On Purifying Oneself

QitʿaIraqi style
English

On Purifying Oneself

Obayd, how long this greed for wealth and rank? The world is fleeting; go and leave it behind. Like true men, shake the world's dust from your skirt, and pull yourself out of this whirlpool to safe shore. Move your things from the mosque to the tavern lane; make your home in the street of those who prosper.
Explanation: The 'tavern lane' (kuy-e moghan) is a Sufi image for the realm of true spiritual life, set against the empty formalism of the mosque.

Original · Persian

شمارهٔ ۱۲ - در تزکیهٔ نفس خود

عبید این حرص مال و جاه تاکی جهان فانیست رو ترک جهان گیر
چو مردان دامن از دنیا بیفشان وزین گرداب خود را بر کران گیر
ز مسجد رخت بر کوی مغان کش سرا در کوی صاحب دولتان گیر