Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Muslim / Sufi

14th Century

About Shah Nematollah Vali

Timeline (1330 - 1431)

Shah Nematollah Vali, Shah Nematollah Vali poetry, Muslim / Sufi, Muslim / Sufi poetry, poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry, poetry

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English version by
Anonymous

Original Language
Persian/Farsi

The Sea Is Our Essence

Themes

Heart

King

Lover and Beloved

Pain and Wounding

Trembling

Recommended Books

	The Drunken Universe: An Anthology of Persian Sufi Poetry, Translated by Peter Lamborn Wilson / Translated by Nasrollah Pourjavady
	Poetry for the Spirit: Poems of Universal Wisdom and Beauty, Edited by Alan Jacobs

We are of the sea, and the sea is our essence;
why then is there this duality between us?
The world is an imaginary line before the sight;
read well that line, for it was inscribed by us.
Whatsoever we possess in both the worlds
in reality, my friend, belongs to God.

His love I keep secretly in my heart;
the less of the pain of His love is our cure.
Companions are we of the cup, comrades of the saki,
lest thou suppose that he is apart from us:
it is the assembly of love, and we are drunk --
who ever enjoyed so royal a party?
So long as Mi'mat Allah is the slave of the Lord,
the king of the world is a beggar at his door.

-- from Poetry for the Spirit: Poems of Universal Wisdom and Beauty, Edited by Alan Jacobs

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Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

About Shah Nematollah Vali

Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World