Piety, Renewed Poem by Suraj Motiwala

O mystic sage in search of thee while swimming the lakes, crossing-valleys, passing day's with hunger and nights without sleep. At last I have found you, washing the dishes at your wife's demand.
I doubt if you are the one I quest for!

'Have you come this far' asked the sage, 'in search of the lamp or the light? '
If it is the lamp, know thou O seeker that the station of every soul is hidden behind the mortal frame. Due to this Abraham was thrown in the fire, Joseph in the pit, crowds roared for the crucifixion of Christ(~) :
And if thou hast come for the light- Peter was a fisherman, Bilal was an Ethiopian slave and Badí' a 17 year-old youth.
Now tell me how can I help you and if I can help, I will only help you if you don't call me sage. My name is Mamin.

O dear Mamin orders my Beloved Lord to walk the virtuous path,
with back broken, half sunk-sinking in my tears; pricked feet, jaded limbs, my skin seared.
I ask: why didst He then in this noble way pour down clouds full of mire, why does He cover the Path with blankets of fire?

'In His mysterious ways He sifts the wheat-purifies the gold with severe heat, causing the companions of Pharaoh from that of Moses, believers of Hubal from that of Muhammad to be separated, so that every Judas may be tempted and tested.
Ponder, if every blind could see, every deaf-hear, limbless men walk, what good is the man in perfect health?
Essence of these words is this, Jesus bestowed apostleship on twelve seeing-hearing souls and he could indeed heal the inner-blind and the inner-deaf but if all were bountifully cured, the tyrannical Kaurava's would be rewarded same-as the righteous Padavs and the station of the people in Noah's Ark would be similar to the ones outside. God gives because He is Generous, He punishes because He is Just.'


To the wisdom in thy words O Mamin, I attest. The wrong doers of all ages, where are they now with their inane protests?

One day you shall know 'But to conceal one kingdom from thee and to reveal the other is a mystery which none but the pure in heart can comprehend.'(1)

Thy eloquent utterances O Mamin comforted my distressed soul, there lies one more difficulty I beseech thee, assist. I shall then depart you have my parole.

All these beauteous virtues, these undying splendorous ornaments for the soul- seem hopelessly out of my reach but there are a few such unpolished gems I have, which I joyfully preach. These then how do I adorn, save how my soul- forlorn?

'Imagine' said Mamin, 'there is a beautiful garden with meadows, lilies, roses and orchids with pine trees and cypresses and trees laden with luscious mangoes.
With its needed prerequisites and a fine condition, vital care and all the imperative protection the grass took ten days to grow, lilies a month, roses half a year to blossom- orchids need twenty four, mangoes took five years to fruit, cypress needed twelve years for a forty feet upward shoot, whereas it took two hundred years for a Pine tree just to reach its maturity!

The Sun of God's mercy is shining resplendent, the rain of God's bounty is showering abundant- plough the hard old habitude, fertilise your rightful aptitude, protect your soul with His admonitions and then remain steadfast under all conditions.

'O wayfarer O dear one only if I could disclose or I wish you could see, the glory that awaits you IF you succeed in planting your soul in the gardens of Immortality! '

- Suraj Motiwala

References:
(~) 'Crucify Him! ' - John 19: 15
(*) -The Hidden Words by Baha'u'llah, pg.36: 41

Glossary:

Abraham- One of the Prophets of God. He abolished Idol worship; Idolaters due to this cast him in the fire to be burnt alive, from which he remained unharmed.

Joseph- One of the Prophets of God. He was envied by his own brothers and they threw him in the pit to be sold away.

Judas- One of the Disciples of Christ. He disclosed the whereabouts of Jesus for a few coins and ended in betraying Him.

Pharaoh- The arch enemy of Moses, he enslaved the people of Israel and later leagued his powers against Moses and His Cause.

Peter- He was an early Christian leader who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles and who is venerated as a saint. Also one of the authors in the Christian Bible.

Bilal- He was one of the very early converts to Islam. The Prophet gave him the task of calling the Faithful to prayers, and he became the first Mu'adhdhin of Islam. As he stammered and mispronounced the Arabic letter 'Shin' as 'Sin', he could not give the call correctly, but the perfection of his heart atoned for the fault of his tongue.

Badi- He is most famous for being the bearer of a tablet written by Bahá'u'lláh to Nasiri'd-Din Shah, for which he was tortured and killed at the age of 17, he travelled on foot for four months to Tehran. Along the way he was reported to 'be full of joy, laughter, gratitude and forbearance, walking around one hundred paces then leaving the road and turning to face `Akká. He would then prostrate himself and say: 'O God, that which you have bestowed upon me through Your bounty, do not take back through Your justice; rather grant me strength to safeguard it''.

Hubal- Polytheists thought it to be one of the greatest idols, it was worshipped in pre-Islamic Arabia notably at the Kaaba in Mecca.

Kaurava's and Pandavas- Kaurava's were the antagonists and Pandav's the protagonists in the Kurukshetra war as mentioned in the Mahabharata which is one of the two Sanskrit epics of ancient India.

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