Translation – Labib Mahfuj Chsity
Hazrat Khwaja Fariduddin Masud Ganjshakar (RA) or Baba Farid or Sheikh Farid was a renowned saint of the 13th century, who was one of the most revered and respected saints of the Middle Ages, the Islamic Golden Age.
Baba Farid was born in 1173 in the village of Kothewal, 10 kilometers from Multan in Punjab. His father’s name was Jamaluddin Suleman and his mother’s name was Maryam Bibi. He became a world-famous saint after receiving spiritual initiation from Hazrat Khwaja Qutubuddin Bakhtiar Kaki (RA), the chief caliph of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti (RA), who propagated the Chishti Order in India and raised the flag of Muhammad in religion. After the death of Khwaja Qutubuddin Bakhtiar’s aunt (Rahmat) in 1235, he moved from Delhi to Ajudhan, Pakpattan and settled there. His holy shrine is located there.
1.
At the auspicious time when the
Poem of the Reunion of Body and Soul
was composed, God determined – the breaths!
Until the last breath –
Angels drag life, towards death.
2.
Life is the wife and husband is death
The husband will take his wife.
If the proposal of union is accepted –
Who else holds them?
3.
The bridge of Sirat is finer than a hair
On which the footprints fall silently!
No matter how hard you try to listen
Only one voice comes out –
Beware of the trap of greed, beware.
4.
The gate of the hermit is very difficult
Oh, if I had passed with the crowd!
But the scoundrel is clear –
It is thrown into the cistern.
5.
If the oil in the lamp of life runs out
Stop, first fill your own vessel –
If your guide is a fool, do not be proud
Because, the fall of pride is inevitable.
6.
If your consciousness is purer
Then do not darken the whiteness of your heart.
Bow your head, and fix your gaze
In the depths of your existence!
So that the slanderer does not find you.
7.
A glorious youth was suitable for your
good deeds.
Every soul loves death!
The boat of the soul
Reachs the gate of death with a determined breath.
8.
When I was full of youth, my drunken soul
I was unaware of your worship!
Now my hair is gray, my body is pale
How can I come to your place of worship!
Love for the Lord, that is eternal! Eternal! Of eternal life
Which makes even grayness evergreen.
9.
What effect can stigma, fear, advice or rebuke
have on that heart?
Where the seal is set –
Satan himself!
10.
Ah! Lover! If you want the Lord
Be the humblest grass! Along the way
Trampled, crushed, always bowed down in love
Then your heart will be filled
With divine light.