Poetry Chaikhana Blog

Friend, this is the only way
by Sachal Sarmast

English version by Ivan M. Granger

Friend, this is the only way
to learn the secret way:

Rip the veil from your face.

— from The Longing in Between: Sacred Poetry from Around the World (A Poetry Chaikhana Anthology), Edited by Ivan M. Granger

/ Image by paola capelletto /

I have been rereading my book, The Longing in Between, and this poem and commentary caught my attention. I thought I would reshare it…

In July 2010, I was driving home from work, listening to BBC news on the radio, and was saddened to hear of a bombing at a shrine dedicated to a Sufi saint in Lahore, Pakistan. More than 40 people were killed and many more badly injured. People speculated that the bombing was by an extremist group that objected to the inclusive nature of Sufi practice in the region.

Islamic extremists have certainly grabbed headlines in recent years, but the world also has its Christian extremists, Jewish extremists, Hindu extremists… as well as plenty of atheist and non-religious extremist groups. Extremism is not a problem of a particular religion; it is a disruption in the human psyche in general.

Religious extremism has very little to do with religion if you think about it. It is partly a reflexive response to the intensely fragmenting nature of the modern world. And it is partly a reaction against unavoidable, sometimes unsettling encounters with different peoples and cultures and beliefs in our ever more integrated and multi-layered world. But mostly—mostly it is an act of desperation when the heart of true religion has been lost. People become violently obsessed with rules and traditions and texts only when they have lost the sense of what they really point to.

If you know where the Beloved lives, you are content, no need to argue with others over street names. Conflict only arises when you aren’t so certain you know the way; that’s when another person’s map threatens your certainty. Fundamentalism and extremism are an admission of that spiritual uncertainty. Absolutism is not an expression of faith; it is a symptom of the lack of faith. It is a symptom of the lack of true spiritual experience and knowledge.

The real long-term solution to the problem of violent religious extremism in the world is to reawaken that sweet, secret, sacred bliss within ourselves, to gently and generously share it with others, and to create environments nurturing to that continuing quest. The more we fill the world’s dry troughs with fresh water, the less likely it is that people will go insane with blind thirst.

Recommended Books: Sachal Sarmast

The Longing in Between: Sacred Poetry from Around the World (A Poetry Chaikhana Anthology)	Real Thirst: Poetry of the Spiritual Journey	Sachal Sarmast: Sindhi Poet	Yaar di Gharoli / Kaafi – Sachal Sarmast: From Songs of the Mystics (mp3 song)	The Story of Melting: Sachal Sarmast’s Persian Masnavi Gudaz-nama

Sachal Sarmast Pakistan/India (1739 – 1829) Timeline Muslim / Sufi

Sachal urged people to seek the truth directly, rather than through mere conformity to tradition. He taught a Sufi vision of Unity called Wahdat al-Wujud, which has been compared to the great nondualist teachings of Advaita Vedanta within Hinduism and Zen/Chan within Buddhism.

Sachal Sarmast was born Abdul Wahab in the Sindh region of what is today Pakistan. His father died when he was a young child, and Abdul Wahab was raised by his uncle, who also became his spiritual master.

His soul was deeply moved by music. Listening to music sent him into a state of rapture with tears pouring down his face.

Abdul Wahab married, but his young wife died two years later. He never remarried.

He took the name Sachal (Truth). Later people added Sarmast (Ecstatic Master) to his name in appreciation of his spiritual poetry. He is sometimes called Sachoo, The Truthful.

Sachal Sarmast lived a humble, ascetic life, preferring solitude, simple meals of daal and yogurt. It is said that he never left the village of his birth, yet he composed sacred poetry in seven different languages, poetry that is loved and sung to this day.

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Unfortunately, I haven’t yet found a good single source of Sachal Sarmast’s poetry in English. I’ve only discovered scattered verses translated on the Internet. We are waiting for a book of inspired translations of Sachoo.

More poetry by Sachal Sarmast

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