It speaks to me in the silence of this one
By Fakhruddin Iraqi (? - 1289)
English version by William Chittick and Peter Lamborn Wilson
It speaks to me in the silence of this one
then through the words of that one speaking;
it whispers to me through an eyebrow raised
and the message of an eye winking.
And do you know what words it breathes into my ear? It says,
"I am Love: in heaven and earth I have no place;
I am the Wondrous Phoenix whose spoor cannot be traced.
With eyebrow-bow and arrow-winks I hunt
both worlds -- and yet my weapons cannot be found.
Like the sun I brighten each atom's cheek;
I cannot be pinpointed: I am too manifest.
I speak with every tongue, listen with all ears,
but marvel at this: My ears and tongue are erased.
Since in all the world only I exist
above and below, no likeness of me can be found."-- from Fakhruddin Iraqi: Divine Flashes (Classics of Western Spirituality), by William Chittick / Nasr Seyyed Hossein
from the Poetry Chaikhana
Saturday 8 December 2007
that which is manifest cannot be pinpointed
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Sufi
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