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Muslim / Sufi 13th Century	About Umar Ibn al-Farid Timeline (1181 - 1235)
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English version by Th. Emil Homerin Original Language Arabic	I sought her from myself, (from The Poem of the Sufi Way)
Commentary by Ivan M. Granger Themes   Bliss   Dawn   Freedom   Heart   Perfume   Recommended Books From Arab Poet to Muslim Saint: Ibn Al-Farid, His Verse, and His Shrine, by Th. Emil Homerin Umar Ibn al-Farid: Sufi Verses, Saintly Life, Translated by Th. Emil Homerin The Wine of Love and Life: Ibn Al-Farid's Al-Khamriyah and Al-Qaysari's Quest for Meaning, by Dawud Ibn Mahmud Qaysari	I sought her from myself,      she was there all along;           how strange that I                had concealed her from me. I kept going back and forth      with her, within myself --           my senses drunk,                her beauties, my wine -- Setting out      from certain knowledge           to its source and truth,                reality my quest, Calling to myself from me      to guide me by my voice           to that part of me                lost in my search. Me begging me      to raise the screen           by lifting up the veil,                for I was my only means to me. I was gazing      into the mirror of my beauty           to see the perfection of my being                in my contemplation of my face, And mouthing my name, I listened      and leaned toward me,           looking to one who could make me hear                mention of me in my voice, Placing my hands      upon my heart,           hoping to hold me                there in my embrace, Rising toward my breaths      pleading they would pass by me           that I might find                me there. Until a flash appeared      from me to my eye;           the break of my dawn shone clear,                my dark sky disappeared. There, where reason recoils,      I arrived,           and my bond and union                reached to me from myself. Then I glowed in joy,      as I attained to me           with a certainty that spared me                from my journey's hard ride. I led myself to me      after I called me back;           my soul my means,                my guide to me. When I pulled away      the curtains of sensuous disguise           brought down                by the mysteries of wisdom, I raised the screen from my soul      by lifting up the veil,           and so it answered                my question. I had rubbed the rust of my attributes      from the mirror of my being,           and it was encircled                with my beaming rays, And I summoned me to witness me      since no other existed           in my witness                to rival me. My mentioning my name      made me hear it in my recollection           as my soul, negating sense,                said my name and listened. I hugged myself --      but not by wrapping arms around my ribs --           that I might embrace                my identity. I inhaled my spirit,      while the air of my breath           perfumed scattered ambergris                with fragrance, All of me free      from the dual quality of sensation,           my freedom within,                I, one with my essence.     -- from Umar Ibn al-Farid: Sufi Verses, Saintly Life, Translated by Th. Emil Homerin Amazon.com
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

I sought her from myself,
     she was there all along;
          how strange that I
               had concealed her from me.

These lines say so much. Spiritual seekers tend to look everywhere for the Divine -- by visiting holy places and teachers, through spiritual practices and austerities, through service -- but at a certain point we are surprised to discover that "she was there all along." The Divine, the living sacred source, is discovered to be present within us, within this very moment -- and most surprising of all, we recognize that It has always been there, that we have never been separate or apart from It. In truth, God is found to be the very Self of our self; we could never possibly be apart from That. Yet, how could we have missed this overwhelming truth of our own being? How could we have thought we were separate from God? "How strange that I / had concealed her from me."

There is so much depth and splendor in this selection from The Poem of the Sufi Way. The only other thing I'll point out is the general theme Ibn al-Farid here plays with: the psychic dilemma of how the dualistic state of the lover melts into the nondual unity of the Beloved. It is a dilemma because the normal consciousness can't conceive of it even when it is directly experienced. What can one say about "self" and "God" when the veil has been lifted and the two pour into each other as one?

To try to put this into the conceptualized world of words becomes farcical, and Ibn al-Farid plays mastefully with this:

Calling to myself from me
     to guide me by my voice
          to that part of me
               lost in my search.

Me begging me
     to raise the screen
          by lifting up the veil,
               for I was my only means to me.

I was gazing
     into the mirror of my beauty
          to see the perfection of my being
               in my contemplation of my face,

And mouthing my name, I listened
     and leaned toward me,
          looking to one who could make me hear
               mention of me in my voice,

Placing my hands
     upon my heart,
          hoping to hold me
               there in my embrace,

Rising toward my breaths
     pleading they would pass by me
          that I might find
               me there.

And what a perfect summation, the final line of this selection:

I, one with my essence.

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