Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Muslim / Sufi 9th Century	About Hallaj Timeline (9th Century)
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English version by Andrew Harvey Original Language Arabic	Kill me, my faithful friends,
Commentary by Ivan M. Granger Themes   Death   Lover and Beloved         Recommended Books The Death of Al-Hallaj: A Dramatic Narrative, by Herbert Mason Early Islamic Mysticism: Sufi, Quran, Miraj, Poetic and Theological Writings (Classics of Western Spirituality), by Michael A. Sells Music of a Distant Drum: Classical Arabic, Persian, Turkish & Hebrew Poems, Translated by Bernard Lewis The Passion of Al-Hallaj: Mystic and Martyr of Islam, by Louis Massignon / Translated by Herbert W. Mason Perfume of the Desert: Inspirations from the Sufi Wisdom, by Andrew Harvey / Eryk Hanut	Kill me, my faithful friends, For in my being killed is my life. Love is that you remain standing In front of your Beloved When you are stripped of all your attributes; Then His attributes become your qualities. Between me and You, there is only me. Take away the me, so only You remain.     -- from Perfume of the Desert: Inspirations from the Sufi Wisdom, by Andrew Harvey / Eryk Hanut Amazon.com
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

At first reading, this poem by Hallaj is really rather disturbing. Why is he begging his "faithful friends" to kill him? Even the language of being "stripped" has an element of violence to it. Yet, with all of that, why does the poem seem to emanate such bliss?

When Hallaj asks to be killed, he follows by saying that "in my being killed is my life." He is not talking about physical death, he is talking about the mystic's death, the death of the ego-self, ecstatic annihilation in God. And in that annihilation, true life is found. This is what he implores his faithful friends to grant him.

Such a radical loss of the ego is like standing naked, "stripped of all your attributes" before God, the Beloved. When that occurs, you recognize the divine qualities are actually your qualities, have been all along.

Hallaj's final lines are especially rich in meaning. When there is "me and You," that is, a sense of duality or separation between you and God, "there is only me." The ego-self, the "me," shades all perception so everything, even the idea of God, only reflects the ego back to itself.

This is why you must "take away the me." When you do that, when you drop the ego-sense, then no "me" remains and the Divine is found to be present everywhere.

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2008 by Ivan M. Granger.
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