The Idol

by Ahmad Jami

English version by Peter Lamborn Wilson and Nasrollah Pourjavady
Original Language Persian/Farsi

As long as one tress-lip
     of the hair of your existence
     still remains
I fear the Sect
     of Self-worship
     will survive.
You claim "I broke
     the Idol of Illusion --
     I'm liberated!"
but I fear
     your Manifesto is itself
     an idol.

-- from The Drunken Universe: An Anthology of Persian Sufi Poetry, Translated by Peter Lamborn Wilson / Translated by Nasrollah Pourjavady

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Recommended Books: Ahmad Jami

Poetry for the Spirit: Poems of Universal Wisdom and Beauty The Drunken Universe: An Anthology of Persian Sufi Poetry Islamic Mystical Poetry: Sufi Verse from the Early Mystics to Rumi The Mystics of Islam Four Sufi Classics: Salaman and Absal/The Niche for Lights/The Way of the Seeker/The Abode of Spring



The Idol