Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Search the Poetry Chaikhana site:

<<Previous Poem | View All Poems by Mansur al- Hallaj | Next Poem >>
You glide between the heart and its casing by Mansur al- Hallaj (9th Century) Timeline English version by Bernard Lewis Original Language Arabic Muslim / Sufi 9th Century You glide between the heart and its casing as tears glide from the eyelid. You dwell in my inwardness, in the depths of my heart, as souls dwell in bodies. Nothing passes from rest to motion unless you move it in hidden ways, O new moon.     -- from Music of a Distant Drum: Classical Arabic, Persian, Turkish & Hebrew Poems, Translated by Bernard Lewis Amazon.com   / Photo by Hans Vink /	Themes   Heart   Moon   Smile     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 >>
<<Previous Poem | More Poems by Mansur al- Hallaj | Next Poem >>

Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

Nothing passes from rest to motion unless you move it in hidden ways

This poem beautifully evokes the sense how, in the sacred state, movement ceases for the individual, though there is not inactivity. All action -- inner and outer -- becomes only an appearance of self-governed movement, when, in reality, it is found to be the natural flowing of the Divine through us. The individual identity only pretends to be directing the movement but, like a gull resting on the ocean waves, it is simply carried along by the moon's tug upon the tide.

Just as we have the rhythm of the heart, so too do we have the flow of the breath until we discover the resting point between the in-breath and the out-breath. When the shuttle on the loom has made its full circuit and pauses just long enough to glimpse the pattern... before it moves again to continue weaving the fabric.

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.