Guarding Your Attention

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حَيْثُ تَضَعُ انتِباهَكَ تُودِعُ عُمُرَكَ

Where you place your attention, you deposit your life.

ما تُطالِعُهُ وتُكَرِّرُهُ يَتَراكَمُ فيكَ حَتّى يُصْبِحَ طَبْعًا

What you read and repeat accumulates within you until it becomes second nature.

حَرِّسْ بَوّابَةَ عَيْنَيْكَ وأُذُنَيْكَ

Guard the gates of your eyes and ears;

ليس كلُّ لامعٍ نافِع، ولا كلُّ مفيدٍ صاخب

Not everything that glitters is beneficial, and not everything useful is noisy.

حينَ تُصَفِّي المَجالَ مِنَ التَّشويشِ تَتَكَشَّفُ لَكَ المَعالِمُ الهادِئَةُ

When you clear the field of noise, serene features reveal themselves to you:

فِكْرَةٌ كانَتْ تَخْتَبِئُ

A thought that was hiding,

عَلاقَةٌ تَحْتاجُ رِعايَةً

A relationship that needs nurturing,

مَعْنًى يَتِيمٌ يَنْتَظِرُ مَنْ يَضُمُّهُ

A solitary meaning waiting for someone to embrace it.

الِانْتِباهُ المُنْضَبِطُ لا يُضَيِّقُ الحَياةَ

Disciplined attention does not constrain life,

بَلْ يُحَرِّرُ وَقْتَها مِنَ السُّدَى وَيُكَثِّفُ حَلاوَتَها

But it liberates its time from waste and intensifies its sweetness.