O
helpless one, give
up wailing over a
misfortune, and put
your trust in God.
Know
that wailing
compounds the
misfortune and is a
great error.
If
you have found Him
Who gives you the
misfortune, then
this misfortune will
be a gift bringing
pleasure and
happiness.
So
give up wailing and
thank God like the
nightingale, then
all flowers will
smile at you.
If
you find Him not,
know the whole world
is all pain and loss
coming from that
destitution.
So
why wail over a
small misfortune
while upon you rests
a world-wide
responsibility?
Rather, put your
trust in God!
Then,
trusting in Him,
laugh in the face of
the misfortune so
that it too will
laugh.
As
it laughs, it will
diminish and change.
Know,
O selfish one,
happiness in this
world lies in
forsaking this
world.
If
you know God and
seek Him, this will
be enough; then all
things will be for
you even if you
abandon them.
If
you are selfish,
this is total loss,
and whatever you do,
all things will be
against you.
So,
in either case, you
should forsake the
world.
Forsaking
the world means to
regard it as God’s
property and deal
with it with His
permission, in His
name...
If
you want to do
profitable business,
it is in making your
mortal life eternal.
If
you seek your
selfhood, it is both
rotten and without
foundation.
If
you seek the outer
world, upon it is
the stamp of
ephemerality.
So,
nothing is worth
purchasing in this
market where the
goods are all
rotten.
So
pass on... Beyond it,
the sound goods are all
lined up...
