Sarmad - Every man who is aware of his secret
Ivan M. Granger June 27th, 2008
Every man who is aware of his secret
by Sarmad
English version by Dr. Zahurul Hasan Sharib
Every man who is aware of his secret
He becomes concealed even from the skies.
The mullah says that Ahmad went to the heavens
Sarmad says that the heavens were inside Ahmad!
/ Photo by beggs /
Every man who is aware of his secret
He becomes concealed even from the skies.
Isn’t that a great opening half to this quatrain? When we become aware of the secret contained within us, the ego self disappears. What most people think of when they call you a person becomes “concealed… even from the skies.”
The mullah says that Ahmad went to the heavens
Sarmad says that the heavens were inside Ahmad!
These closing lines are saying something interesting too. Islamic religious tradition (taught by the mullahs or spiritual leaders) tells of the Mi’raj when the Prophet Mohammed (Ahmad) journeys to the Dome of the Rock / Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and from there ascends into the heavens, where he converses with other prophets and, ultimately, God.
Sarmad, with the mystic’s instinct, turns this inward, declaring that the Mi’raj was not an external journey, but a journey within, for “the heavens were inside Ahmad!” This declaration makes the journey to heaven available to us all; we may not all be prophets, but we all can discover the same heavenly core within ourselves.
If we then go back and consider how the two halves of this verse fit together, Sarmad seems to be suggesting that discovering this “secret,” the fundamental truth of reality, shifts our conceptual relationship with the heavens/skies. We are no longer held beneath the heavens, instead they are found within us, within the spacious center of the heart. This sense of being “concealed,” the loss of the little self, also means a loss of limiting boundaries. It is only in this expanded, yet formless sense of self that we discover the inner pathway to the Divine. Or, you could say, that we discover the heavens as already here, already within us. It is a journey in which we have already arrived.
We can also choose to read a contemporary political meaning into this, as well. The Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem (which is also the ancient site of Solomon’s temple) is the physical site of the Prophet Mohammed’s ascendance to heaven, but Sarmad says the heavens are within. We could say then that the Temple Mount is the heart of the world, the place where the world has the potential to discover heaven, as well as where we can cause each other the greatest harm by denying the inherent heavenly nature of the world.
The spiritual journey, whether personal or global, is always a question of the heart. The more we open the heart to others, the more it opens unto us, finally revealing the secret pathway to the heavens. It is a pathway with precisely one step: a courageous step into the living present. Inexplicably, the whole world follows.
Have a beautiful weekend… journeying in the heart!
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Sarmad
Iran/Per (? - 1659) Timeline |
Sarmad, or Hazrat Sarmad Shaheed (sometimes called Sarmad the Cheerful or Sarmad the Martyr), is a fascinating and complex character who seems to have bridged several cultures in Persia and India. Apparently, Sarmad originally lived in an Armenian community in Iran. Some believe that Sarmad was from a Jewish background, earning him the modern epithet of the Jewish Sufi Saint of India. Other scholars suggest he was Christian before taking up the Sufi path.
He had an excellent command of both Persian and Arabic, essential for his work as a merchant. Hearing that precious items and works of art were being purchased in India at high prices, Sarmad gathered together his wares and traveled to India where he intended to sell them.
Near the end of his journey, however, he is said to have fallen in love with a dervish boy. This ardent love (’ishq) created such a radical transformation in his awareness that Sarmad immediately dropped all desire for wealth and worldly comfort. In this ecstatic state, he even lost all concern with social convention and began to wander about without clothes, becoming a naked faqir.
He continued journeying through India, but now as a naked dervish rather than as a merchant. He ended up in Delhi where he found the favor of a prince in the region and gained a certain amount of influence at court. That prince, however, was soon overthrown by Aurengzeb, who saw the naked Sarmad as a political enemy. Sarmad was eventually accused of political crimes and unorthodox Muslim practice, and Sarmad was put to death.
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beautiful commentaries and poetry here.
thanks ivan for being so kind to share them with us.
i always love reading poetry chaikhana’s daily poems, especially after all day being scattered around the web and campus here in Magdeburg, Germany. yes, i definitely need something to put me together and the daily poems are a wonderful remedy for this.
thank you and keep up sending positive energy throughout the universe with daily poems, music and commentaries.
sending you my best,
xander
dear Ivan,
He asked me what have I brought,
I,looked at myself,bowed,prostrated
what have i of my own
and breath the last.
salam.
Amin.
[/quote = Ivan]
It is a pathway with precisely one step: a courageous step into the living present. Inexplicably, the whole world follows.
[/unquote]
Yes, bottoms up within.
From the bottom up without.
Looking back at the Silk Road,
the many tracks that wander in the desert were made by the same two feet.
Now see the sands of time between the steps dissolve,
each footprint a mirage.
Another humble Soul takes a seat
in the Teahouse.
~jm
Xander,
I know that feeling of being scattered about. I support my family by working as a part-time computer programmer, and I spend much of my day juggling different projects on the computer. By the end of the day, it can feel like I’m 15 different people. Those daily poems and music can restore us to a unified sanity.
Ivan
Dear Salam,
He asked me what have I brought.
He took my breath.
Ivan
The inner and the outer journey–
I received an email from someone who correctly pointed out that the tradition of the Prophet Mohammed’s journey to the heavens did not originate with the mullahs. It is originally described in the Quran itself. And many Muslims, particularly Sufis, have always understood the journey to be both external and internal.
I didn’t mean to suggest that Sarmad’s assertion was unique or that he was the first to suggest that the Mi’raj can be understood internally. I think he was trying to counter an overly literalist or external interpretation of the journey, but I am aware that many people have always understood the Mi’raj to be both an outer and an inner journey at the same time. The reference to the mullahs as the source of the teaching was in Sarmad’s verse. I am sure he was aware that the original description of the Prophet Mohammed’s journey is in the Quran, but I think he was trying to point out that the more limited understanding of the Mi’raj was through the imperfect teaching of some of the mullahs. That’s how I would understand Sarmad’s words. Does that make sense to you too, or do you feel there is something important that I am overlooking? I always welcome other people’s perspectives and interpretations…
My Dear Ivan,
What you said is right and what the gentleman you mentioned,wrote, is right as well.
Your understanding of the matter is perfect,as its inner & outer both.
Its all US & its all HIM.Depends, where you are at that moment of time.
The duality/outer is as long as you have your ego or consciousness in between, other wise you can not keep the difference of i & HIM.Consciousness & ego makes you small and creates the need or want of a thing.Where, even if it is the smallest level of Ecstasy like poet.Takes you up,away from the body,may be for a small moment of time, you become.I,HIM or YOU.Sure than like SARMAD / MANSOOR are slain to death.OR UNITED.
Mullahs of all religions, have been very dualistic/egoistic/conscious.
My saying of ;What have you brought,I looked at myself,do i have any thing of my own.NOT, even the breath is His.So here do i prostrat, in my humbleness/gratitude. For YOU, being so kind, to let me have all this.I can only return what is yours,my breath; as its pure like you are.
But,dear,
as you may know. When the words start pouring,you hardly know.
regards.
salam
R/Sir, I heard the name of Sarmad when I was a child, but did not know about him that what type of poetry he wrote and when wrote. Today I have known about Sarmad. In India his name is still famous among the people having interest in spiritual viewpoints. God bless you respected Ivan. ………Subhan Ali