Hazrat Baba Farid

Eat your own bare, dry bread
and drink plain, cold water.
Don’t tempt you mind, Farid
on seeing another’s buttered bread.

Give up, Farid, the deeds which bring no credit,
Lest you be put to shame in the court of the Lord.

Don’t slander the dust, O Farid!
There is nothing to equal it.
While we’re alive, it lies beneath our feet.
And when we’re dead, it covers us over.

Serve the Lord, Farid,
Casting off the doubts of your mind,
For men of God are required to be
Forbearing like the trees.

God says: ‘If you ennoble yourself,
O man, you’ll meet Me.
And on meeting Me,
You’ll have eternal bliss.
If you ever remain Mine,
The whole world shall belong to you.

Prayer done in the first part of the night yields flowers,
And in the later part of the night bears fruit.
Those who keep awake (in God),
Are alone blessed with these bounties.

Have no doubt:
Life will leave unpitying
Your creaking bones
When the number of breaths
Assigned to you runs out.

Wisdom decries the censure of others.
Lower your gaze to look into yourself.

Don’t return blow for blow,
But kiss the feet of the one
Who strikes you.
And withdraw to your recess.

Be like the grass, which is beaten to straw.
Be like a woven mat, before it is brought to the Master’s door.

The heart is precious:
If you wish to shorten the distance to your Love,
Spare every heart pain!

Swan or crane,
If it pleases my Master
He’ll give even a crow
The swan’s form and grace.

Your bow: patience.
Your arrow: devotion.
Your entreaty will go
To your Love’s ear unerring.

Shed your concern with sorrow.
Move away from joy.
Surrender the cares
Of today and tomorrow
To His will.
That way leads to your Master’s court.

The season turns,
The forest thrills,
The trees shed their leaves
And the leaves flutter away:
I have searched the four corners
And found neither peace
Nor permanence.

Worldly life contains a hidden fire.
It’s a mystery deep and perplexing.
I would have burnt completely,
If not for God’s favour.

Farid! Everything is topsy turvy,
For sugar works like poison.
To whom I should confide my ills,
Except to my God, the Healer.

Oh, Farid! It’s all in vain:
Scoffs, advice and reprimands.
For the heart that Satan sealed,
Won’t yield to your demands.

The streets are muddy with pouring rain.
The house of my murshid is far.
I have a meeting with him.
If I go out, my mantle will get soaked
And if don’t go out, my heart will break.

Separation is the sultan;
It’s the motivating force.
If you have not tasted love
And the fire of separation,
You’re the embodiment of the grave.

Escaping from your lower self is a means of attaining to God.

Don’t try to sell what people don’t wish to buy.

Aspire for new spiritual attainments every day.

Know that good health is a blessing.

Keep your inward self better than your outward self.

Don’t fight or quarrel in a manner that leaves no room for reconciliation.

There can be no equivalent to time.

Don’t entertain guests with extravagance.

Conceal your good and bad things.