Not a Snake or a Chrysalis

Yusuf Achmad

When asked about the meaning of fasting,
Many kinds of ethics, ways, and times.
When fasting is likened to a snake,
The chrysalis protests, its fasting is the most successful.

Fasting dressed in ṣawm or ṣiyām,
And my friend’s fasting clothes Lent, Vrata, or without clothes.
It’s acceptable to change appearance at any time,
My fasting is not like that of a snake or a chrysalis.

They don’t eat in prolonged meditation,
I can’t do that, because the setting sun scolds.
I stand under the burning rays,
Counting the seconds until I can break the fast.

Moreover, getting advice from an ustaz or kyai for sure,
Although I am not like a snake or a chrysalis.
They are more noble than pigs that don’t recognize,
The duration is what’s important, devouring and filling the belly.

In the mind of a snake and a chrysalis, I delve,
They remain silent in hunger and thirst, that’s all they can do.
In the teachings, I understand fasting is more than the mind of a snake and a chrysalis,
Which sheds skin and becomes beautiful.
My fasting flies like a butterfly towards His pleasure, I await.

In the mind of a snake and a chrysalis, I delve,
They remain silent in hunger and thirst, that’s all they can do.
In the teachings, I understand fasting is more than the mind of a snake and a chrysalis,
Which sheds skin and becomes beautiful.
My fasting flies like a butterfly,
Facing the light of hope and love that I await.

Surabaya, 16-1-2025