ghaznavid-period-poets

"زيادة المرء في دنياه نقصان وربحه غير محض الخير خسران"

"I counsel you, O Kings of Earth, to cease not Seeking good name for well-doing and right Spending your 'white' and 'red' to purchase honour, Which shall not wane with change of 'black' and 'white': These are the lasting spoils of Mahmud's prowess, Which spoils we share when we his praise indite."

"Dwell in the company of the Lord and forsake the company of the world because one should associate oneself with a friend and there is no friend superior to the Lord."

"A Sufi does not need the light of the sun or the moon, for the Effulgence of the Lord is with him and it is brighter than that of all satellites."

"Whom the Lord guides, the Path is shortened for him."

"The greatest activity is the remembrance and recollection of the Lord and after that come, in order of preference, purity of life, charity and austerity."

"He who sacrifices his honor for the sake of the Lord, the Lord thereafter cloaks him with the garment of His honor."

"Continue spiritual practices till the spiritual practices themselves abandon you."

"God's love claims him whose heart is reduced to ashes for Him."

"It is veils that wrap past, present and future time from your view. When the veils are withdrawn one can see all."

"When people seek the Lord with earnestness and are lost to themselves, God is met."

"That Muslim is not praiseworthy who worships and keeps fasts, but he is to be praised in whose scroll of destiny no sin is recorded during the course of a lifetime. And when that stage is reached he fears God and maintains humility."

"Whosoever by God's grace sees Him sees not creatures. He who attains to the vision of the Lord is lost to himself."

"O seeker, never think ya hath gained illumination, until for seventy years successively you experience that whilst standing in prayers in Khurasan, you are offering obeisances and bowing in Makkah, and all the treasures of heaven and earth lie bare before your eyes and in spite of all that remain humble and ever in fear lest the Lord many not accept your worship."

"There are some devotees of the Lord who are His beloveds. When they call Him by name, all the birds of air and beasts of the forest stand in silence whilst the angels in heaven shudder and the earth and the heaven and illuminated. Such is the majesty of the utterance of the Name by them that the earth stans quaking."

"None could tread one step successfully in the Path without the help of the Lord. One could never succeed by one's personal effort and perseverance."

"Some of the friends of the Lord seated in the world can read the scroll of destiny."

"God bestows His anguish (Pain) on the enlightened one."

"When the Lord leads one to the Path, he dwells in the Plane of Unity with Him (Tawḥīd) and none expect God knows about his state."

"If in any community a person gains enlightenment and nearness of God, God in His grace for his sake forgives the whole community its transgressions."

"Everybody wants to take something to eternity from this world, but there is nothing in this that can find a passage there except egolessness."

"“As power and the strength of a lion was bestowed upon Ibrahim by the Almighty, he made over to him the well-populated country of Hindustan and gave him 40,000 valiant horsemen to take the country, in which there were more than 1000 rais… Its length extends from Lahore to the Euphrates, and its breadth from Kashmir to the borders of Sistan… The army of the king destroyed at one time a thousand temples of idols, which had each been built for more than a thousand years. How can I describe the victories of the king…”"

"“The narrative of thy battles eclipses the stories of Rustam and Isfandiyar. Thou didst bring an army in one night from Dhangan to Jalandhar… Thou didst direct but one assault and by that alone brought destruction upon the country. By the morning meal not one soldier, not one Brahman, remained unkilled or uncaptured. Their beads were severed by the carriers of swords. Their houses were levelled with the ground with flaming fire… Thou has secured victory to the country and to religion, for amongst the Hindus this achievement will be remembered till the day of resurrection.”"

"“Thou didst depart with a thousand joyful anticipations on a holy expedition, and didst return having achieved a thousand victories… On this journey the army destroyed a thousand idol-temples and thy elephants trampled over more than a hundred strongholds. Thou didst march thy arm to Ujjain; Malwa trembled and fled from thee… On the way to Kalinjar thy pomp obscured the light of day. The lip of infidelity became dry through fear of thee, the eye of plural-worship became blind…”"

"گردوں بہ رنج و درد مارا کشتہ بود اگر پیوند و عمر من نہ شدے نظم جان فضائے"

"Before my lay the riches Of lordly Samarkand, I looked o'er grove and garden, O'er vale and meadow-land. But since my purse was empty, My pocket bare as thread, The rug of joy I folded, From the hall of hope I fled. I had heard in every city Famed scholars oft declare, "Eight are the Paradises, And but one Kawthar there." Here bloom a thousand Edens, A thousand Kawthars foam, But ah me! what avail they, Since I go thirsty home? When hand a dirham lacketh Whilst eye sees all its wish, 'Tis like a head dissevered Within a golden dish."

"I am fallen person in a thousand sorrows In each breath my life's looking in end with no sin I am prisoner with no reason fallen in trouble stars have sworn to hurt me the sky has come to fight with me today in pains I'm higher than the yesterday this year my soul's lesser than last year I had many selected friends what has become no one's remain every night the sky's made sad with my painful sadness cryings I fell in jail, why? I don't know I just know: I'm not still nor wicked to much desires I had before oh alas! where is my lost desires"