Poetry Chaikhana Blog

Once I was bathed in the Light of Truth within
by Sarmad

English version by Isaac A. Ezekiel

Once I was bathed in the Light of Truth within,
      I abandoned all planning and scheming.
If you, too, seek this transcendence,
      leave your lower self — then from head to foot
      you will see your whole being as God’s refulgence.

— from Sarmad: Martyr to Love Divine, by Isaac A. Ezekiel

/ Image by Greyson Joralemon /

Once I was bathed in the Light of Truth within…

Light is one of the primary metaphors in sacred poetry, suggesting the Divine not framed within a mental concept. But for many genuine mystics, this light is directly experienced.

This light is perceived as being a living radiance that permeates everything, everywhere, always. The sense of boundaries and separation, long taken for granted by the mind as the fundamental nature of existence, suddenly seems illusory, for this light shines through all people and things. It has no edges, and the light of one is the light of all.

And it’s fitting to speak of being “bathed.” This light is not merely an airy phenomenon of the visual realm; it is tactile, permeating, embracing, profoundly soothing, revitalizing, healing. Some describe it in liquid language: water, fountain, lake, a shining white or golden ocean.

…I abandoned all planning and scheming.

I particularly like this line. Within this radiant encounter with Unity, the mind falls silent, and so too does the personal (selfish) will. The thinking mind can only create elaborate constructions, using discreet conceptual segments of reality as its building blocks. But in this wholeness there are no parts or segments to grab hold of. All blocks are already in place, with no seam or handhold found.

And with the heart full, overflowing… What want remains to scheme after?

Freed from the endless compulsive efforts of the mind and self-will, it’s breathtaking just how much buried life and energy is released through us. Mind becomes an open sky, with invisible, gentle breeze currents. Self-will becomes effortless selfless-will. Instead of you perceiving and acting, it’s as if perception and action take place through you — in joyous, flowing ease.

If you, too, seek this transcendence,
      leave your lower self — then from head to foot
      you will see your whole being as God’s refulgence.

This is “God’s refulgence,” the light of the true mystics.

Recommended Books: Sarmad

The Longing in Between: Sacred Poetry from Around the World (A Poetry Chaikhana Anthology)	Real Thirst: Poetry of the Spiritual Journey	The Drunken Universe: An Anthology of Persian Sufi Poetry	Sarmad: Martyr to Love Divine	Sarmad: Jewish Saint of India
More Books >>

Sarmad (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. Sarmad originally lived in the Kashan region, between Tehran and Isfahan, in what is today Iran. He was from a minority community of the society. Some biographies say Sarmad was originally from a Jewish merchant family, though others say he was Armenian. Because of his possible Jewish heritage and his later migration to Delhi, he is sometimes called the Jewish Sufi Saint of India.

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 met a beautiful Indian boy and was entranced. 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 abandoned his considerable wealth and, losing all concern for social convention, he began to wander about without clothes, becoming a naked faqir.

Some biographers assert that Sarmad formally converted to Islam, while others claim he had a universalist notion of God and religion, seeing no conflict between his Judaism and the esoteric truth of the Sufi path he adopted. In his own poetry, Sarmad asserts that he is neither Jew, nor Muslim, nor Hindu.

He continued to journey 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. The new king and orthodox religious authorities were offended by Sarmad’s open criticism of their social hypocrisy and mindless religious formalism.

Aurengzeb, in fear of the people’s love of Sarmad, staged a show trial. Sarmad was initially accused of breaking an injunction against public nudity, but that was later dropped in favor of the charges of atheism and unorthodox religious practice, for which he was convicted. The army was called in to occupy Delhi and prevent a popular uprising, and the naked saint was publicly beheaded. The story is told that, after the beheading, Sarmad’s body picked up its own head which recited the Muslim affirmation of faith the kalima-i taiyaba (“There is no god but God, and Muhammad is his Prophet”) and then proclaimed to the crowd, “Ana al-Haq” (“I am Reality, I am one with God”), a statement famously made by another beloved Sufi martyr, Mansur al-Hallaj. Sarmad thus proclaims the continuing stream of truth despite violent repression, and also his unity with the Ultimate.

Sarmad’s tomb in Delhi is today visited by pilgrims of all faiths: Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, and others.

More poetry by Sarmad

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