustenance.

I delighted you, made you verdant, with caring and caressing breezes,

And since you seek deliverance from this thorn-house of the body,

I shall once again send you towards a flourishing garden.

 

8. When you reached perfection in planthood,

I gave you a bestial body in animality as a similitude.

Thus you possess ties to this lower, animal self!

Should you lay claim to reason and perfection,

To your utter bewilderment, I shall overturn you into a creature of perfidy!

 

9. Since I wanted you to loose yourself in Me,

I breathed a human spirit into you [8],

In pre-eternity I taught you the means to spiritual insight,

And made it binding upon you,

Until I can make you one truly possessed of choice and will in action.

 

10. Yet, once again, I shall turn you out from door to door like a vagrant,

So that I may inform you of the Truth,

Make you supreme over the lineage of man,

Make you head a new revolution,

And send you travelling towards a new destination.

 

11. You were naught and by My Breath became existent;

You were dead, found the breath of life and became of the living,

But when did you gain awareness of the ‘voluntary death’ [9]?

Only when you have thoroughly passed over your own existence,

Shall I acquaint you with My soul’s true subsistence.

 

12. If you desire to reach peace and security in God,

Know, My peace and security are bestowed in poverty.

Become poor in the station of selflessness! [10]

Seek to be copper although you are gold,

So that you may give life like the alchemist of souls.

 

13. Since you gained certainty by remembering Me upon a single breath,

I have verily opened the gates to spiritual knowledge for you;

In truth, I have given you freedom of will, but if you fall

Into the vain delusion that you yourself own this freedom and will,

Beware, for without fail I shall ensnare you in your own selfhood.

 

14. I have informed you of your Path,

And accompanied you on this Path,

But if upon this spiritual road, until your goal is realised,

You reckon that you yourself are the guide on this Path,

Then verily, I shall cast you down into the pit of oblivion!

 

15. Since you ask Me for the Breath of Love, My son,

That I give you, so that you can become a true human being,

I shall crown you with the crown of kings,

But should you, even seemingly, become conceited and deceived by it,

Beware, for I shall take that crown and hang it upon your very neck!

 

16. How long will you persist twisting and turning around yourself,

Incessantly, like the silk-worm spinning, O My son!

Or are you unaware that you are pursuing the path of salvation in vain,

By hastening in your forefathers’ religion?

Verily, with one glance I shall cast you down as a beast of burden![11]

 

17. I want to free you from the fetters of the body,

Given that you pursue no vocation but your own self-preservation;

Then, since I made this head of yours into that headless head,

Every moment I make for you a new bed of pain,

And with the hand of destiny, I shall throw you nigh unto death.

 

18. And this, in order that you may surrender to the command of the Pīr,

Like a dead morsel in the fork of the lion,

Helplessly turning towards voluntary death;

Sometimes I raise you to heights, at others I take you to depths,

Sometimes I make you breadless, at others I torment you with illness.

 

19. As long as your leaven-like and seething inner self subsists,

I shall throw you out of one burning furnace into the next,

And burn your unwilling pride to cinders;

Cooked shall I bring it forth [12], rid of impurity and defect,

And raise your consciousness through the wine of intoxication.

 

20. At one time I shall hang you from the noose of extinction,

At another mix your blood with the dirt,

Then humiliate you by casting you in the grime,

And into the sieve of misfortune,

Making you despair of your true life.

 

21. As long as you can breathe,

With every breath, your life will be at death’s door.

Each time, with new fire and zeal,

Not given one moment’s respite,

Until I awaken you from this sleep of death!

 

22. As long as you have not breathed your last in existence,

I shall turn you into one worthy to receive,

And whichever page of your book you may open,

I shall throw its fixed order into disarray,

Until, in agony, you are made to give sincere accounting.

 

23. Remember that when you speak of spirit and body,

There is naught but ‘I’ and ‘we’ in such talk [13],

And as long as you persist in seeing this ‘I’ and ‘we’,

I shall strike you blind, deaf, dumb and lame with exhaustion,

Until you are as speechless as a picture hanging on the wall!

 

24. I shall take away your clothes so that your skin gets burnt by the sun,

I shall strike down your means and livelihood,

Since your vitality is tied to your bread,

I shall take your bread away so that your very life wears out,

Making you worthy only of the flesh of the dead.

 

25. If you ignore Me and turn your face to the people,

I shall make them turn their backs on you,

And turn the nature and habits of the world against you,

Make you feel remorse for the idle talk of the worldly,

In hopeless despair will you sigh over friend and stranger alike.

 

26. If a thousand heads should spring forth from your body, beware!

For I shall chop them all off on the rock of misfortune.

And with one head remaining in place,

Just like Mansūr [14], cast it under the feet of mobs,

And place your neck upon the hangman’s gibbet.

 

27. With fire I shall kindle your life, your soul,

Make your entire existence go up in flames of Majesty,

Place the cry of ‘Ana’l-Haqq!’ – ‘I am the Truth!’ upon your tongue.

As your head is in the noose and stones rain down on you,

I shall make you the Hallāj, the carder of mysteries [15].

 

28. Now that you have taken determined steps upon the Path of Love,

And have adopted the secret of the Sufis as your craft,

Know that you have indeed drunk from the goblet of intoxication,

In such wise that you have verily died to your ‘self’,

So that I can raise you above the lovers.

 

29. Should you devote yourself to the wealth and profits of this world,

You will benefit naught but trouble and misfortune;

This, even though you are fed after your destiny has been set,

And if your devotion is mere play in order to attain heavenly reward and paradise,

On the contrary, I shall overturn you into the fires of hell!

 

30. If you desire My illumination,

Know that you are merely enamoured by the light and not desiring Me;

In fact, you are far removed from the circle of My beloved ones!

Only when you have become in My hands like a fluttering leaf,

Shall I make you the well-spring of illumination.

 

31. You often recount tales of good and evil,

Sometimes you speak of the Ka‘ba, sometimes of the Monastery;

At other times you devote yourself to invocation [16], or to visions.

When you cease to care for worldly affairs for even a single moment,

I shall make you the sole member of My Kingdom.

 

32. Sometimes you hold regard for your body, sometimes for your soul,

At other times you focus your eyes on female beauty.

And sometimes you are, like the brahman [17], focused on idols .

Thus, as long as you are distracted now by this view, then by another,

I shall humiliate you in the sight of others.

 

33. Sometimes you are in love with the rose, sometimes with the narcissus,

Sometimes with the ermine, sometimes with the redness of satin.

And now that in your destitution you have become friend to the dirham [18],

Know that you are far, far away from Me with your enchantment with this other.

In every town and bazaar, I shall make you the plaything of others.

 

34. At times you fancy the acquisition of possessions, position and wealth,

Sometimes you desire this everlasting life,

At others, you engage with possibilities and impossibilities.

At every moment your vain imagination desires one thing,

And in it, I shall make you grieve over thoughts of nothing.

 

35. So take determinedsure steps for your own sake,

And banish these thoughts of oblivion from your mind.

Abandon the daily grind to the cow and mule,

And with yearning heart invoke a prayer like Ja‘far [19],

So that I may make you soar through Love’s eternity [20].

 

36. How long will you languish in indolent slumber? Arise and start working!

Lo, it’s not times to be drunk, be sober!

Sleepwalking is your death, wake up!

The caravan has left, make haste,

So that I may make your fellow travellers assist you.

 

37. Carry your burden from this station, My Loved One,

For this desert is fraught with fear and danger!

And should you become stranded, your blood will have been wasted.

Later, grief-stricken, with hands held aloft, you will strike your head in desolation;

It was My duty to make you realise this!

 

38. O youth, do you listen with your heart to the counsel of the Pīr? [21]

Do you, in this sea of tribulation, hold fast to the safe cord of the Pīr?

Has anyone who was firmly tied to the Pīr ever suffered any loss?

When, with your heart and soul, you show to be in need of a Pīr,

Without entreaty, at once, I shall make you free from want and need of Creation.

 

39. My precious son, there is no refuge from these calamities and dangers

Except in turning to Me;

Therefore, do not turn away from the ship of My protection,

So that like with Abraham [22] and Jonah [23],

I may make the fire and sea your protectors.

 

40. In spite of the sins and errors

You have squandered your life in,

Should you seek refuge under the shelter of my Mercy,

Than I shall grant you happiness in the centre of God’s forgiveness.

I shall enable you to pardon the faults of mankind!

 

41. Although you are in the presence of Being, O faqīr [24]!

Although you witness the repeated turns of manifestation, O faqīr!

Although you are immersed in a sea of light, O faqīr!

Know, once again, that you are far remote from me, O faqīr!

Otherwise, I shall hold you far distant from the meeting with Me.

 

42. To cut our tale short: become a slave under the canopy of My court,

So that, like Moses, you may witness My countenance within yourself,

Like Jesus, you may come alive by My scent,

And when you turn to Me in passionate love,

I shall manifest you in the station of nearness [25].

 

43. Value the present moment, for the world subsists upon a single Breath.

Whoever is intimate with this Breath, is truly of the lineage of Adam.

Since mankind is made to live by this Breath, seek this Breath from Me,

For the bounteous emanation of this Breath is a universe deposited within man’s breast [26];

Moment to moment, breathe the Breath so that I may befriend you with My Breath.

 

44. In this age, in the present moment, the Possessor of the Breath is I,

Indeed, in every age I am the Possessor of Life;

I am the Gate to Knowledge and to the Essence of Wisdom [27],

Verily, I am all that reason and mind cannot contain,

I shall turn your inner being into the surging waves of an ocean.

 

45. With the descending manifestations of meaning and form,

I am in every way superior to the masters of intellect.

Yet, in order to bestow guidance upon Creation,

In every age My Essence takes on a new form,

So that with form I may leave you a sublime trace and an impression of the meaning of Reality.

 

46. I am the Guide and Leader of the Prophets in their prophecy,

I am sovereign over the Saints in their sainthood;

I am the cousin and companion of Mustafa [28],

Verily, I am Haydar, I am Haydar, I am Haydar [29].

So, behold! For I shall permeate you with the secret of repetitions in fight [30]!

 

47. In every era, My splendour manifests in a particular garb,

In this age I am clothed in the garment of Rahmat [31],

Lo, I am Ali possessed of the Great Might,

And should you become a beggar to My every whim, from your very soul,

O Safi, I shall manifest you within the highest light, the Light of Lights.

 

48. In My praiseworthy qualities and highest virtue, I am ‘Mercy for the two worlds’ [32];

In My Beauty, I am the Compassionate Creator of Mercy,

In My Majesty, I am the Emperor on the Day of Judgement [33],

Sitting upon the Throne of ‘You only do we worship and You alone do we ask for help’ [34],

I make you turn away from duality.

 

49. Verily, I am the ‘straight path’, so give ear!

All paths other than Me are null and void,

One glance from Me is better for you than a hundred chillas [35],

So convert with a sincere heart to ‘guide us’ [36],

That I may fix you immovable upon the right path.

 

50. As long as that vile and accursed fiend [37] has not led you astray

From this straight path, O brother,

Proclaim loudly, continually, without fear or trepidation,

Singing, ‘In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful’,

So that I may protect you from that evil of evils.

 

51. I am the hidden talisman, the treasure of ‘naught’(‘lā’)

When you attain the treasure of ‘naught’ (‘lā’), I am the ‘except’(‘illā’),

Meaning: I am above affirmation (‘illā’) and negation (‘lā’) [38].

To the bā [39]’ I am, as it were, the dot beneath, its referent and speaker;

See the One [40], so that I may inspire you to perform your task!

 

52. Who is the manifestation of the wonders of creation? It is I!

Who is the Source of the manifestation of the secrets of the extraordinary? It is I!

Who is the Giver of aid in times of misfortune? It is I!

In truth, who is the Essence of the Absolute? Verily it is I!

Gird up your loins, so that I may make you walk aright!

 

53. If this once, as I speak and reveal glimpses of My hidden secrets,

An unstable thought falls into hesitation, know, if you can comprehend it,

That from many thousands, only one can be found that you can understand,

And if you should doubt,

I shall bind your feet down to the vanities of corrupt imagination.

 

54. The night has passed, O downhearted nightingale,

Look upon the rose and pass by the babble and chit-chat,

For one moment, be bewildered by My Beauty

Become like a dumbstruck parrot [41] gazing in a mirror,

So that, in honour of Myself, I may make you taste the sweetness of praise.

 

Acknowledgement: On behalf of the Ne‘matollāhi-Safi AliShāhi Sufi Order, the translator would like to thank the following individuals for their valuable suggestions during various stages of the translation process: Mr. Sen McGlinn, Professors Juan Ricardo Cole (University of Michigan-Ann Arbor/History and Middle East studies), Carl Ernst (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill/Religious Studies) and Franklin D. Lewis (Emory University-Atlanta/Near East Languages and Cultures).

 

Copyright © Ne‘matollāhi-SafiAliShāhi Sufi Order

Quranic quotations based on the translation by Abdallah Yusuf Ali, Lahore 1934.