Electromagnetic

Earnest application makes accessible every remote affair,
     and industriousness opens every locked door.
The creature of God most worthy of grief
     is a man* of high aspirations who is worn out
     by a life of straightened circumstances.
Proof of divine destiny and its wisdom
     are in the afflictions of the wise
     and the easy life of the fool.
Lack of wealth will nourish intellectual power.
     [Wealth and intellect are] opposites;
     how far apart are the two!

*It seems to me that Abel and Grunebaum have translated the Arabic word for “man” in this poem attributed to Shafi`i (d. 820) too literally or perhaps they meant to use it in its archaic sense of “human”. I think the intent of the author is to describe a condition which is possible for any “creature of God” to experience. So perhaps “person” would be a better translation to parallel “creature of God” in the preceding line and to reflect the absence of gender-specificity in the rest of this poem.

Framing wealth and intellect in opposition was likely not very strange in the time of Shafi`i but in our time I think it could be perceived as provocative and difficult to understand. It’s important to recognize that for Shafi`i, the “intellect” is not a mere instrument that can be utilized for whatever end, rather it’s a gift of God which is not without special purpose. I think what Shafi`i means by “wealth” here is the idol people can make of wealth so that it becomes a matter of ultimate concern, a false god to be served by the intellect.   

Shafi`i is Muhammad ibn Idrīs al-Qurāshī al-Shāfi`ī born in Gaza. He studied and taught Law in Iraq and Egypt where he died in 204 H/820 CE. This poem is attributed to Shafi`i in Ta`līm al-Muta`allim Tarīq al-Ta`allum by the Central Asian jurist Burhān al-Dīn al-Zarnūjī (d. ca. 13^th century CE) and translated into English from Arabic by G. E. von Grunebaum and Theodora M. Abel as Instruction of the Student: The Method of Learning. Revised second edition with foreword by Hamza Yusuf. The Starlatch Press, 2001, p. 19.