Category: The Jewelled Garden

Andal (7th – 8th c. CE), also known as Kothai, was born in what is now Tamil Nadu, and is the only female member of the Alvar, the group of Continue Reading →

The following is taken from the Intimate Conversations of Khwaja Abdullah Ansari. For more about the 11th c. Persian poet and mystic, see this earlier post. O God,Take me by Continue Reading →

This is taken from the Intimate Conversations of Khwaja Abdullah Ansari. For more about this 11th c. Sufi, see this earlier post. O God,if chicory is bitter, it is still Continue Reading →

In the Baul tradition, the ungraspable moon may represent the supreme experience of illumination. For more about the Baul poet Lalon Shah, see this earlier post. The moon is encircled Continue Reading →

Zeynep (or Zeynunnisa) Hatun (1420 – 1474 CE) was born in northern Turkey, and was the daughter of a qadi or judge. She was well educated, learning Arabic and Persian, Continue Reading →

For more about the 13th c. Egyptian Sufi and sage Ibn Ata’illah, see this earlier post. My God,how can You leave me to myself,for You are responsible for me?And how Continue Reading →

For more about the Persian Sufi, mathematician and jurist Ayn al-Quzat Hamadani (1098 – 1131 CE) see this earlier post. As long as I live I will eat and drinkThe Continue Reading →

For more about the influential Chan monk Linji or Lin-chi (d. 866 CE), see this earlier post. When students today fail to make progress, where’s the fault? The fault lies Continue Reading →

The Orthodox Christian saint Theophan the recluse (1815-1894 CE) gave the following advice ‘for one who is on the path of a God-pleasing life.’ By prayer rule, he means a Continue Reading →

Sachal Sarmast (1739 – 1827 CE) was born in Daraza, in the province of Sindh of what is now Pakistan, and although he never left his small village, he wrote Continue Reading →