Fwd: Hallaj (Mansur al-Hallaj) - If They Only Knew

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, Alan Jacobs <alanadamsjacobs wrote:

 

 

A good poem from dear Ivan sent to us

 

 

Here's your Daily Poem from the Poetry Chaikhana --

 

 

If They Only Knew

 

By Hallaj (Mansur al-Hallaj)

 

 

(9th Century)

 

English version by Michael A. Sells

 

 

 

What earth is this

 

          so in want of you

 

they rise up on high

 

          to seek you in heaven?

 

 

 

                    Look at them staring

 

                              at you

 

                    right before their eyes,

 

                              unseeing, unseeing, blind.

 

.. . .

 

 

 

                    I was patient,

 

                              but can the heart

 

be patient of

 

          its heart?

 

 

 

                              My spirit and yours

 

                    blend together

 

                              whether we are near one another

 

                    or far away.

 

 

 

                    I am you,

 

you,

 

          my being,

 

                    end of my desire.

 

 

 

          The most intimate of secret thoughts

 

                    enveloped

 

and fixed along the horizon

 

          in folds of light.

 

 

 

                              How? The " how " is known

 

                    along the outside,

 

                              while the interior of beyond

 

          to and for the heart of being.

 

 

 

          Creatures perish

 

                    in the darkened

 

blind of quest,

 

          knowing intimations.

 

 

 

                                        Guessing and dreaming

 

                    they pursue the real,

 

                              faces turned toward the sky

 

          whispering secrets to the heavens.

 

 

 

                    While the lord remains among them

 

                              in every turn of time

 

abiding in their every condition

 

          every instant.

 

 

 

                              Never without him, they,

 

                    not for the blink of an eye --

 

                              if only they knew!

 

                    nor he for a moment without them..

 

 

 

-- from Early Islamic Mysticism: Sufi, Quran, Miraj, Poetic and

Theological Writings (Classics of Western Spirituality), by Michael A. Sells

Amazon.com

 

 

/ Photo by millicent bystander /

 

 

 

 

============

 

Thought for the Day:

 

Through you

 

the world learns

 

to recognize itself

 

-- as heaven.

============

 

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Sincerity

 

 

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Hi Alan -

 

 

 

Mansur al-Hallaj is one of the more controversial figures of Sufism. Considered

by many to be a great poet-saint, he was executed for blasphemy and sorcery.

 

 

 

The name al-Hallaj means " wool carder, " probably a reference to his family's

traditional occupation. Al-Hallaj was born in the province of Fars, Persia

(Iran). He later moved to what is now Iraq, where he took up religious studies,

particularly the Sufi way.

 

 

 

Orthodox religious authorities took offense at his poetry and teachings,

particularly the line in one of his great poems " Ana 'l-Haqq, " which translates

as " I am the Real, " but can also be translated as " I am the Truth " or " I am God "

-- acknowledging the mystical realization of unity with the Eternal. He was

condemned by a council of theologians, imprisoned for nine years, and eventually

put to death. He is revered today as a martyr for truth by many Sufis and

mystics.

 

 

 

--

 

 

 

In this poem al-Hallaj reminds us that, wherever we look, we are always staring

at the face of God, " right before [our] eyes. " Everyone, knowingly or

unknowingly, is always searching for the Eternal, but too easily we become lost

in our search. The idea of a search is already to be lost -- " a blind quest. "

We imagine that the Goal will be found elsewhere, somewhere that we are not, and

so we rush about looking, looking. " Guessing and dreaming, " looking for God in

some distant heaven instead of beneath our feet and between the span of our

arms, we blindly have our " faces turned toward the sky. " But doing that, we

never recognize that " the lord remains among [us] " in our " every condition /

every instant. " We are never without the Divine Presence, " not for the blink of

an eye! "

 

 

 

Hallaj says it very simply, speaking to God as the Beloved who is everywhere

and, at the same time, the heart of the heart:

 

 

 

My spirit and yours

 

blend together

 

whether we are near one another

 

or far away.

 

 

 

I am you,

 

you,

 

my being,

 

end of my desire.

 

 

 

Have a beautiful weekend!

 

 

 

Ivan

 

 

 

 

 

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