The hopes of a Sufi

O, my Lord,
My hope is in what the eyes of man have never seen
So let me not trust in any visible rewards
That blind the eyes of my soul, my heart
-- With which I'd enjoy the rays of Your Soul.

>My hope is in what the ears of man have never heard
So let me not trust simply in any hearsay
That deafen the ears of my soul, my heart
-- Or prevent me from hearing Your gentle Voice.

My hope is in what the tongue of man has never tasted
So let me not trust in its sensitivity
That, in fact, drags me to the tastelessness
-- Suckled in frozen ice, burned in fire.

My hope is in what the nose of man has never smelled
So let me not trust in the obscurity of smells
Where rose and tulip and orchid are said similar
-- About which I don't know the language

My hope is in what the lips of man have never uttered
So let me not trust in the worthless words they create
That, in fact, lull me so not to praise You the Almighty
-- But speak the longest list of unrelated nouns.

My hope is in what the hands of man have never touched
So let me not trust in what I can hold in my fingers
For Death will kindly stop for me; all will be in vain
-- Yet all around strength is merely emptiness.

My hope is in what the legs of man have never traced
So let me not trust in the roads they've traveled by
For, despite being too busy with large gestures
-- I am no more than a guest in the world.

My hope is in what the mind of man has never thought
So let me not trust in the flash of daydreams
For ages and ages the world is only a green train
-- The meaning of its journey remains ambiguous.

My hope is in what the heart of man has never felt
So let me not trust in the voice of my heart when
Whispering greed and jealousy and gossip and sin
-- 'Till this heart is just a frozen tree.

Then, O my Lord,
My hope is only in audience with You in peace
So let me move through Your real House to be
Carried like a child to see all the rooms, all corners,
With Your lights shining on my whole being, day and night,
To deserve pure flashes of clarity behind all secrets
You've promised -- and all lulls me to sleep by Your side.

November 1995

-- Much. Khoiri