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Summary of the purport of the poem in exegesis of the Surah of Pure Faith “Say: He is God, One”

I dreamed one night I looked upon Siddiq And plucked a rose that blossomed at his feet

He, that most generous was of all mankind Unto our Master, he that stood the first Like Moses on the Sinai of our Faith,

Whose zeal was as a cloud that showered rain Upon the tilth of our community, Second to own Islam, to share the Cave, Badr, and the Tomb.

“O chosen of Love’s choice,” I cried to him, “whose love is the first line In the collected poetry of Love,

Whose hand established on a firmer base A remedy for our immediate woes.”

“How long”, said he, “wilt thou be prisoner To base desire? Get lustre, and new light To light thee, from the Surah of Pure Faith.”

This one breath, winding in a hundred breasts, Is but one secret of the Unity;

Get thee its colour, to be like to it, Reflective to its beauty in the world.

He, who bestowed this Muslim name on thee, Drew thee to Oneness from Duality;

’Tis thou thyself hast called thee Afghan, Turk – Ah, thou remainest as thou ever wert!

Deliver now the named from all the names; Have done with cups; ally thee to the jar!

Thou hast become a scandal to thy name, A leaf that fell untimely from thy tree;

Attune thee unto Oneness; be thou gone From Twoness; nor dissect thy Unity.

Thou who art servant unto One, if thou Art thou, how long wilt thou to school of Two?

Lo, thou hast shut thy door upon thyself Take to thy heart that which thy lips imbibed.

A hundred nations thou hast raised from one, On thy own fort made treacherous assault.

Be one; make visible thy Unity; Let action turn the unseen into seen;

Activity augments the joy of faith, But faith is dead that issues not in deeds.