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If They Only Knew by Mansur al- Hallaj (9th Century) Timeline English version by Michael A. Sells Original Language Arabic Muslim / Sufi 9th Century What earth is this      so in want of you they rise up on high      to seek you in heaven?           Look at them staring                at you           right before their eyes,                unseeing, unseeing, blind. . . .           I was patient,                but can the heart be patient of      its heart?                My spirit and yours           blend together                whether we are near one another           or far away.           I am you, you,      my being,           end of my desire,      The most intimate of secret thoughts           enveloped and fixed along the horizon      in folds of light.                How? The "how" is known           along the outside,                while the interior of beyond      to and for the heart of being.      Creatures perish           in the darkened blind of quest,      knowing intimations.                     Guessing and dreaming           they pursue the real,                faces turned toward the sky      whispering secrets to the heavens.           While the lord remains among them                in every turn of time abiding in their every condition      every instant.                Never without him, they,           not for the blink of an eye --                if only they knew!           nor he for a moment without them.     -- from Early Islamic Mysticism: Sufi, Quran, Miraj, Poetic and Theological Writings (Classics of Western Spirituality), by Michael A. Sells Amazon.com   / Photo by millicent bystander /	Themes   Awakening   Dream   Heart   Light   Sky 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 Islamic Mystical Poetry: Sufi Verse from the Early Mystics to Rumi, Translated by Mahmood Jamal 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 More >>
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

This is a great poem by the Sufi mystic and martyr, al-Hallaj.

A reminder to us all that, wherever we look, we are always staring at the face of God, "right before [our] eyes." Everyone, knowingly or unknowingly, is always searching for the Eternal, but too easily we become lost in our search. The idea of a search is already to be lost -- "a blind quest." We imagine that the Goal will be found elsewhere, somewhere that we are not, and so we rush about looking, looking. "Guessing and dreaming," looking for God in some distant heaven instead of beneath our feet and between the span of our arms, we blindly have our "faces turned toward the sky." But doing that, we never recognize that "the lord remains among [us]" in our "every condition / every instant." We are never without the Divine Presence, "not for the blink of an eye!"

Hallaj says it very simply, speaking to God as the Beloved who is everywhere and, at the same time, the heart of the heart:

               My spirit and yours
          blend together
               whether we are near one another
          or far away.

          I am you,
you,
     my being,
          end of my desire.

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.