In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful.
Chapter 41: On Knowing the People of the Night, the Differences among Their Classes, the Disparity of Their Ranks, and the Secrets of Their Poles
Indeed, the People of the Night are people of descent,
people of ascents and people of passage from place to place.
One ascends toward the station by aspiration,
and another descends, seeking to reach what is lowest.
Drawing near and bending down govern them both, and
they stand apart from rising and being met.
If you say that they are the finest company,
you speak truly, for they have alighted in the noblest dwelling.
If you say that they are the worst of young men,
you speak truly, for they are neither prophet nor saint.
They are they and yet not they, neither themselves nor others,
but they are in a stronghold that trembles,
Notes
Translator’s note TN961-1: The poem brings together the night worshippers’ ascent and the divine descent described in the following pages. The compressed wording on ascent and encounter and the paradox about their identity admit more than one reading. The translation keeps those contrasts without supplying an explanation within the verse.
