This is taken from the seminal work The Walled Garden of Truth. For more about the influential Persian Sufi Hakim Sanai, please see this earlier post.

Not one knows how far it is
from nothingness to God.
As long as you cling to your self
you will wander right and left,
day and night, for thousands of years;
and when, after all that effort,
you finally open your eyes,
you will see your self, through inherent defects,
wandering around itself like the ox on the mill;
but, if, once freed from your self,
you finally get down to work,
this door will open to you within two minutes.

God will not be yours,
as long as you cling to soul and life:
you cannot have both this and that.
Bruise your self for months and years on end;
leave it for dead, and when you have done with it,
you will have reached eternal life.

Remain unmoved by hope and fear.
To non-existence mosque and church are one;
to a shadow, heaven and hell likewise.
For someone whose guide is love,
belief and disbelief are equally a veil,
concealing the doorway of the friend;
his very being is a veil
which hides God’s essence.

Until you throw your sword way,
you’ll not become a shield
until you lay your crown aside,
you’ll not be fit to lead.

Translation David Pendlebury