[Poetry Chaikhana] Baba Kuhi of Shiraz - In the market, in the cloister--only God I saw.

September 10, 2008

Dear friends,

An inspiring poem posted by kind permission of Ivan Granger--- On Wed, 10/9/08, Poetry Chaikhana <ivan wrote:

Poetry Chaikhana <ivan[Poetry Chaikhana] Baba Kuhi of Shiraz - In the market, in the cloister--only God I saw.alanadamsjacobsDate: Wednesday, 10 September, 2008, 5:43 PM

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

In the market, in the cloister--only God I saw.

By Baba Kuhi of Shiraz(980? - 1050)

English version by Reynold A. Nicholson

In the market, in the cloister--only God I saw.In the valley and on the mountain--only God I saw.Him I have seen beside me oft in tribulation;In favour and in fortune--only God I saw.In prayer and fasting, in praise and contemplation,In the religion of the Prophet--only God I saw.Neither soul nor body, accident nor substance,Qualities nor causes--only God I saw.I oped mine eyes and by the light of His face around meIn all the eye discovered--only God I saw.Like a candle I was melting in His fire:Amidst the flames outflashing--only God I saw.Myself with mine own eyes I saw most clearly,But when I looked with God's eyes--only God I saw.I passed away into nothingness, I vanished,And lo, I was the All-living--only God I saw.

-- from The Mystics of Islam, by Reynold A. Nicholson

Amazon.com / Photo by James Gordon /

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Thought for the Day:

Whether our stories are epic or humble, whether we live on the sharp edges or the flat plains, we are all on an immense journey.

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Ray Spiegel Ensemble

Sum and Kali

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Hi Alan -This poem beautifully conveys the sense one has in the deepest union in which you only see the Divine. You can still see the forms about you, mountains and valleys, you are still aware of tribulation and the strain of fasting, as well as the elation of prayer and the peace of contemplation -- but all of that seems like a shifting glaze upon the surface of the Divine which is everywhere. Nothing has any real or tangible substance in and of itself. Even your own body, even your own sense of individuality, are seen as phantom-like, the very idea of them disappearing into that living radiance.No matter where you look, you find yourself proclaiming -- "only God I saw."--Baba Kuhi is an Iranian Sufi poet-saint. He spent many years in retreat and prayer in a mountain cave just north of Shiraz.He died in 1050 A.D., and was buried just outside of Shiraz, on

a hill called "the green old man" (Pir-i-sabz). It is said that just before Baba Kuhi died, he made a famous promise that if anyone could stay awake for forty consecutive nights at his tomb that person would be granted the gift of poetry, immortality, and his heart's desire.A story is told about the later Sufi poet Hafiz: When the young Hafiz was in mourning because the young woman he loved was to marry the prince of Shiraz, he remembered the famous 'promise of Baba Kuhi.' Hafiz hoped to gain the young woman's hand and kept his vigil at Baba Kuhi's tomb at night, working in the bakery by day. Finally, utterly exhausted, Hafiz saw a radiant angel who asked him what he desired most. Hafiz was so dazzled by the sight of the angel that he forgot about the young woman and declared that he wanted God.Ivan

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