Category: The Jewelled Garden

Manikkavacakar was a 9th century Tamil poet and devotee of Shiva. He was of a priestly family, but he had shown ability in a military campaign, and the king made Continue Reading →

For more about the influential Persian Sufi and poet Hakim Sanai, see this earlier post. Don’t speak of your suffering — He is speaking.Don’t look for Him everywhere — He’s Continue Reading →

For more about the Persian Sufi and poet Fakhruddin Iraqi (1213 – 1289 CE) see this earlier post. Each image painted        on the canvas of existenceis the form        of the artist himself.Eternal Continue Reading →

The Persian Sufi Abu Yazid Bistami (804 – 874 CE) left no writing and so we have only oral reports of his sayings. For more about him, see this post. Continue Reading →

Hakim Sanai (1080 – 1140? CE) was a court poet in southern Afghanistan until an unusual event turned him toward the spiritual path. He is considered one of the greatest Continue Reading →

This anecdote tells of a vision of Rabia al Adawiyya seen in a dream after she passed on. The dream mentions Munkir and Nakir – these are the fearsome ‘examining’ Continue Reading →

For more about the 11th c.. Afghani Sufi Hakim Sanai, see this earlier post. My dear!You haven’t the feetfor this path —why struggle?You’ve no idea wherethe idol’s to be found Continue Reading →

The following is taken from the Intimate Invocations of Khwaja Abdullah Ansari. For more about this early Sufi master, see this post. O God,I seek refuge in You from two Continue Reading →

The mystic and poet Sarmad may have been an Armenian Jew born in Persia. His birth date is unknown, but he ended his days in 1659, condemned to death by Continue Reading →

The following brief passage is taken from the tenth of Fakhruddin Iraqi’s Divine Flashes. For more about this 13th century Persian Sufi, see this earlier post. When the lover contemplates Continue Reading →