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It speaks to me in the silence of this one

by Fakhruddin Iraqi
(? - 1289) Timeline

English version by
William Chittick and Peter Lamborn Wilson

Original Language
Persian/Farsi

Muslim / Sufi
13th Century

It speaks to me in the silence of this one
then through the words of that one speaking;

it whispers to me through an eyebrow raised
and the message of an eye winking.

And do you know what words it breathes into my ear? It says,

     "I am Love: in heaven and earth I have no place;
     I am the Wondrous Phoenix whose spoor cannot be traced.

     With eyebrow-bow and arrow-winks I hunt
     both worlds -- and yet my weapons cannot be found.

     Like the sun I brighten each atom's cheek;
     I cannot be pinpointed: I am too manifest.

     I speak with every tongue, listen with all ears,
     but marvel at this: My ears and tongue are erased.

     Since in all the world only I exist
     above and below, no likeness of me can be found."

 

 

-- from Fakhruddin Iraqi: Divine Flashes (Classics of Western Spirituality) , by William Chittick / Nasr Seyyed Hossein

Amazon.com

 

Themes

  Lover and Beloved
  Silence
  Sound
  Sun
 


Recommended Books


The Drunken Universe: An Anthology of Persian Sufi Poetry, Translated by Peter Lamborn Wilson / Translated by Nasrollah Pourjavady
Fakhruddin Iraqi: Divine Flashes (Classics of Western Spirituality) , by William Chittick / Nasr Seyyed Hossein
Love's Alchemy: Poems from the Sufi Tradition, Translated by David Fideler / Translated by Sabrineh Fideler
Poetry for the Spirit: Poems of Universal Wisdom and Beauty, Edited by Alan Jacobs

 

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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
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