Beautiful Poems By Imam Shafi' (Rahimullah)

صَدِيقٌ لَيْسَ يَنْفَعُ يَوْمَ بُؤْسٍ * قَرِيبٌ مِنْ عَدْوٍّ فِي القِيَاسِ

وَمَا يَبْقَى الصَّدِيقُ بِكُلِّ عَصْرٍ * وَلاَ الإِخْوَانُ إِلاَّ لِلتَّآسِي

عَبَرْتُ الدَّهْرَ مُلْتَمِسَاً بِجُهْدِي * أَخَا ثِقَةٍ فَأَلْهَانِي التِمَاسِي

تَنَكَّرَتِ البِلاَدُ وَمَنْ عَلَيْهَا * كَأَنَّ أُنَاسَهَا لَيْسُوا بِنَاسِ

A friend who does not benefit at the time of hardships,

Is close to an enemy on the scales,

The friend does not remain, during all times,

Nor does the brother, except for consolation.

I searched the days, with all my strengths

for a brother to trust, but my search was fruitless,

The lands and those who live them were barren,

As though its people were not people [I wanted them to be

إِذَا الْمَرْءُ أَفْشَى سِرِّهُ بِلِسَانِهِ * وَلاَمَ عَلَيْهِ غَيْرَهُ فَهُوَ أَحْمَقُ

إِذَا ضَاقَ صَدْرُ المَرْءِ عَنْ سِرِّ نَفْسِهِ * فَصَدْرُ الَّذِي يُسْتَودْعُ السِّرَّ أَضْيَقُ

If a man spreads his secret with his own tongue

and blames another... then he is a fool.

If his own breast is too narrow to conceal his own secret,

Then the breast of the one in whom he places it is even narrower.

Part from the days where you used to do as you wish

And restrain your soul when the decree of Allah is ordained

And don't despair over the events of the past

For none of the events of the dunya were ever meant to remain

And be a man who is firm upon his affairs

And whose character is that of pardoning and nobility

And there is no sadness or happiness that is continuous

Just as there is there is no comfort or pain.

If you are a person who is satisfied with what he has

Then you and the owner of all possessions are equal

And upon he who's open valley death descends upon

Then there is no earth or sky to protect you from it

And the earth of Allah is vast but

When the ordainment of Allah descends even the open valley congests.

~ Imam Shafi

و من الشَقاوة أن تحبَ

و من تحبُ يحبُ غيرك

أو أن تريد الخير للأن

سان و هو يريد ضيرك

"And from misery is that you love, and (the one) who you love, loves other than you,

or that you want good for a person, and he wants to hurt you".

I complained to Waki about the weakness of my memory

So he ordered me to abandon disobedience

And informed me that the knowledge is light

And that the light of Allaah is not given to the disobedient

- Imam Shafi

لسانك لا تذكر به عورة امرئ *** فكلّـك عورات وللناس ألسـن

وعينك إن أبدت إليك معايباً *** فدعها وقل : يا عين للناس أعينُ

Let not your tongue mention the shame of another

For you yourself are covered in shame and all men have tongues.

If your eye falls upon the sins of your brother

Shield them and say: "O my eye! All men have eyes!"