Allah
“The Breath of the All-Merciful has no
basis in other than the All-Merciful…
Its stopping-place is the Yaman of the creatures
and It is neither spirit nor body.
Allah
“The Breath of the All-Merciful has no
basis in other than the All-Merciful…
Its stopping-place is the Yaman of the creatures
and It is neither spirit nor body.
It has no limit to define It
yet It is what is (always) sought, the Sempiternal (al-matlub as-Samad)
For all the creatures are seeking It
though none of them can possess it
Unique, no one is like It
alone in the Perfection of Its description.”
My Journey
I withdrew with He whom I love passionately, and there was no one but us,
for if there had been another than me, the retreat would not have been one.
When I imposed on my soul the conditions of her seclusion,
the souls of the creatures all at once became her slaves!
But if there were not in her an Other than herself,
my soul would have made a gift of herself to He who overwhelms her with His gifts.
An Ocean without Shore
I marveled at an Ocean without shore,
and at a Shore that did not have an ocean;
And at a Morning Light without darkness,
and at a Night that was without daybreak;
And then a Sphere with no locality
known to either fool or learned scholar;
And at an azure Dome raised over the earth,
circulating ’round its center — Compulsion;
And at a rich Earth without o’er-arching vault
and no specific location, the Secret concealed . . . .
I courted a Secret which existence did not alter;
for it was asked of me: “Has Thought enchanted you?”
— To which I replied: “I have no power over that;
I counsel you: Be patient with it while you live.
But, truly, if Thought becomes established
in my mind, the embers kindle into flame,
And everything is given up to fire
the like of which was never seen before!”
And it was said to me: “He does not pluck a flower
who calls himself with courtesy ‘Freeborn’.”
“He who woos the belle femme in her boudoir, love-beguiled,
will never deem the bridal-price too high!”
I gave her the dower and was given her in marriage
throughout the night until the break of Dawn —
But other than Myself I did not find. — Rather,
that One whom I married — may his affair be known:
For added to the Sun’s measure of light
are the radiant New Moon and shining Stars;
Like Time, dispraised – though the Prophet (Blessings on him!)
had once declared of your Lord that He is Time.
Silence
There are places which offer but scant consolation
while others offer one great delight. However, make the Lord the mainstay and refuge of your soul,
wherever and however you may be.
Fire
O Marvel! a garden amidst the flames.
My heart has become capable of every form:
it is a pasture for gazelles and a convent for Christian monks,
and a temple for idols and the pilgrim’s Ka’bah,
and the tables of the Torah and the book of the Qur’an.
I follow the religion of Love: whatever way Love’s camels take,
that is my religion and my faith.
True Knowledge
There is no knowledge except that taken from Allah, for He alone is the Knower… the prophets, in spite of their great number and the long periods of time which separate them, had no disagreement in knowledge of Allah, since they took it from Allah.
The Invitation
Approach the dwelling place of the dear ones who have taken covenants –
may clouds of incessant rain pour upon it!
And breathe the scent of the wind over against their land, in desire that
the sweet airs may tell thee where they are.
I know that they encamped at the banded tree of Idam, where the arar plants
grow and the shih and the katam.
Reference: islamicedfoundation.com/