A Young Seeker Was Sitting By A Brook Poem by Mohammad Younus

A young seeker was sitting by a brook,
Brooding while looking at the flowing brook,
As this brook flows to the sea...
how can I also join the source from where I came?
A dervish passed by the youngman,
He found him in a brooding mood,
Sitting next to him, he put his gentle hand,
Like a mother on the shoulders of the youngman,
Looking into his paled eyes, he enquired...
What makes you so sad, O youngman?
'Everything in my life is messed up;
I don't anywhere find peace and contentment;
Can someone tell me, for the sake of God...
How and where I could find my lost peace? '

At that moment, suddenly, a leaf fell down...
From a tree standing on the side of the brook...
Slowly and steadily flowing to the sea,
The dervish softly said to the youngman:
Look at this light weighted leaf,
See, how it flows smoothly...
with the current of the brook,
Tell me, what do you feel about the leaf?
Can it go against the current?
You, too, must flow with the brook of life,
You should never go against the current,
You should not try to change...
the course of life's brook,

Then, the dervish picked up a big stone in his hand,
He threw the stone with great force into the brook,
It caused great ripples in the brook...
chasing each other to kiss the bank of the brook,
Some succeeded in touching the bank of the brook,
While some ripples died down on the way,
The stone settles down on the bottom of the brook,
Though strong and weighty, it could not conquer...
the flow of the brook...
And move on its shoulders ultimately to the sea.

The dervish, then, politely asked the youngman,
Do you see the fate of the strong heavy stone...
which rippled the brook beyond measure?
Its heavy weight stopped it from flowing...
on the shoulders of the brook to the sea,
If you too want to return to the sea of life....
wherefrom you came to this world,
You must carry on yourself a light load,
Throw off your load from your boat of life,
So that it does not sink on the way alongwith you.

Mykoul