Bismillah

It’s a habit of yours to walk slowly.
You hold a grudge for years.
With such heaviness, how can you be modest?
With such attachments, do you expect to arrive anywhere?
Be wide as the air to learn a secret.
Right now you’re equal portions clay and water, thick mud.

Abraham learned how the sun and moon and the stars all set.
He said, “No longer will I try to assign partners for Allah.”

You are so weak. Give up to grace.
The ocean takes care of each wave till it gets to shore.
You need more help than you know.
You’re trying to live your life in open scaffolding.
Say Bismillah, “In the name of Allah,”
as the priest does with a knife when he offers an animal.
Bismillah your old self
to find your real name.

I encountered this poem by Rumi on the internet and fell in love with it immediately. It was translated into English by Coleman Barks. I wondered what it would sound like in Chinese. So I asked Claude to translate it.

你习惯了缓慢地行走，
你把怨恨记了一年又一年。
背负如此沉重，你怎能谦逊？
执念如此之深，你指望能到达何方？
要像空气一样广阔，才能领悟秘密。
此刻的你，不过是等量的泥与水——一团稠泥。

易卜拉欣看到日月星辰皆有落下之时，
他说：”我不再为安拉寻找任何匹配。”

你是如此软弱，就交付于恩典吧。
大海呵护着每一朵浪花，直到它抵达岸边。
你需要的帮助，远超你所知。
你试图在裸露的脚手架上度过一生。
说”奉安拉之名”——比斯米拉，
如同祭司举刀献祭时那般虔诚。
对你旧日的自我说一声”比斯米拉”，
去寻找你真正的名字。

Is it good? Maybe. But I feel like something is missing. This poem really reminded me of Buddhism. So I then asked Claude to adapt it in the style of the Diamond Sutra.

尔时，世尊告诸比丘：

若人行迟，是为执重。若人怀嗔，经年不舍，是为住相。以如是沉重，云何得轻安？以如是执著，云何得到彼岸？ 须菩提，当知空性犹如虚空，无所不容。若欲知一切秘密法门，当令心广大如虚空。若心为泥水所缚，稠浊凝滞，即非清净心，即非清净心。 昔有圣者易卜拉欣，观日月星辰，皆有生灭。彼即悟言：凡所有相，皆是虚妄。我不复于无上法中，别立诸相。 须菩提，汝甚羸弱，当舍诸妄想，归于大恩。譬如大海，不舍一浪，护持令至彼岸。汝所需之助，远胜汝所知。汝于无遮无蔽之危脆处，欲建一生，犹如于露地架空中求安住，无有是处。 当念”以至尊之名”—— 如持戒者持刀行献祭时，一心不乱，念念分明。 当以此念，献祭旧我。 何以故？ 若不舍旧我，即不见本来面目。若舍旧我，即得真名。 所谓真名者，即非真名，是名真名。

Which version do you like the most?