There was a dervish traveling with us in the caravan to Mecca. One of the Arab emirs gave him a hundred dinars to use as a sacrifice for Eid al-Adha. Suddenly, the bandits of the Khafajah tribe attacked the caravan and took everything. The merchants began to cry and plead, but their cries were in vain.
"Whether you plead or shout,
The thief will not return the gold."
Except for the pious dervish, who remained calm and unaffected. I asked him, "Did the thieves not take your money?" He replied, "Yes, they took it, but I had no attachment to it that would cause me sorrow at its loss."
"Do not attach your heart to things or people,
For withdrawing the heart is a difficult task."
I said, "What you said is fitting for my condition. In my youth, I was closely connected with a young companion, bound by true friendship, to the point that his beauty was the focus of my eyes, and his companionship was the treasure of my life."
"Whether angels in heaven or human beings on earth,
None would match his beauty."
"After him, no companionship is possible,
For no other man like him will ever be born."
Suddenly, the foot of his existence was caught in the trap of death, and the smoke of separation rose from his household. I spent many days by his grave, and among the things I said in his mourning was:
"Oh, I wish that on the day death’s thorn pricked your foot,
The hand of fate had struck me down with its sword."
"So that my eyes would not witness this world without you.
Here I am, at your grave, with the dust of sorrow on my head."
"He, who could not find peace or sleep,
Until first scattering flowers of roses and lilies,"
"The wheel of fate has scattered his rose-like face,
And the thorns have grown on his grave."
After parting from him, I resolved firmly to discard the desires of this world and avoid all companionship for the rest of my life.
"The sea’s riches would be pleasing,
If there were no fear of its waves."
"The rose’s company would be sweet,
If there were no concern for its thorns."
"Yesterday, I strutted like a peacock in the garden of union,
Today, from the pain of separation, I writhe like a snake."
