Ginans (etymologically from the Sanskrit root ‘jnan’ for ‘gnosis’) are a rich part of the devotional and liturgical heritage of Shia Nizari Ismaili Muslims from South Asia. The following is a modern-day composition in the ginanic tradition.
Heart, O heart, O what have you done?
Draped your light in a robe of dun
And, for this world of illusion,
Bartered away the golden sun.
Heart, O heart, what have you become?
Down from high mountains you have come
Descending to these shores of scum
To drown in seas you should have swum.
Heart, O heart, O why do you cleave
To those things you surely must leave?
Detach instead before you grieve
To lose what you’ll never retrieve.
Heart, O heart, awake to your plight!
Look on this world with inner light,
Resolve your waywardness to fight,
And seek within to glean what’s right.
Heart, O heart, remember the Way
Lest distraction lead you astray.
Listen to what the true guides say:
From your Heart-Light turn not away.
