Graciously give me clarity

O my Sustainer.
deliver me from this imprisonment of free will.
The one-way pull on the straight Path*
is better than the two-way pull of perplexity.
Though You are the only goal of these two ways,
still this duality is agonizing to the spirit.

Though the destination of these two ways is You alone,
still the battle is never like the banquet.
Listen to the explanation God gave in the Quran:
they shrank from bearing it.**
This perplexity in the heart is like war:
when a man is perplexed he says,
"I wonder whether this is better for my situation or that."

In perplexity the fear of failure and the hope of success
are always in conflict with each other, advancing, retreating.
From You came this ebb and flow within me;
otherwise this sea of mine would be still.
From that source from which You gave me this perplexity,
likewise now, graciously give me clarity.

Mathnawi VI, Maulana Jallaluddin Rumi, may Allah sanctify his soul & bless his secret

*The Holy Quran, 1:6 The Opening

**The Holy Quran, 33:72 The Confederates