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The Dullard Sage by Farid ud-Din Attar (1120? - 1220?) Timeline English version by Peter Lamborn Wilson and Nasrollah Pourjavady Original Language Persian/Farsi Muslim / Sufi 12th Century Lost in myself      I reappeared           I know not where a drop that rose      from the sea and fell           and dissolved again; a shadow      that stretched itself out           at dawn, when the sun      reached noon           I disappeared. I have no news      of my coming           or passing away-- the whole thing      happened quicker           than a breath; ask no questions      of the moth.           In the candle flame of his face      I have forgotten           all the answers. In the way of love      there must be knowledge           and ignorance so I have become      both a dullard           and a sage; one must be      an eye and yet           not see so I am blind      and yet I still           perceive, Dust      be on my head           if I can say where I      in bewilderment           have wandered: Attar      watched his heart           transcend both worlds and under its shadow      now is gone mad           with love.     -- from The Drunken Universe: An Anthology of Persian Sufi Poetry, Translated by Peter Lamborn Wilson / Translated by Nasrollah Pourjavady Amazon.com   / Photo by Chico.Ferreira /	Themes   Dawn   Fire   Heart   Lover and Beloved   Rose Recommended Books The Conference of the Birds, Translated by Afkham Darbandi / Translated by Dick Davis Conference of the Birds: A Seeker's Journey to God, Translated by Rustom Pestonji Masani The Conference of the Birds: The Selected Sufi Poetry of Farid ud-Din Attar, Translated by Raficq Abdulla The Drunken Universe: An Anthology of Persian Sufi Poetry, Translated by Peter Lamborn Wilson / Translated by Nasrollah Pourjavady The Hand of Poetry: Five Mystic Poets of Persia, with Lectures by Inayat Khan, Translated by Coleman Barks More >>
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

To all you wise, wondrous sages, a reminder from Attar to also be a dullard.

Knowledge requires mind and conceptualization, the parceling out of reality into small pieces that can be thought about and communicated. True merging with the Divine draws us into the unbroken Unity. When the light of this unbroken awareness shines fully, even the sense of a separate self is lost --

a shadow
that stretched itself out
at dawn,

when the sun
reached noon
I disappeared.

This Wholeness is an awareness that is too great to be comprehended by the limited mind. One naturally falls into the all-encompassing silence of that sacred merging...

ask no questions
of the moth.
In the candle flame

of his face
I have forgotten
all the answers.

"In the way of love / there must be knowledge / and ignorance..." There must be knowledge as we each walk the path, so we can see each step as we take it. But ultimately there must be "ignorance" because, once the last step is taken, nothing can be said about it. Actually, we don't take the final step, it takes us. Who is left then to speak or to know? What is left to know anything about? It is the step that swallows the universe into Oneness and leaves us dumbfounded.

Attar's advice: Become both a dullard and a sage, and go mad with love!

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2009 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.