O player, play this music. Play this tune.
Alas for the ones who block the road!
Mercy especially for the one who waylays us on our road!
O player, you learned that other music from that other brigand,
because the student has the teacher’s accent.
O player, turn your face to Absence, because existence is treacherous, a traitor.
Existence is false and deceitful.
The traitor is always a coward. He can never be truly cheerful, because he is down-deep afraid.
O existence, block the way of the existing one,
because the soul doesn’t consider himself as even coming into the world of existence,
doesn’t think he was born from existence.
We go to the valley of Absence through deserts.
There are many kinds of bondage in existence. In Absence, there is joy and pleasure.
This Absence is like a sea. We are the fish who swim in that sea.
But, existence is like a fish hook, a net.
The one who is in the net, caught by the hook doesn’t appreciate the pleasure of the sea.
The one who is trapped, who has been tied up by the four elements, has been crucified.
Know well that he will keep running after his wishes and desires in all his stupidity.
The fire of your patience burns the fire of your existence into ashes.
It burns your being and your body, which is born from existence, with fire.
There is a strike of flint from the verse, “I swear for the one who runs out of breath.*”
It is the fire of patience for the ones who are mentioned in the verse,
“When they step, they will spark fire from stone.*”
There are brave souls.
When His turn comes, He makes His move, beats you.
You keep wondering how He won.
In the end, you look back. What’s the use of that?
What’s the use of pondering over this Earth’s chess game?
Every so often, an awkward pawn abruptly cuts his way to the King.
If I were to become the queen, what would happen?
Even if I walk awkwardly, smoke still comes out straight.
I did travel like a pawn, straight on the line until the end.
Then, I became a queen and overcame all hurdles.
The knight tells the body,
“All the stages you have gone through are only one stage for us.
The distance to the Last Day of Judgment is only two steps for us.
“The body goes on pilgrimage, passing through hundreds of stages.
Yet, a pilgrimage takes only one step for the heart.
You should travel like the heart, like the eye.”
The Chess King says, “All your clamor comes from Me.
If it were not for My shadow, nothing would exist.
“The knight would have no value.
The bishop would be turned into a mosquito.
Houses would be demolished like the tribe of Ad.*”
I have seen those thousands of moves made by the only One.
Thanks to that, winning and losing have become the same for me.
There is “checkmate” in winning, and winning in being “checkmated.”
We have been checkmated by the sight of our Sultan.
Keep your eyes on us.
*Ad Mythical ancestor of an ancient people in Arabia who were exterminated for refusing to accept the message of a prophet.
Divan-i Kebir, Meter 8a, Gazel 61, Pages 113-115, Verses 535-552.