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The world but seems to be by Fakhruddin Iraqi (? - 1289) Timeline English version by William Chittick and Peter Lamborn Wilson Original Language Persian/Farsi Muslim / Sufi 13th Century The world but seems to be      yet is nothing more than a line drawn      between light and shadow. Decipher the message      of this dream-script and learn to distinguish time      from Eternity.     -- from Fakhruddin Iraqi: Divine Flashes (Classics of Western Spirituality) , by William Chittick / Nasr Seyyed Hossein Amazon.com   / Photo by tanakawho /	Themes   Dream   Light   Sleep     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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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

There is actually quite a bit being said in this brief poem that gets into both the mystical experience of reality and also certain aspects of Muslim theology.

First, consider the picture Iraqi has drawn for us: We have light and shadow -- together making a whole or a circle -- and a line drawn between them. The line divides the circle, the wholeness, into two semi-circles with a black half and a white half. Those semi-circles each have the shape of a bow... two bows.

The image of two bows is important in Islam. In the Quran, the Prophet Mohammed is said to have ascended to heaven where he drew near to God, "two bow's lengths away." The significance of the distance of two bows has been endlessly debated and contemplated in the Muslim world.

So here, Iraqi is expanding on the mystical explanation given by the Sufi philosopher Ibn Arabi that the two bows represent the two aspects of reality: light and shadow, the Bow of Necessary Being and the Bow of Possible-Existence. When the two bows are joined, reality is seen in its wholeness, and one can draw near to the face of God.

This image also suggests that the world itself is not a stable, fixed reality. It does not truly exist in its own sense. It is simply a meeting point between the light and the dark. Just as the present moment is the meeting point between the past and the future. But, if you steady your mind and expand your vision, you can truly discern that line of meeting -- and then it no longer divides the two halves; it joins them. It is then that the whole vision comes upon you and you "learn to distinguish time [the separated pieces] / from Eternity [the wholeness]."

In the text of his "Divine Flashes," Iraqi follows this poem with a note and another brief poem:

Break the code of this line and know beyond all doubt that

All is nothing,
     nothing.
All is He,
     all is HE.

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.