Beautiful, much-needed poem

Let time pass by, and do as it wishes;

Be strong when the decreed is delivered to you.

Wail not for your afflictions in the night

For, worldly miseries are not everlasting

When calamity strikes, face up like a man

And let your traits be that of forgiveness and fidelity

If your flaws are plenty and are manifest

And your wish is that they be concealed Know, that Forgiveness hides every fault

And how many flaws are veiled by generosity!

Neither does agony abide, nor happiness

And neither bad-times nor times of joy and comfort

Never should you seek to humiliate your enemies

Because the desire to disgrace them is in itself a malady

Do not expect forgiveness from a miser,

The parched do not quench their thirst from fire

Your sustenance will not diminish by neglect,

And it will not increase by exertion or by more toil

When you have a heart that is satisfied, content -

You will be like the one who owns the whole world

And those who have entered the sphere of death

The earth cannot hide them nor heavens

Surely, the land of Allāh is vast, but -

When misfortune strikes, the air becomes stifling

Let the world betray and deceive every moment -

No matter what; there is no escape from death.

Dīwān ash-Shāfiýī p.111; Khazānatu’l Adab 2/426; Jawāhiru’l Adab p.665
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