Jazba-ye-nur-e-jamaalash mikashad suye khudam Gu’yaa u sham’ o man parwaana am ay ‘aasheqaan The attraction of the light of His Beauty draws me towards itself, As if He is the candle and I am the moth, O lovers! ‘Jazba’ in this ghazal from the Diwaan-e-Mo’in means ‘attraction’. It is the attraction by the divine, because of which someone can be lifted to the top of the mountain, without any effort of his/her own. The noun ‘majzub’ is derived from the verb yazaba, meaning ‘to be attracted to’ and a majzub is therefore attracted to God. In order to be able to guide others someone who has experienced this divine attraction needs to travel once again to the top of the…
The works of shaykh Ibn al-‘Arabi [part 5]
Now let us turn to another book written by shaykh Ibn al-‘Arabi. What can be more interesting than to see a Sufi of the level of shaykh Ibn al-‘Arabi describe the life and teachings of another formidable Sufi shaykh? This has happened because shaykh Ibn al-‘Arabi has written Al-Kawkab al-durri fi manaqib Dhu’n-Nun al-Misri dealing with the inspiring life of shaykh Dhu’n-Nun, the Egyptian. Shaykh Dhu’n-Nun was born in the North of Egypt and died at Gizeh in the year 860. Shaykh Ibn al-‘Arabi reports that when the Egyptian Sufi died “green birds of an unknown species flew above the body of Dhu’n-Nun during his burial”. This has been explained that the angels honoured shaykh Dhu’n-Nun. Shaykh Dhu’n-Nun was the…
Chishti poetry
You’ll find here several poems by Chishti Sufis. The transcription of the Persian text will be followed by its English translation: Gar az khodiye khwish berun aa’i to Dar pardaye tawhid darun aa’i to Var az ravesh-e chun o cheraa bargozari Az khod shode bi cheraa o chun aa’i to If outside your own self you would go, Into the veil of unity you would go. And if you would go beyond the why and when, Leaving yourself, into the without why and when you would go. Mas’ud-e-Bakk Jaan bar in yek bayt daade-ast aan bozorg Aari in kawhar ze kaani digar-ast Koshtegaan-e khanjar-e taslim raa Har zamaan az ghayb jaani-ye digar-ast. On this verse that great being gave up…
Master and dog
One day I was going to the fields, accompanied by my faithful dog, guardian of our farms and sworn enemy of those monkeys who devastate them. It was the time of the great heat of April. My dog and I were so hot that it was only with great pain that we were able to breathe properly. I had no doubt that in the end one of us, perhaps myself, would faint. Thanks to God we came upon a thicket of clustered branches with a thick covering of green leaves. My dog, whimpering slightly, raced towards the shadow. But when he reached it, he did not stay there, but returned to me, his tongue hanging out, his lips sagging, his…
The Supreme Name
There are people, according to ar-Raazi, who hold to the opinion that the supreme name is a specific name and that people are able to know it. Some of the names suggested, are: 1. Hu or Huwa (He) 2. Allah 3. Al-Hayy, al-Qayyum (The Living, The Everlasting) 4. Dhu’l-jalaali-wa’l-ikraam (The Lord of Majesty and Bounty). 5. The supreme name can be found in the ‘isolated letters’ at the beginning of several Qur’anic chapters (different suggestions are offered). As Baba Farid, who is one of the most important Chishti Sufis, is holding the third opinion as referred to above, here is what ar-Raazi among other things writes about it: “It has been reported that Abu ibn Ka’b asked the messenger of…
Knowing his sufi classics
A man once asked Abe Lincoln what should be engraved on a honorary plaque for his office. He wanted Lincoln to furnish words of wisdom that would be helpful in all circumstances. Lincoln thought about it for a while, then said: “This too shall pass!” You know that these words are in fact the advice given by shaykh Fariduddin ‘Attar in Persian: In ham migozarad
Sultan Mahmud and Ayaz: 10 tales
Tale 1 Sultan Mahmud is buying slaves. He wishes that his servant interviews every single slave in order to ask which qualities the slave possesses. Every slave then mentions one or more special qualities about himself. When he asks Ayaaz, then this slave says: “I have a virtue (honar) which is better than both the worlds”. These words are communicated to Mahmud. He demands that this slave is brought into his presence and wants to know more about this virtue. Ayaaz gives this answer: “When you’d put your crown on my head and would place me on your throne and would put the seven climes under my command and would make me the lord of everyone in this world, then…
Thou art the blessing
Yesterday, together with my youngest son, I made a trip to Leyden in order to visit a shop called WARP 9, which specialises in science fiction articles. After having bought a video I persuaded him to come with me to a second hand bookshop as possibly some books in the field of Star Trek could be found therein. We passed the Oriental Antiquarium wherein formerly the famous publisher Brill was settled. (Of course if it was up to me we would also have visited this place, but there are rather poorly equipped in the field of science fiction). In the second hand bookshop my son found nothing that interested him, but I found a real treasure. I found the critical…
Diwaan-e-Mo’in: Ghazal 4
Here is a ghazal from the Diwaan-e-Mo’in (Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna): Delaa ba-halqa-ye-rendaan-e-bazm-e-‘eshq dar aa Ke jor’a ze sharaab-e-baqaa dehand toraa O my heart, enter the circle of the drunken lovers, So that they may give you a draught of the wine of immortality. Biyaa wa har do jahaan raa beshash-dar andar na Dar in qemaar beyak daaw har che hast dar aa Come and put both worlds at stake in a gambling game. Offer all there is in one move of this game. Agar baqaa’ talabi auwalat fanaa baayad Ke taa fanaa nashawi rah namibari ba baqaa’ If you search for eternal life you need to annihilate your self first, Because you’ll not find the way to…
Song of the Dervish
Have you ever heard a dervish sing? If not, use your imagination. Open your window and what do you hear? Imagine that you are hearing approaching footsteps, while someone is singing. It has to be a dervish, because his song is telling a Sufi tale, complaining of love’s separation. Do you like to listen to a song of a dervish in real life? Why don’t you visit the shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi? It is the habit to go to the nearby shrine of his closest disciple first, i.e. Hazrat Amir Khusro. Music was prayer for Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, while Hazrat Amir Khusro created qawwali, devotional music, for his master. His poetry resounds in the songs of the…