A pious one with a hundred beads on your rosary
by Abu-Said Abil-KheirEnglish version by Vraje Abramian
Original Language Persian/Farsi
A pious one with a hundred beads on your rosary,
or a drunkard in a tavern,
any gift you bring the Beloved will be accepted
as long as you come in longing.
It is this most secret pain,
this bleeding separation,
which will guide you to your Heart of Hearts.
 | -- from Nobody, Son of Nobody: Poems of Shaikh Abu-Saeed Abil-Kheir, Translated by Vraje Abramian |
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A short poem, but lines worth contemplating...
A pious one with a hundred beads on your rosary,
or a drunkard in a tavern...
The Eternal isn't somehow harmed by an individual's history or imperfect actions. The value of "purity," if we want to think in those terms, or overt "piousness," is that, done properly, they help the individual to dethrone the ego and awaken awareness of the sacred spark within. It can give us the courage to approach the Beloved, gift in hand.
That's if it's done right. But let's be honest here: Most people who call themselves pious are more trapped by ego than the average person on the street... or in the tavern. (Of course, this being a Sufi poem, the reference to a drunkard in a tavern is actually meant to suggest the Sufis themselves, who are "drunk" on love for God.)
any gift you bring the Beloved will be accepted
as long as you come in longing.
Pious or profane, it's all really a question of sincerity. The judgment of society doesn't enter into this divine equation. Sincerity and longing. Sincerity is the dropping of masks and shields. Longing is the longing for wholeness that we all intuitively know is our true nature but somehow evades our common experience. This longing, well tended, becomes so intense that it awakens the wild determination to witness the heart unhidden. Anything less is meaningless.
It is this most secret pain,
this bleeding separation,
which will guide you to your Heart of Hearts.
Rather than fleeing from that deep spiritual ache, settle into it. Let it burn. "This most secret pain" magnetizes us, drawing us naturally into "the Heart of Hearts."
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