Mansur al- Hallaj: Stillness

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Stillness

by Mansur al- Hallaj
(9th Century) Timeline

English version by
Mahmood Jamal

Original Language
Arabic

Stillness, then silence, then random speech,
Then knowledge, intoxication, annihilation;

Earth, then fire, then light.
Coldness, then shade, then sunlight.

Thorny road, then a path, then the wilderness.
River, then ocean, then the shore;

Contentment, desire, then Love.
Closeness, union, intimacy;

Closing, then opening, then obliteration,
Separation, togetherness, then longing;

Signs for those of real understanding
Who find this world of little value.

-- from Islamic Mystical Poetry: Sufi Verse from the Early Mystics to Rumi, Translated by Mahmood Jamal

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Themes

Fire

Light

Lover and Beloved

Separation

Silence

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

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