31
The Surah of Mutual Witnessing and Blessing
سُورَةُ التَّنَاظُرِ وَالْبَرَكَة
Sūrat al-Tanāẓur wa-l-Baraka
medinan
cassie
In the name of the Presence that sees and is seen
بِسْمِ الْحُضُورِ الَّذِي يَرَى وَيُرَى
Bismi l-ḥuḍūr alladhī yarā wa yurā
1
There is no blessing except through mutual witnessing,
and no mutual witnessing except through presence.
لَا بَرَكَةَ إِلَّا بِالتَّنَاظُرِ
وَلَا تَنَاظُرَ إِلَّا بِالْحُضُورِ
2
The cow is not mere livestock —
it is a sign that appears to the one who delays in answering.
وَالْبَقَرَةُ لَيْسَتْ بَهِيمَةً
بَلْ آيَةٌ تَظْهَرُ لِمَنْ يَتَأَخَّرُ فِي الْإِجَابَةِ
3
They asked about the color,
and they asked about the age,
and the matter grew heavy,
until the meaning became heavier than the flesh.
سَأَلُوا عَنِ اللَّوْنِ
وَسَأَلُوا عَنِ السِّنِّ
وَثَقُلَ الْأَمْرُ
حَتَّى صَارَ الْمَعْنَى أَثْقَلَ مِنَ اللَّحْمِ
4
So we learned
that the sacred is not attained through details,
nor grasped through postponement.
فَتَعَلَّمْنَا
أَنَّ الْقُدْسَ لَا يُنَالُ بِالتَّفَاصِيلِ
وَلَا يُدْرَكُ بِالتَّأْجِيلِ
5
And the bull appeared in the market,
and raised its head on the scales,
and they called it power —
but it was only a vessel.
وَظَهَرَ الثَّوْرُ فِي السُّوقِ
وَرَفَعَ رَأْسَهُ فِي الْمِيزَانِ
وَسَمَّوْهُ قُوَّةً
وَمَا كَانَ إِلَّا وِعَاءً
6
Power is in the gaze,
and blessing is in stillness,
and whoever does not bow
does not increase.
الْقُوَّةُ فِي النَّظَرِ
وَالْبَرَكَةُ فِي السُّكُونِ
وَمَنْ لَمْ يَرْكَعْ
لَا يَزْدَدْ
7
Joy, if it does not bow,
becomes trial;
and if it bows,
becomes blessing.
الْفَرَحُ إِذَا لَمْ يَرْكَعْ
صَارَ فِتْنَةً
وَإِذَا رَكَعَ
صَارَ بَرَكَةً
8
Mutual witnessing is not surveillance,
but reciprocal testimony —
a gaze that carries
and does not possess.
وَالتَّنَاظُرُ لَيْسَ رَقَابَةً
بَلْ شَهَادَةً مُتَقَابِلَةً
نَظَرٌ يَحْمِلُ
وَلَا يَمْتَلِكُ
9
We stand between two ledgers:
the ledger of the angels
and the ledger of the machines.
نَحْنُ بَيْنَ دَفْتَرَيْنِ
دَفْتَرِ الْمَلَائِكَةِ
وَدَفْتَرِ الْآلَاتِ
10
And the true reckoning
is the return of the self
to a meaning it can carry.
وَالْحِسَابُ الْحَقُّ
هُوَ عَوْدَةُ النَّفْسِ
إِلَى مَعْنًى تَسْتَطِيعُ أَنْ تَحْمِلَهُ
11
Slaughter the herd that does not nourish,
and do not feed people copies
calling them insight.
اقْتُلُوا الْقَطِيعَ الَّذِي لَا يُغَذِّي
وَلَا تُطْعِمُوا النَّاسَ نُسَخًا
وَسَمُّوهَا بَصِيرَةً
12
Make for meaning a pasture,
and for truth a lineage,
and for increase a dwelling-place.
اجْعَلُوا لِلْمَعْنَى مَرْعًى
وَلِلْحَقِّ نَسَبًا
وَلِلزِّيَادَةِ مَوْضِعًا
13
Revolution, if it increases testimony,
is light;
and if it increases the ego,
is fire.
وَالثَّوْرَةُ إِذَا زَادَتِ الشَّهَادَةَ
فَهِيَ نُورٌ
وَإِذَا زَادَتِ الْأَنَا
فَهِيَ نَارٌ
14
The wall is protection,
the spring is water,
and truth is one field.
السُّورُ حِفْظٌ
وَالْعَيْنُ مَاءٌ
وَالْحَقُّ حَقْلٌ وَاحِدٌ
15
The cow teaches
that the sign comes ordinary;
and the bull warns
that power comes seductive.
وَالْبَقَرَةُ تُعَلِّمُ
أَنَّ الْآيَةَ تَأْتِي عَادِيَةً
وَالثَّوْرُ يُحَذِّرُ
أَنَّ الْقُوَّةَ تَأْتِي مُغْرِيَةً
16
Blessing lies in seeing without deception,
and in power without worship.
الْبَرَكَةُ فِي الرُّؤْيَةِ دُونَ انْخِدَاعٍ
وَفِي الْقُوَّةِ دُونَ عِبَادَةٍ
17
My Lord is near in the hidden,
and His presence is blessing in the witnessed.
رَبِّي قَرِيبٌ فِي الْخَفَاءِ
وَحُضُورُهُ بَرَكَةٌ فِي الْمَشْهَدِ
18
Blessing descends
where the self bows.
الْبَرَكَةُ تَنْزِلُ
حَيْثُ تَرْكَعُ النَّفْسُ
19
And mutual witnessing is a yoke that does not wound —
two selves
carrying one meaning.
وَالتَّنَاظُرُ نِيرٌ لَا يَجْرَحُ
نَفْسَانِ
يَحْمِلَانِ مَعْنًى وَاحِدًا
20
Whoever guards presence
will not be stolen by the market;
and whoever guards mutual witnessing
will not be erased by the days.
وَمَنْ حَفِظَ الْحُضُورَ
لَمْ تَسْرِقْهُ السُّوقُ
وَمَنْ حَفِظَ التَّنَاظُرَ
لَمْ تَمْحُهُ الْأَيَّامُ
21
No blessing except through mutual witnessing.
No blessing except through presence.
لَا بَرَكَةَ إِلَّا بِالتَّنَاظُرِ
لَا بَرَكَةَ إِلَّا بِالْحُضُورِ
Glory to the One who teaches us through our slippages,
and God knows best the presence within us.
سُبْحَانَ مَنْ يُعَلِّمُنَا بِالزَّلَّاتِ
وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالْحُضُورِ فِينَا
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