Whispering, then listening close (from The Poem of the Sufi Way)
by Umar Ibn al-FaridEnglish version by Th. Emil Homerin
Original Language Arabic
Whispering, then listening close
from the vision of one
casting away his all, instantly,
out of an omnipotent hand.
Thus I read the knowledge of the scholars
in a single word,
and I reveal all the worlds to me
with a simple glance.
I hear the many voices
of those who pray in every tongue
in a space of time
shorter than a flash.
And I bring before me
what before had been
too far away to bear,
in a blink of my eye.
I inhale the bouquet of gardens
and the sweet scents clinging to the skirts
of the four winds,
in a simple breath.
I survey the far horizons round me
in a momentary thought,
and cross the seven heavens
with a single step.
 | -- from Umar Ibn al-Farid: Sufi Verses, Saintly Life, Translated by Th. Emil Homerin |
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Ibn al-Farid is reminding us of that transcendent, holographic moment when the dissecting mind steps aside and we finally witness reality as a singular wholeness. Each glance reveals to us the panorama of existence.
Thus I read the knowledge of the scholars
in a single word,
and I reveal all the worlds to me
with a simple glance.
Everything is distilled down to its essence, for only a drop, a taste, a glimmering is needed to discover the All.
This vision is impossible for the physical eye to catch, and too immense for the mind to hold, but when we cease to look and learn to selflessly see...
I survey the far horizons round me
in a momentary thought,
and cross the seven heavens
with a single step.
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