“Not from here!”

Why are you here?
“I was brought here temporarily, but in time I must leave.
Willingly or unwillingly, I must leave to my eternal abode.”

It sounds cryptic! Explain!
“Maybe, it would be better if I let Avicenna speak!”

“From the highest sphere, she descended on you
A dove-like soul; inaccessible, ever beyond reach

Concealed from the eye of every seer
Although ever unmasked, never veiled

Reluctantly, she came down to you
Yet when time of separating from you arrives
She resists; agonizing deep

Disdaining the prospect of visiting the earth
She maintained an aloofness
Long contact with the body
Made her to the wasteland resigned

In my belief, she has forgotten her dim past
In celestial regions spent
No more does she remember those subtle realms
Unwillingly she parted with her heavenly home

Once connected to this mundane plane
And no longer firmly anchored in her celestial soil

She became heavily burdened with human attachments
Shackled by humiliating desires
In countless worldly concerns immersed

She sobs when remembering her experiences
In divine realms, no longer within her reach
Unable to restrain her uncontrollable tears

She continues pouring forth her immense longing
While heart-brokenly to terrestrial ruins confined

Impeded by its heavy physical form, unable to soar
Caged, cannot plunge into the vast vistas
Of infinite spaces

Ever endeavouring to reclaim her divine heritage
Disassociating herself from worldly entanglements
She aspires to connect with her Divine Source
While still in earthly form encased

And when the time of departure
For her heavenly abode arrives
Sensing the nearness of her transition
Into the sphere of unlimited boons

She cries out for joy
Once the veil of delusion removed
With superior vision she beholds
That which by mortal eyes unseen

She exultingly sings atop the mountain peak of realization
Divine knowledge, even the lowly, elevates

For what reason was she brought down
From high above to abject, base domain

If by divine wisdom she was sent down by God
For reasons from the wisest of the wise hid

Her descent must then be a mortal necessity
To hear that which by mortal ears unheard

And to return rich with intimate knowledge of every truth
Whether here in this world, or in the great beyond
Thus her scattered faculties restored

Her journey on the spiritual path
Has been interrupted by Time
Obliterating her divine memory
Limiting her vast capabilities

She is like a streak of lighting
Blazing in the firmament
Flashing for a brief moment
Before disappearing, as if never before seen” *
Ibn Sina (Avicena) [Born 370 Hijra / 980 CE – Died 427 Hijra / 1037 CE]

The translator’s task is never easy. So here is a sang version of the original Arabic peom by Ibn Sina.

——————-
* Translated by Mahmoud Abbas Masoud. (Unfortunately, I lost track of where and when I found it.)
There are other translations.