Let the days go as they please
And be optimistic when destiny decrees
Do not despair due to the events of nights past
For the events of this world were not meant to last
And be a man who, in the face of fear is strong
With loyalty and forbearance adorned
And if your mistakes are many amongst the folk
And you wish to have for those mistakes a cloak
Then conceal them with generosity as hence
Every fault is covered as – is said- by benevolence
And do not show weakness to an enemy
For dispersion of foes is a calamity
Generosity cannot be hoped from the miserly
For no water exists in the Fire for the thirsty
And your rizq will not decrease though late it may arrive
And it will not increase though one may slave and strive
No sadness lasts forever, nor any felicity
Nor any state of poverty or one of luxury
If you are the owner of a heart that is content
Then you and the owner of the world are equivalent
And for him upon whose horizon death descends,
No earth can offer him protection, nor any sky defend
The earth of Allah is certainly vast and infinite
But if decree descends, then all the sky constricts
Let the days betray every once in a while
For there is no medicine that will protect from death
A poem by Imam Shafi'e
[Translation by Ammar Al Shukry]
