{"id":6850,"date":"2020-09-30T16:31:52","date_gmt":"2020-09-30T23:31:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=6850"},"modified":"2020-09-30T16:42:30","modified_gmt":"2020-09-30T23:42:30","slug":"awhad-al-din-kirmani-swept-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2020\/09\/30\/awhad-al-din-kirmani-swept-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Awhad al-Din Kirmani – Swept Away"},"content":{"rendered":"

Swept Away
\nby Awhad al-Din Kirmani<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

English version by David and Sabrineh Fideler<\/font><\/p>\n

At first, the way of your love
\nseemed easy.<\/p>\n

I thought I\u2019d reach
\nyour union
\nwith speed.<\/p>\n

After taking a few steps,
\nI found
\nthe way
\nis an ocean.<\/p>\n

When I stepped in,
\na wave swept me away.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from Love\u2019s Alchemy: Poems from the Sufi Tradition<\/a>, Translated by David Fideler \/ Translated by Sabrineh Fideler<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by mikebaird<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

I love what this poem has to say about the spiritual path\u2026<\/p>\n

At first, the way of your love
\nseemed easy.<\/p>\n

I thought I\u2019d reach
\nyour union
\nwith speed.<\/i><\/p>\n

At the beginning, when we first decide to explore the path of spirit, it can appear all too easy. We imagine we just need to profess a certain belief, join a certain group, read a certain scripture, pray a certain way. Do that, and everything is assured.<\/p>\n

Sadly, this is where much of the religious world stays stuck. This approach too often leads to narrow minds and constricted hearts.<\/p>\n

After taking a few steps,
\nI found
\nthe way
\nis an ocean.<\/i><\/p>\n

But when we take those first steps beyond that overly simplistic notion and begin to explore more deeply and sincerely, we come to an honesty with ourselves. That honesty overwhelms us, if we let it, by showing us the immense path ahead. So much to strive for within ourselves, so much suffering in the world to soothe\u2026 Seeing this, how can one hope to attain heaven, or wholeness, or peace?<\/p>\n

In that moment, the best response is one of courageous determination\u2026 without expectation. We commit to the patient inner work and outer service, not because of some immediate spiritual \u201cpayoff\u201d of enlightenment or fixing of the world\u2019s wrongs, but because, simply, that is what is needed. It is what the heart requires of us, so why do anything less?<\/p>\n

Head lowered, we put our shoulders to the task. That\u2019s when the work works on us \u2014 challenging, overturning, refining.<\/p>\n

At some point, we stop holding back. The effort ceases to be effort and it becomes rhythm, instead. We begin to dance in the waves of the ocean we once feared. <\/p>\n

When there is less \u201cdoing,\u201d there is less \u201cme\u201d doing it. Laughing, looking around, there is no \u201cme\u201d there, just the movement of the waves endlessly kissing the shoreline.<\/p>\n

When I stepped in,
\na wave swept me away.<\/i><\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Awhad al-Din Kirmani<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Love\u2019s Alchemy: Poems from the Sufi Tradition<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nAwhad al-D\u012bn Kirm\u0101n\u012b and the Controversy of the Sufi Gaze<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n
\n<\/td>\n\nAwhad al-Din Kirmani<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

(1163 \u2013 1238) Timeline<\/a>
\nMuslim \/ Sufi<\/a><\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Awhad al-Din Kirmani was an important Persian Sufi teacher and poet. His philosophy and miraculous abilities drew many students to him. <\/p>\n

His teachings were both celebrated and controversial. One of his well-known tenets was the idea of shahid bazi<\/i> or what is sometimes called the Sufi gaze. He taught a practice of learning to recognize the beauty of God through the contemplation of beauty within the physical world, stating\u2013<\/p>\n

I gaze upon forms with my optic eye,
\nBecause the traces of spiritual meaning are to be found in forms.
\nThis is the world of forms, and we reside in forms,
\nThe spiritual meaning cannot but be seen in forms.<\/i><\/p>\n

More poetry by Awhad al-Din Kirmani<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Swept Away by Awhad al-Din Kirmani English version by David and Sabrineh Fideler At first, the way of your love seemed easy. I thought I\u2019d reach your union with speed. After taking a few steps, I found the way is an ocean. When I stepped in, a wave swept me away. \u2014 from Love\u2019s Alchemy: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2378,193,527,1395,19,2379],"class_list":["post-6850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-awhad-al-din-kirmani","tag-muslim-poetry","tag-ocean","tag-spiritual-effort","tag-sufi-poetry","tag-waves"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6850"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6852,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6850\/revisions\/6852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}