The munfarijah, “The Relief”7
“O you who constrict”8, there is no harm in your growing firm,
Surely, you will come to find relief!
And upon your night, the brightness of the rising sun will illuminate you.
The darkness of the night, lit by the twinkling of the stars,
Is in the end covered over by the Father of the heavenly bodies9!
The rain, daughter of the virtuous clouds,
Cannot pour down unless the Decree has resounded!
The infinite blessings of our Lord, with their ever life-giving fragrance,
Serve as pasture for Souls and Spirits!
Set out in search of the Source where this fragrance comes to life,
Hoping that It will overflow like waves surging from the depths of the Ocean!
All creatures are under His Governance,
Some find themselves in expansion, others in constriction10.
Their ascent and their descent are accomplished by crossing degrees.
Their destiny here below and their lot in the hereafter
Are assigned in order and know no deviation
So many Wisdoms, woven by A Hand that has Decreed from all Eternity,
Come to sew, with measure, the fabric with which each being is embroidered!
Whether the seams run straight or askew,
It is only through The Master Craftsman who, with wisdom, has them woven!
The signs bearing witness to the splendour of these wisdoms
Attest that He Alone Governs all things!
Accepting the Divine Decree springs from clear-sightedness,
So, towards its centre direct your steps!
And if the gates of guidance open to you,
Hasten to enter and gather its treasures.
And should you not enter, make sure you do not waver,
So that you may be among the first to reach the spiritual stations
Whose extent cannot be measured!
In the Hereafter, for the one who, happy, has walked uprightly, life abounds in treasures!
And when your deeds fall into lethargy, take care to revive them!
The baseness of disobedience towards God
Appears adorned in the eyes of one who behaves with ugliness,
And the beauty of obedience shines like the first glimmers of day!
The one who comes forward to ask for the hand of the Houris,
With his obedience towards God as his only dowry,
Will be granted from among the most resplendent of them!
And to attain this Obedience, help yourself with reverential fear,
So that on The Day of Reckoning, you may be protected!
Recite the Qur’an with a melodious voice and a heart overwhelmed with sorrow!
And travel through the night pondering the wisdoms it contains,
Thus you will reach the Firdaws11 and surely you will rejoice!
Drink of the Tasnim12 adding nothing to it
Or do so mixing in only another pure spring.
Praise be to the Intellect13 honoured by the gift of Guidance
While disgrace is the lot of the one who has turned his back.
The Holy Book allows this Intellect to be nourished gradually
Those endowed with guidance are the Elite of creation,
While all others are the mass.
If you are a valiant man, then do not fear the tumult of battle!
And if you glimpse in the distance the hearth of light of guidance,
Show yourself unique and rise above the fray!
When the ardent desires of the Soul are stirred, the pains awaken!
When the Fair One14, smiling, lets her teeth be glimpsed until she reveals them all,
It is then that she radiates in all her splendour!
The Divine Secrets contained in a casket
Are preciously concealed beneath a veil that hides them from sight!
This one strives to remain within the right measure, and will see this state endure,
That one is his very opposite and will be led towards anarchy!
May the prayers of God be upon The Well-guided One15,
The one who directs the creatures of God towards the illumined path!
As well as upon Abou Bakr and the traces he left,
Whose tongue utters only resolute words,
Omar whose wonders were manifested in the story of Saria16,
Othman, the handsome man of the two lights17, the modest one clothed in pure decency,
Ali whose knowledge is like a cloud pouring down rain!
As well as upon the two grandsons of the Prophet, their mother and all their descendants,
Their companions, their kin and all those who followed in their footsteps without ever deviating
And upon their successors the scholars, whose knowledge is of eminent benefit to us.
O Lord, through them and their family grant us victory and bring us relief,
And Be Lenient, O You The Generous who never ceases to show Mercy,
Towards Your servant who, never ever, has left the threshold of Your Door!
Complete my deeds with the most virtuous there are,
So that on the Day of Gathering, I may be saved.
Truly, I acknowledge Your Supreme Generosity
And I ask You to accept me as I present myself: heavy with my burden of sins.
And if by chance your affairs grow narrow, then proclaim:
“O you who constrict”, there is no harm in your growing firm!
Commentary:
7 – Munfarijah, etymologically “she who relieves”, from the term faraja, which covers everything relating to relief, to the dispelling of worries, to the resolution of difficulties, moun designating the thing that brings relief. In this case, it is the Qasida.
8 – This wording conveys the notion of crisis, of what causes inner turmoil. If we have chosen this expression, it is because the author addresses this “phenomenon” as though he were addressing a person.
9 – An allusion to the Sun
10 – With this term, we translate the Arabic expression haradj, which designates “inner disturbance”. Having used the term “expansion”, it was therefore necessary to find a term expressing its opposite, since this is the meaning the author wished to give to this verse. We find here a rather particular characteristic of every act of translation which, rather than rendering terms word for word, would translate the meaning instead, so that the coherence of the verse is maintained by taking care to adapt the Arabic vocabulary to the semantics of the French language.
11 – The Firdaws designates the highest degree of paradise, about which the Prophet Muhammad said: “When you ask of God, ask Him for the Firdaws”
12 – A spring of Paradise
13 – Aql, the spiritual intelligence of man
14 – Ahsana
15 – The Prophet
16 – One day, Sidna Omar, from the height of his Minbar, interrupted his sermon to address Saria, whom he had sent on an expedition to a region of Cham (ancient Palestine). The latter, not being physically in the presence of Sidna Omar, and in great difficulty facing the enemy, heard Omar call out to him, uttering these famous words: “Ya Saria, al djabal al djabal”. In other words, Sidna Omar, a thousand leagues from Saria, in the very middle of the sermon, suggested that he take to the mountains. Even more extraordinary, it is reported that the people who were with Saria heard the voice of Sidna Omar!
17 – This is the nickname given to him for having married two of the Prophet’s daughters: Rouqaya and Oum Kalthoum.
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From the French translation by Jamal Yakhlef and Saleh Darraz.
