The Wisdom of the Pharaohs

I have unfolded the wisdom of the people of faith, now learn the wisdom of the people of malice.

The wisdom of the people of malice is deceit and artifice; what are deceit and artifice?—they destroy the soul and build the body.

This is wisdom that has freed itself from faith’s bonds and has strayed far away from the station of Love.

The school follows in his (Pharaoh’s) ways so that the servant learns to think in line with the master’s desires.

The religious leader of the millat, in a charming way, reinterprets religion to his (Pharaoh’s) liking.

The unity of the people is sundered through his machinations; nothing can withstand him except Moses’ Staff.

Woe to a people that, prey to others’ stratagems, destroy themselves and build up others.

They gain knowledge of science and art, but remain unaware of their own self identity.

They erase the Lord’s impress from their signet, aspirations arise in their heart only to die away.

They are not blessed with a progeny imbued with a sense of honour, their children have souls in their bodies like corpses in graves.

Their old people lack modesty, the young are busy decking themselves out like women folk.

The desires that spring from their hearts are unstable, they are born dead from the wombs of their mothers.

Their daughters are caught in the snares of their curling locks, bold eyed, fond of display and carping;

well dressed, with exquisite make up, coquettish; their eyebrows like two unsheathed swords;

their white silvery forearms pleasing to the eyes; their bosoms showing like fish in water.

A nation whose ashes are devoid of any live spark, whose morn is darker than its eve.

It is always in search of material goods, its only preoccupation is anxiety for livelihood and fear of death.

Its rich are miserly, pleasure loving, intent upon seeking the shell, and neglectful of the kernel.

The might of its ruler is the object of its adoration, in loss of faith and belief lies its gain.

It never looks beyond its today and never creates a tomorrow for itself.

It has the annals of its ancestors under its arms, but, alas! it only discourses on them without acting on them.

Its creed is to offer loyalty to others, to build temples with the material of the mosque.

Alas! for a nation which has cut itself adrift from God, which is dead, but does not know that it is dead.