If you seek honor, flee from the in-between —
Do not be on every side, be on one side. Open your arms to the stranger and the poor,
Poetry: Wisdom
Poems by Akrom Malik, newest first. Pick one for your mood.
Seek knowledge, O seeker of knowledge,
For knowledge is the conqueror of ignorance. But if, becoming learned, you do not know
For happiness, a sweet word and an open face are enough,
To overcome the pain and laugh is a worthy deed! A sweet word holds out tulips to your heart,
When God set the order of the world,
He laid upon everyone a task to do. Whoever has followed the divine command
Do not think, “I have kept my inner self hidden,”
Your deeds are a mirror of your inner self. Do not think, “I have won with my mask,”
The still unripe disciple called out to his elder:
“I have done dhikr for a long time, but I find no yearning… Give me yet another, different litany,
One day several disciples gathered
And formed a cozy circle. Each one, to describe his own elder,
The disciples came saying, “Eid Mubarak,”
With beautiful words, and with gifts. The pains were washed out of the teacher’s heart,
Like the vagrant wind of spring,
Go bang your head on every door and every crack. Like the question on a mute man’s tongue,
Everyone does what befits his nature,
This justice of pre-eternity is never broken: To love books is the mark of kings,
If every person looked into a mirror,
He'd see his true face is not beautiful. Unable to bear facing it even for a moment,
If you must give an order, then by all means
Always keep this rule in mind: The condition for any command to be carried out
So very many people think of a promise
As if it were opium or hashish. That's why, saying “rest easy,” they always
In ancient times, when people still
Fled from the filth of the world, When the sun of contemplation shone, the world
To the sage of the age, the one who was a sun
In wisdom, there came a preacher one day. He was young and brimming over with zeal,
These are old books, venerable script,
Five or six hundred years old. Enchanting arts ripple mysteriously,
Each time a new dawn stepped into the day,
He hanged the old self that lived inside him. He grew sick of himself, and every moment,
As the winds of all kinds of torments blew,
And neither friend nor kin could lend a shoulder — Coming to a dervish sunk in pain,
There once was a young man, strong and brave,
His blood boiled over; he could not contain himself. The world seemed to lie surrendered at his feet,
Allah has commanded: “Be charitable,
Give alms to the poor and to the hungry.” If people do not live supporting one another,
Showing themselves off is typical of women,
The gazes of non-mahram men give them pleasure. That's why they spray perfume and style their hair,
If you want to marry, O young man, listen:
Find a lawful spouse who fears God. If she does not fear God, a whole life
If someone holds out a microphone, saying “Speak,”
Never rejoice that words are free. Words that are free, once they leave your tongue,
If someone tells you of your mistake,
Don't be offended; first of all, give praise to God! The one who spoke deserves esteem as well,