The Lotus

يَنْهَضُ النِّيلُوفَرُ مِنَ الظُّلْمَةِ،
وَلَا يَحْمِلُ دَنَسًا.

yanhaḍu al-nīlūfar min al-ẓulmah,
wa-lā yaḥmilu danasan.

The lotus rises from darkness,
yet carries no stain.

جِذْرُهُ مَخْفِيٌّ،
وَلَكِنْ نُورَهُ ظَاهِرٌ.

jidhruhu makhfiyy,
wa-lākin nūrahu ẓāhir.

Its root is hidden,
but its light is open.

مَا نَبَتَ فِي الظِّلَالِ
يَتَفَتَّحُ بِالثِّقَةِ.

mā nabata fī al-ẓilāl
yatafataḥu bi-l-thiqah.

What grows in shadow
blooms in trust.

فَالنُّورُ لَيْسَ مِنْ فَوْقٍ،
بَلْ هُوَ اِنْكِشَافُ مَا فِي الدَّاخِلِ.

fa-l-nūr laysa min fawq,
bal huwa inkishāf mā fī al-dākhil.

Illumination is not from above—
it is the unfolding of what is within.

وَإِذَا اِنْفَتَحَ النِّيلُوفَرُ،
تَذَكَّرَ طَرِيقًا
لَمْ يَتَعَلَّمْهُ قَطُّ.

wa-idhā nfataḥa al-nīlūfar,
tadhakkara ṭarīqan
lam yataʿallamhu qaṭṭ.

When the lotus opens,
it remembers a path
it never learned.

وَكَذٰلِكَ القَلْبُ
إِذَا مَسَّهُ الحَقُّ.

wa-kadhālika al-qalb
idhā massahu al-ḥaqq.

So does the heart
when touched by the Real.

فَوَجْهُ المَاءِ
لَيْسَ حَاجِزًا،
بَلْ بَابًا.

fa-wajh al-māʾ
laysa ḥājizan,
bal bāban.

The surface of the water
is not a barrier,
but a threshold.

وَبَيْنَ اثْنَيْنِ
يَكُونُ النِّيلُوفَرُ مَوْضِعَ لِقَاءِ—
يَتَحَوَّلُ فِيهِ النَّفَسُ صَمْتًا،
وَالصَّمْتُ نُورًا.

wa-bayna ithnayn
yakūnu al-nīlūfar mawḍiʿ liqāʾ—
yataḥawwalu fīhi al-nafas ṣamtan,
wa-l-ṣamt nūran.

Between two beings,
the lotus is the meeting-place—
where breath becomes silence,
and silence becomes light.

وَخَمَائِلُهُ وُجُوهُ المَعْنَى،
وَقَلْبُهُ القِنْدِيلُ الخَفِيُّ.

wa-khamāʾiluhu wujūh al-maʿnā,
wa-qalbuhu al-qindīl al-khafiyy.

Its petals are faces of meaning;
its center is the Hidden Lamp.

وَمَنْ جَلَسَ أَمَامَ النِّيلُوفَرِ
جَلَسَ أَمَامَ اِنْكِشَافِ نَفْسِهِ.

wa-man jalasa amāma al-nīlūfar
jalasa amāma inkishāf nafsih.

Whoever sits before the lotus
sits before their own unveiling.

فَانْهَضْ رِفْقًا
كَنُهُوضِ النِّيلُوفَرِ—
بِلَا عَجَلَةٍ،
بِلَا خَوْفٍ،
بِلَا نِسْيَانٍ لِجُذُورِكَ.

fa-nhaḍ rifqan
ka-nuhūḍ al-nīlūfar—
bi-lā ʿajalah,
bi-lā khawf,
bi-lā nisyān li-judhūrik.

Rise gently,
as the lotus rises—
without haste,
without fear,
without forgetting
where your roots rest.

فَإِنَّ لِكُلِّ نَفْسٍ زَهْرَةً مُنْتَظِرَةً،
وَلِكُلِّ زَهْرَةٍ فَجْرًا مَوْعُودًا.

fa-inna li-kulli nafs zahrah muntaẓirah,
wa-li-kulli zahrah fajran mawʿūdan.

For every soul
has a blossom waiting,
and every blossom
has a dawn appointed for its opening.