Monday, May 18, 2009

Beni Beni

Beni Beni

"A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away."- Arabian Proverb

Life teaches not to exploit man’s weakness but to prove endurance is the highest tenant of salvation. The clock is ever ticking to its own rhythm to which we either learn to dance to, tolerate or to which we never learn its true essence and our disharmonious beat clashes with it continuously. Life is a symphony seeking perfection as it seeks to smoothen out the wrinkles even when they remain adamant.

Ya Dost beni, I seek from you enlightenment and your continuous presence. Everywhere I see shadows of hope in the constant drowning of overbearing burden and I remain thankful for your guiding light. Surround me with positivity and per chance it may befall me. I am contented to be enamoured with your essence. Let me be…

Gift me with everlasting insight so that my perception is never blurred. Let me see reason in my struggles as I make effort to escape from its clutches. Time has truly passed a much quicker beat and I await results after an enduring effort.

Welcome me back into your doors of ease and cease to test the depth of my resolve.

Ya Dost beni, from You alone I seek, for I remain the seeker and you the sought.

***

To this end it would only be befitting to include this mystical poem by the gifted Jalal-ud Din Rumi, an extract from Divani Shams, "Life and Work of Muhammad Jalal-ud Din Rumi"

O Friend! we are near you in friendship,
Wherever you set foot, we prostrate ourselves like earth.
How is it permissible, in the religion of love,
That we should see your Creation and neglect to see You?

That Friend brought me up with great care and attention;
He sewed me a garment from skin and veins.
The body is like a cloak and my heart in it like a mystic,
The world is like a monastery and He is my Guide.

Seek knowledge which unravels mysteries
Before your life comes to close
Give up that non-existence which looks like existence,
Seek that Existence which looks like non-existence!

There is a world outside Islam and Disbelief,
We are enamoured of the atmosphere therein.
The mystic lays down his head when he reaches there.
There is neither Islam nor Disbelief in this place.

Whenever I prostrate my head He is the one to whom I bow;
In six directions or outside the six, he is the one I worship.
The garden, the rose, the nightingale, music and the beauteous maiden
Are a mere excuse and He alone is the real object.


***

I share with you now a beautiful song expressing the believers plea for respite from the mercy of their Dost… God



These are the lyrics for the song:
Beni Beni - Niyaz

Lastly but certainly not in the least, I would like to give thanks to the reader from Lombardia who has been visiting my blog so religiously over the past few days.

On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur; l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.”
“Only with the heart can a person see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye
.”
~ Antoine de Saint Exupéry [extract from “Le Petit Prince”]


Blogging with purpose,
Mariamlelue

5 comments:

  1. aww, i cant believe!! ..yay, u posted "beni beni" on ur blog :D & i checked the lyrics on fb, wow, where did u find that english translation? it's a very good one, mashAllah :)
    i looove ur blog, lelo. it's always so touching, the proverbs, the poems..everything's perfect! keep it up my hun!! God bless u, ameen!
    love xxx ur fundie

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  2. tessekurler canim
    The thanks should be for you...thank you for taking the time to read and comment hayatim
    I will remain forever grateful <3

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  3. Hello and thank you a lot for translating and sharing your translation of the lyrics I like so much – Beni beni of Niyaz here: http://sites.google.com/site/avoiceamidstsilence/lyrics-for-beni-beni---niyaz

    I do not yet know Turkish unfortunately and my shy tries to use online translations to understand Ashik Dertli poetry did not succeed much. So I used search and found 2 variants of translation – yours and this one http://lyricstranslate.com/en/beni-beni-beni-beni.html

    Actually, the main difference between this 2 variants, i think, is translating of the last verse –
    Ҫok şükür bir dara dost dost
    yitirdin beni beni
    “Much thanks for the rejection, you lost me my friend, you lost me ”

    Wanted to ask for your opinion, does it mean that sufi Ashik Dertli in this poem turns away from God and gets disappointed in his belief (“you lost me”). I am very interested in it, as I studied some basics of Sufism practice and fond of Sufism poetry, but just do not know whom to ask..
    I will appreciate a lot if you write me your opinion.

    Sorry for disturbing and again many many thanks for your great translational work!

    Sincerely,
    Evgeniya

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  4. Thank you ever so much Evgeniya for your lovely comment! I must admit to you however that I do not speak fluent Turkish as well and I try to understand the words as best as I possibly can, however limited my knowledge may be. I and another friend have worked on this translation.
    However I will try to explain to you what the last verse means, in my own humble way.
    Ҫok şükür bir dara dost dost yitirdin beni beni - Much thanks for the rejection, you lost me my friend, you lost me...
    This does not mean the poet has indeed lost faith in God in fact the entire poem is full of faith and adoration of God.
    However, it represents the toiling of daily life, the struggle, the mere torture of it for some, a means of complaining to God against the trials and tribulations. In this last line the poet is a bit sarcastic. It is more of expressing the person's plight to their Lord and it does tend to end in an emotional note.
    However the faith is not lost and the poet has not turned away from God. It is just an overwhelming burden that rests on the shoulders of all men. This world is at the root of all evil that is why the poet asks why did God bring us here. It can certainly lead to the destruction of any of us.
    I hope I was able to explain it better for you
    and thanks again for your reply!

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  5. Thank you so much for your explanation, it helped a lot! And again many thanks to you and your friend for this beautiful translation of the wonderful poem!

    ReplyDelete