1. Listen, my brother, and remember if you have any sense,
Words of sincere advice, in earnest not jest,

2. Upon you is Allah's Book and the traditions,
Upheld by the just in transmission and text,

3. Say the Prophet's Companions are the foremost guide,
In religion, by word and by deed they excel,

4. They're the best of Allah's creation after their Prophet,
None can match their superiority and merit as well,

5. They believed in Allah first and did jihad,
Destroying disbelief ere loss and death knell,

6. And they carried shariah knowledge for those coming later,
A transmission pure of any flaw and lapse they tell,

7. So whatever good came to those after them,
The Companions deserve a share of its wealth as well,

8. And their accounts are related successively,
As lone reports that are sound in mind and intellect,

9. None amongst them claimed to walk on water one day,
With feet unsullied, no wetting their sole,

10. Nor an informer of secrets, transmuter fine
Of disciples from dust and sand into gold,

11. Nor one who neared the sky with their gaze
Causing it to shower with vials untold,

12. Nor a spender of hidden coins of silver drachma,
With no mint nor smith of origin extolled,

13. Nor a snatcher of fruits from thin air,
Roses without thorns and dates with no palm,

14. Leave alone the miracles of prophets as reverence,
Which they mimicked like step matching step heel to heel,

15. Seeking fame in the world and leadership,
And wealth hoarded steadily with no repeal,

16. Beyond this they claimed the impossible and ascribed,
To themselves what no messenger was revealed,

17. So who is this that in one moment seems one being,
Occupying above and below without veil,

18. Conversing here with one in Egypt and another in Damascus,
And another one tilling the field,

19. And dives in a river for ablution then joins,
The clans on the plain and in the vale,

20. And marries a maiden there who bears him,
Sons till he has sons and family hale,

21. Staying with them for pleasurable years,
United in marriage with children the hearty table,

22. Then emerges from the river discarding his clothes,
On the river bank whence he came for the lave,

23. All this in a fraction of time,
A dive, marriage and return without travelogue tale,

24. They name it transcending time just as,
They transcend space without merit or avail,

25. And he walks to sites foretelling what,
Will occur there in name, description and detail,

26. And the Prophet's messenger comes to his grave, awoken,
Extolling him in knowledge and avail,

27. And the secret flows to him from his shaykh's tomb,
Secrets churn in his heart and boil,

28. And he recites in an instant verses thousand,
Articulating them slowly letter by letter trail,

29. And he puts water in a jug for drinking,
Lo it becomes oil for lamp and food without fail,

30. His mill stone turns if he wants to grind his grain,
Without a donkey or mule that turn by the tail,

31. And a blind man sees the orbits clearly awake,
Beholding their types constantly without veil,

32. This is lead and this brass and this,
Is iron and this rare solid steel,

33. And this a gem and here an emerald,
From its light the sun gleams and beams reveal,

34. And the Ascension is in Egypt like Joseph's ascent,
Rising to the seven spheres to prevail,

35. Needing no Gabriel or steed Buraq,
Rather drawing the bow fast to assail,

36. Therein women and boys stay seasons,
Singing, dancing, in drink and food and table,

37. One exposes his den not praying, another
Atop his roof his banner near to trail,

38. The forbidden visit them thinking them saints,
And saints, treating them best in their travail,

39. When Den Exposer died the chiefs walked,
To his procession, dignitaries in veil,

40. Throwing scarves on his bier, wiping,
Faces with them, faces of ignorance frail,

41. When Rooftop Man died, shaykhs stood,
Praying for him atop roofs climbing and scale,

42. A singer appears like the full moon displaying,
What faith where split lips lewdness entail,

43. Gabriel dyes her palm with henna,
Filling the house from it with man unveiled,

44. They visit her in droves and crowds and her palm,
Is kissed and clasped in utmost indignity and derail,

45. They shower her with wealth abundantly till she,
Yearns for a cot and pines for a cell,

46. Then she flees and they know not where,
Like a deer fled the snare of ropes that entail,

47. What a eunuch played with by one with cleaver,
Inciting a brother of ignorance and travail,

48. And how many the people were toyed by in the pasture of passion,
By red cheeked and wide eyed gazelle,

49. Riffraff rabble following every babbler,
Vile hearts devoid of piety and intellect frail.