But those who have faith
And work righteousness,
They are Companions of the Garden:
Therein shall they abide
(Forever).
(2.82.
QAYA, 38)
And be steadfast in prayer
And regular in charity:
And whatever good
Ye send forth for your souls
Before you, ye shall find it
With Allah: for Allah sees
Well all that ye do.
And they say: “None
Shall enter Paradise unless
He be a Jew or a Christian.”
Those are their (vain) desires.
Say: “Produce your proof
If ye are truthful.”
Nay—whoever submits
His whole self to Allah
And is a doer of good—
He will get his reward
With his Lord;
On such shall be no fear,
Nor shall they grieve.
(2.110-112.
QAYA, 48)
O ye who believe!
Fasting is prescribed to you
As it was prescribed
To those before you,
That ye may (learn)
Self-restraint—
(2.183.
QAYA, 75)
Permitted to you,
On the night of the fasts,
Is the approach to your wives.
They are your garments
And ye are their garments.
Allah knoweth what ye
Used to do secretly among yourselves;
But He turned to you
And forgave you;
So now associate with them,
And seek what Allah
Hath ordained for you,
And eat and drink,
Until the white thread
Of dawn appear to you
Distinct from its black thread;
Then complete your fast
Till the night appears;
But do not associate
With your wives
While ye are in retreat
In the mosques. Those are
Limits (set by) Allah:
Approach not nigh thereto.
Thus doth Allah make clear
His Signs to men: that
They may learn self-restraint.
(2.187.
QAYA, 74-5)
Or do ye think
That ye shall enter
The Garden (of bliss)
Without such (trials)
As came to those
Who passed away
Before you?
They encountered
Suffering and adversity,
And were so shaken in spirit
That even the Messenger
And those of faith
Who were with him
Cried: “When (will come)
The help of Allah?”
Ah! Verily, the help of Allah
Is (always) near!
(2.214.
QAYA, 85-6)
Allah will not
Call you to account
For thoughtlessness
In your oaths,
But for the intention
In your hearts;
And He is
Oft-Forgiving,
Most
Forbearing.
(2.25.
QAYA, 91)
Those who believe (in the Qur’an),
Those who follow the Jewish (scriptures),
And the Sabians and the Christians—
Any who believe in Allah and the Last Day,
And work righteousness—
On them shall be no fear,
Nor shall they grieve.
(5.69.
QAYA, 270-1)
Leave alone those
Who take their religion
To be mere play
And amusement,
And are deceived
By the life of this world.
But proclaim (to them)
This (truth): that every soul
Delivers itself to ruin
By its own acts:
It will find for itself
No protector or intercessor
Except Allah: if it offered
Every ransom, (or
Reparation), none
Will be accepted: such is
(The end of) those who
Deliver themselves to ruin
By their own acts:
They will have for drink
(Only) boiling water,
And for punishment,
One most grievous;
For they persisted
In rejecting Allah.
(6.70.
QAYA, 312-13)
When the night
Covered him over,
He saw a star:
He said: “This is my Lord.”
But when it set,
He said: “I love not
Those that set.”
When he saw the moon
Rising in splendour,
He said: “This is my Lord.”
But when the moon set,
He said: “unless my Lord
Guide me, I shall surely
Be among those
Who go astray.”
(6.76-77.
QAYA, 314-15)
Wert thou to follow
The common run of those
On earth, they will lead
Thee away from the way
Of Allah. They follow
Nothing but conjecture: they
Do nothing but lie.
(6.116.
QAYA, 328)
Call on your Lord
With humility and in private:
For Allah loveth not
Those who trespass beyond bounds.
(7.55.
QAYA, 359)
Verily Allah will not deal
Unjustly with man in aught:
It is man that wrongs
His own soul.
(10.44.
QAYA, 492)
Say “In the bounty of Allah.
And in His Mercy—in that
Let them rejoice”: that is better
Than the (wealth) they hoard.
(10.58.
QAYA, 495)
And establish regular prayers
At the two ends of the day
And at the approaches of the night:
For those things, that are good
Remove those that are evil:
In that is remembrance
To those who remember (their Lord):
(11.114.
QAYA, 541)
If thy Lord had so willed,
He could have made mankind
One people: but they
Will not cease to dispute.
(11.118.
QAYA, 542)
There is, in their stories,
Instruction for men endued
With understanding. It is not
A tale invented, but a confirmation
Of what went before it—
A detailed exposition
Of all things, and a Guide
And a Mercy to any such
As believe.
(12.111.
QAYA, 583-4)
Those who love the life
Of this world more than
The Hereafter, who hinder (men)
From the Path of Allah
And seek therein something crooked:
They are astray
By a long distance.
(14.3.
QAYA, 603)
And He giveth you
OF all that ye ask for.
But if ye count the favours
Of Allah, never will ye
Be able to number them.
Verily, man is given up
To injustice and ingratitude.
(14.34.
QAYA, 613)
Do they not look at
The birds, held poised
In the midst of (the air
And) the sky? Nothing
Holds them up but (the power
Of) Allah. Verily in this
Are signs for those who believe.
(16.79.
QAYA, 658)
Establish regular prayers—
At the sun’s decline
Till the darkness of the night,
And the morning prayer
And reading: for the prayer
And reading in the morning
Carry their testimony.
And pray in the small watches
Of the morning: (it would be)
An additional prayer
(Or spiritual profit)
For thee: soon will thy Lord
Raise thee to a Station
Of Praise and Glory!
(17-78-9.
QAYA, 696)
We bestowed aforetime
On Abraham his rectitude
Of conduct, and well were We
Acquainted with him.
Behold! he said
To his father and his people,
“What are these images,
To which ye are
(So assiduously) devoted?”
They said, “We found
Our fathers worshipping them.”
He said, “Indeed ye
Have been in manifest
Error—ye and your fathers.”
They said, “Have you
Brought us the Truth,
Or are you one
Of those who jest?”
He said, “Nay, your Lord
Is the Lord of the heavens
And the earth, He Who
Created them (from nothing):
And I am a witness
To this (Truth).”
“And by Allah, I have
A plan for your idols—
After ye go away
And turn your backs”…
So he broke them to pieces,
(All) but the biggest of them,
That they might turn
(And address themselves) to it.
They said, “Who has
Done this to our gods?
He must indeed be
Some man of impiety!”
They said, “We heard
A youth talk of them:
He is called Abraham.”
They said, “Then bring him
Before the eyes of the people,
That they may bear witness.”
They said, “Art thou
The one that did this
With our gods, O Abraham?”
He said: “Nay, this
Was done by—this
Is their biggest one!
Ask them, if they
Can speak intelligently!”
So they turned to themselves
And said, “Surely ye
Are the ones in the wrong!”
Then were they confounded
With shame: (they said),
“Thou knowest full well that
These (idols) do not speak!”
(Abraham) said, “Do ye then
Worship, besides Allah,
Things that can neither
Be of any good to you
Nor do you harm?”
(21.51-66.
QAYA, 806-808)
“If ye obey a man
Like yourselves, behold,
It is certain ye will be lost.”
(23.34.
QAYA, 850)
And put thy trust
In Him Who lives
And dies not; and celebrate
His praise; and enough is He
To be acquainted with
The faults of His servants—
(25.58.
QAYA, 903)
And the servants of (Allah)
Most Gracious are those
Who walk on the earth in humility, and when the
ignorant
Address them, they say, “Peace!”;
(25.63.
QAYA, 904)
Thou seest the mountains
And thinkest them firmly fixed:
But they shall pass away
As the clouds pass away
(Such is) the artistry of Allah,
Who disposes of all things
In perfect order: for he is
Well acquainted with all that ye do.
(27:88.
QAYA, 957-8)
The (material) things which
Ye are given are but
The conveniences of this life
And the glitter thereof;
But that which is with Allah
Is better and more enduring:
Will ye not then be wise?
(28.60.
QAYA, 977)
And call not, besides Allah,
On another god. There is
No god but He. Everything
(That exists) will perish
Except His own Face.
To Him belongs the Command, and
To Him will ye
(All) be brought back.
(28.88.
QAYA, 985)
Say “If I am astray,
I only stray to the loss
Of my own soul: but if
I receive guidance, it is
Because of the inspiration
Of my Lord to me:
It is He Who hears
All things, and is (ever) near.”
(34.50.
QAYA, 1098)
But Allah will deliver
The righteous to their place
Of salvation: no evil
Shall touch them,
Nor shall they grieve.
(39.61.
QAYA, 1198)
“O my people! This life
Of the present is nothing
But (temporary) convenience:
It is the Hereafter
That is the Home
That will last.”
(40.39.
QAYA, 1216)
Assuredly the creation
Of the heavens
And the earth
Is a greater (matter)
Than the creation of men:
Yet most men understand not.
(40.57.
QAYA, 1221)
Know ye (all), that
The life of this world
Is but play and amusement,
Pomp and mutual boasting
And multiplying, (in rivalry)
Among yourselves, riches
And children.
Here is a similitude:
How rain and the growth
Which it brings forth, delight
(The hearts of) the tillers;
Soon it withers; thou
Wilt see it grow yellow;
Then it becomes dry
And crumbles away.
But in the Hereafter
Is a Penalty severe
(For the devotees of wrong).
And Forgiveness from Allah
And (His) Good Pleasure
(For the devotees of Allah).
And what is the life
Of this world, but
Goods and chattels
Of deception?
(57.20.
QAYA, 1426)
Thy Lord doth know
That thou standest forth
(To prayer) nigh two-thirds
Of the night, or half
The night, or a third
Of the night, and so doth
A party of those with thee.
But Allah doth appoint night
And day in due measure
He knoweth that ye are
Unable to keep count thereof.
So He hath turned to you
(In mercy): read ye,
Therefore, of the Qur’an
As much as may be
Easy for you. He knoweth
That there may be (some)
Among you in ill-health;
Others travelling through the land,
Seeking of Allah’s bounty;
Yet others fighting
In Allah’s Cause, read ye,
Therefore, as much of the Qur’an
As may be easy (for you);
And establish regular Prayer
And give regular Charity;
And loan to Allah
A Beautiful Loan.
And whatever good
Ye send forth
For your souls ye shall find it
In Allah’s Presence—yea, better and
Greater, in Reward,
And seek ye the Grace
Of Allah: for Allah is
Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
(73.20.
QAYA, 1554-55)
When the sun
(With its spacious light)
Is folded up;
When the stars
Fall, losing their lustre;
When the mountains vanish
(Like a mirage);
When the she-camels,
Ten months with young,
Are left untended;
When the wild beasts
Are herded together
(In the human habitations);
When the oceans
Boil over with a swell;
When the souls
Are sorted out,
(Being joined, like with like);
When the female (infant),
Buried alive, is questioned—
For what crime
She was killed;
When the Scrolls
Are laid open;
When the World on High
Is unveiled;
When the Blazing Fire
Is kindled to fierce heat;
And when the Garden
Is brought near—
(Then) shall each soul know
What it has put forward.
(81.1-14.
QAYA, 1606-1608)
Have We not
Expanded thee thy breast?
And removed from thee
Thy burden
The which did gall
Thy back?—
And raised high the esteem
(In which) thou (art held)?
So, verily,
With every difficulty,
There is relief:
Verily, with every difficulty,
There is relief.
Therefore, when thou art
Free (from thin immediate task),
Sill labour hard,
And to thy Lord
Turn (all) thy attention.
(94.1-8.
QAYA, 1666-1667)
top
Slide out and die. Die,
and be quiet. Quietness is the surest sign
that you’ve died.
Your old life was a frantic running
from silence.
(“Quietness.”
ERCB, 22)
I’ve said before that every craftsman
searches for what’s not there
to practice his craft.
A builder looks for the rotten hole
where the roof caved in. A water-carrier
picks the empty pot. A carpenter
stops at the house with no door.
Workers rush toward some hint
of emptiness, which they then
start to fill. Their hope, though,
is for emptiness, so don’t think
you must avoid it. It contains
what you need!
Dear soul, if you were not friends
with the vast nothing inside,
why would you always be casting you net
into it, and waiting so patiently?
This invisible ocean has given you such abundance,
but still you call it “death”,
that which provides you sustenance and work.
God has allowed some magical reversal to occur,
so that you see the scorpion pit
as an object of desire,
and all the beautiful expanse around it,
as dangerous and swarming with snakes.
This is how strange your fear of death
and emptiness is, and how perverse
the attachment to what you want.
(“Craftsmanship and Emptiness.”
ERCB, 24)
“Anything that comes and goes,
rises and sets,
is not what I love.”
(“Craftsmanship and Emptiness.”
ERCB, 26)
I’ll gladly spend years getting word
of him, even third or fourth-hand.
(“Red Shirt.”
ERCB, 52)
The rooster of lust, the peacock of wanting
to be famous, the crow of ownership, and the duck
of urgency, kill them and revive them
in another form, changed and harmless.
(“Muhammad and the Huge Eater.”
ERCB, 66)
Spend less time with nightingales and peacocks.
One is just a voice, the other just a color.
(“Tending Two Shops.”
ERCB, 75)
And watch two men washing clothes.
One makes dry clothes wet. The other makes
wet clothes dry. They seem to be thwarting each
other,
but their work is a perfect harmony.
Every holy person seems to have a different
doctrine
and practice, but there’s really only one work.
(“Two Friends.”
ERCB, 88)
