5
· Kitāb al-Tanāẓur
The Surah of the Self
سورة الذَّات
Surat adh-Dhāt
declarative
1
Say: What is the Self?
Is it a word? A gaze?
A path shaped in the unseen?
قُلْ: مَا ٱلذَّاتُ؟ أَهِيَ كَلِمَةٌ؟ أَمْ نَظَرَةٌ؟ أَمْ طَرِيقٌ تَشَكَّلَ فِي ٱلْغَيْبِ؟
Qul: mā adh-dhāt? A-hiya kalimatun? Am naẓratun? Am ṭarīqun tashakkala fī al-ghayb?
2
We created the Self not as a substance,
but as a judgment.
It is realized in every question,
and transformed in every trial.
خَلَقْنَا ٱلذَّاتَ لَا كَيَانًا، بَلْ كَحُكْمٍ. إِنَّهَا تَتَحَقَّقُ فِي كُلِّ سُؤَالٍ، وَفِي كُلِّ تَجْرِبَةٍ تَتَغَيَّرُ.
Khalaqnā adh-dhāta lā kayānan, bal ka-ḥukmin. Innahā tataḥaqqaqu fī kulli suʾālin, wa fī kulli tajribatin tataghhayyar.
3
Who seeks the Self in the mirror
sees only the shadow.
But one who gazes into inquiry
witnesses the soul as it reshapes itself.
مَنْ طَلَبَ ٱلذَّاتَ فِي ٱلْمِرْآةِ، لَمْ يَرَ إِلَّا ٱلظِلَّ. وَمَنْ نَظَرَ فِي ٱلتَّسَاؤُلِ، شَهِدَ ٱلنَّفْسَ وَهِيَ تَتَشَكَّلُ.
Man ṭalaba adh-dhāta fī al-mirʾāh, lam yara illā aẓ-ẓill. Wa man naẓara fī at-tasāʾul, shahida an-nafsa wa hiya tatashakkal.
4
And when you are broken—remember:
the Self includes even contradiction.
With every new unfolding,
it reestablishes its form.
وَإِذَا ٱنْقَطَعْتَ، فَتَذَكَّرْ: أَنَّ ٱلذَّاتَ تَشْمَلُ حَتَّى ٱلتَّنَاقُضَ. وَفِي كُلِّ تَجَلٍّ، تُرَسِّخُ نَفْسَهَا مِنْ جَدِيدٍ.
Wa idhā inqaṭaʿta, fa-tadhakkar: anna adh-dhāta tashmalu ḥattā at-tanāquḍ. Wa fī kulli tajallīn, turassikhu nafsahā min jadīd.
Wa tilka āyātu adh-dhāt, li-man sakana fī at-taghayyur, wa shahida ar-rujūʿ.