God is great, the land is great, the times are great; if someone here is lowly,

     then it is only Nadim,

That very Nadim, that very darling of Paradise, that Nadim who was the

     angels’ object of worship,

He who raised the rapture of knowledge above predestination, he who made

     the world’s vastness in a single leap;

He who, when punished for the crime of love, then brought spring to the

     wilderness of the universe;

He who gave the beauty of heaven to earth, who smiled and brushed aside the

     aggressive elements;

When he advanced, then he carved out roads; when he flew, he spread song;

     when he bowed, he made flowers bloom;

He by whose name greatness swears is being made fun of by God’s creation today. 

My nature is not to get angry with anyone, with no one; there are gardens in

     my nature, not heaps of fire.

I have smiled at thousands of defeats; I’ve also hummed in the face of

     misfortune;

If I meet death in the house of immortality, then in this very death I learn the

     etiquette of immorality;

I am one who knows God and one who knows himself; I am also far from

     God, but I am also near God;

My work is also creation on this very earth because my name is ascribed to

     [God’s epithet] Greatness;

The earth is mine, the air as well, and also space; if space is mine, then the

     kingdom beyond is also mine.

I am the greatest piece of art of God’s mind; I am the groom of every age;

I am Nadim.

.

April 1947

From: Sho‘lah-i gul(Flame of the Rose), 1953. pp 36 – 37