You disobey the Divine, yet claim love for Him
This is impossible, illogical reasoning.
If your love were true, you would certainly obey
For the lover to the Beloved is ever obedient.
He attained exaltation by his perfection,
He dispelled darkness by his beauty,
Beauteous are all his qualities,
Benediction be on him and on his family.
يا نسيم الريح قولي للرشا لم يزدني الوِرد إلا عطشا
لي حبيب حبه وسط الحشا إن يشأ يمشي على خدي مشى
روحه روحي وروحي روحه إن يشأ شئت وإن شئت يشأ
“O You whose mighty kingdom never becomes less,
We hope to take asylum in divine largesse.”
Salma - Al Kauthar.
From Tarjuman al ashwaq by Sheikh Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi.
The verses of the poem are alternated with a chorus singing tahlil (la ilaha illa Allah).
Greeting to Salma and to those who dwell in the preserve,
for it behoves one who loves tenderly like me to give greeting.
They journeyed when the darkness of night had let down its curtains, and I said to her,
“Pity a passionate lover, outcast and distraught,”
And she said, “Is it not enough for him that I am in his heart
and that he beholds me at every moment? Is it not enough?”
— Ibrahim bin Adham
“You were created innocent of every blemish,
as if you were created just as you would wish.”
— Hassan bin Thabit.
I said to my rose-cheeked lovely, “O you with bud-like mouth,
Why keep hiding your face, like flirting girls?”
She laughed and said, “Unlike the beauties of your world,
In the veil I’m seen, but without it I’m hidden.
In love, young and old are the same.
In love, loss and gain are the same.
In love, the worlds are the same.
In love, autumn and spring are the same.
Its down is up and up is down.
The earth and the heavens are the same.
The place of love is a circle,
Each spot is equal to the other.
If the Beloved scorns you or welcomes you,
it’s all the same.
In the tradition of love, to die
is the same as gaining eternal life.
Muhammad is a man, but not like all men. He is as a ruby among stones.
O best of those whose bones are buried in the deep earth,
And from whose fragrance the depth
and the height have become sweet,
May I be the ransom for a grave which thou inhabit,
And in which are found purity, bounty and munificence!
He was the most beautiful of humanity and the most complete,
In outward form and ethical character.
You are mistaken if you likened him to the full moon
In splendor or deemed him like the ocean
In generosity, or said he was like the flowers
In fineness, or time in its determination.
Even if you inversed these statements,
It is still a mistake—in my opinion, utter nonsense.
Tell me, what has the full moon in relation to his cheek?
How can time compare to his loyalty?
How can the ocean compare to his hand’s liberality?
What comparison do flowers have to his gentle disposition?
No, I swear by the One who granted him every adornment
That there is no one similar to him in the entire universe.
And onlookers have never seen the likes of him.
How sweet he is, and how radiant his form.
No, I swear by the One who adorned him with every beauty
In meaning and image, and I make no exception,
He has names and attributes that have
Elevated him above all the rest of humanity
So tell me, O man above men in beauty
And beatitude most perfect, what then
Can those who praise hope to achieve with their tongues,
Even if they carried on for all time,
Especially after God’s praise of you in the Qur’an,
When you were described as being one who is of vast and magnanimous character?
May the benedictions and prayers of God be upon you,
And upon your family and companions, those celestial lights,
For as long as sinners seek refuge in the Ancient House,
And the remorseful seek refuge at your sublime porte,
Seeking forgiveness and success in whatever
Pleases you, most honorable of those who have smiled.
An excerpt from:
The Discerning Eyes’ Delights In Perusing the Chosen One’s Days and Nights.
By Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azīz al-Lamṭī.
Translated by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf.
Let the moons set or still be bright,
Ours is a full moon: in its sight
Full moons are humbled; for us its light
A splendour is by day and night.
No change of time can alter it.
— Abū Bakr al-Shiblī.
