Prevod

Among the tales told is that of a righteous man who said: I was a boatman on the Nile in Egypt, ferrying people from the eastern bank to the western. One day, as I sat in my boat, an old man with a radiant face came up and greeted me. I returned his greeting, and he said, “Will you carry me across for the sake of God Most High?” “Yes,” I replied. “And feed me for God’s sake?” “Yes,” I said. He boarded the boat, and I took him across to the eastern bank. He wore a patched robe and carried a water vessel and a staff. As he was about to disembark, he said, “I wish to entrust something to you.” “What is it?” I asked. He said, “Tomorrow, if you are moved to come to me at noon, and you come and find me dead beneath that tree, wash me and wrap me in the shroud you will find beneath my head. Then offer the funeral prayer over me and bury me in this sand. Keep the patched robe, the water vessel, and the staff, and when someone comes asking for them, hand them over to him.” I was astonished by his words. I passed that night, and in the morning I waited for the hour he had named. But when noon came, I forgot, just as he had said. Then, toward the time of the afternoon prayer, I was moved to remember. I hurried there and found him dead beneath the tree. Beside his head I found a new shroud, fragrant with musk. I washed him, wrapped him in it, and offered the funeral prayer over him; then I dug a grave and buried him. That night I crossed the Nile and returned to the western bank with the patched robe, the water vessel, and the staff. When dawn broke and the town gate was opened, I caught sight of a young man I knew, who had been a rogue. He wore fine, thin clothes, and traces of henna showed on his hand. He came straight up to me and said, “Are you so-and-so?” “Yes,” I answered. “Give me what was left in your keeping.” “What is that?” I asked. “The patched robe, the water vessel, and the staff.” “Who told you about them?” I asked. He said, “I do not know. Last night I was at so-and-so’s wedding, and I stayed up singing until dawn. Then I lay down to rest, and someone appeared beside me and said, ‘God Most High has taken the soul of His saint, so-and-so, and appointed you in his place. Go to so-and-so the ferryman and take from him the saint’s patched robe, water vessel, and staff, for he has left them with him for you.’” So I brought them out and handed them to him. He stripped off his clothes, put on the patched robe, and went away, leaving me behind. I wept at having been denied such grace. When night fell, I slept, and in a dream I saw the Lord of Glory, blessed and exalted is He. He said, “My servant, did it grieve you that I bestowed upon one of My servants the grace of returning to Me? This is My bounty, which I grant to whom I will, and I have power over all things.” Then I recited these verses:

The lover has no aim apart from the Beloved; did you but know, all choosing of your own is forbidden. If He wills to draw you near in grace and tenderness, or turns away from you, no blame rests upon Him. If you find no delight in His turning away, then be gone: you have no standing in this station. Do you still distinguish His nearness from His distance? Then you lag behind, while love goes on ahead. If passion has given you possession of my last breath, or a bridle leads me to my death for you, then forsake me, turn away, or draw me near—it is all one; there is no blame in abiding by one’s allotted portion. In loving you I seek nothing but contentment; if you deem distance best, then distance is right.