Baba Farid : Fathom the ocean
Fariduddin Masud ‘Ganjeshakar’ (1179 – 1266 CE) was a Punjabi Sufi saint and poet. The student of Qutubuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki and Pir of Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya, he was one of Continue Reading →
Category: The Jewelled Garden
Flashes of divine light from illuminated souls
Attar : Not worthy of the human
Abu Ḥamid bin Abu Bakr Ibrahīm (c. 1145 – c. 1221 CE), commonly known to the world by his pen name Fariduddin Attar, lived in Nishapur, and apparently practiced the Continue Reading →
Abu Saeed : Suffering and contentment
Sheikh Abu Saeed Abil Khair (967 – 1049 CE) spent most of his life in Nishapur, but during his lifetime his fame as a Sufi and poet spread even as Continue Reading →
Qushayri : The round of a cup
Abdal Karim al Qushayri (986 – 1072 CE) was an influential scholar and Sufi in the region of Nishapur. There have been several references to divine wine in Inner Call Continue Reading →
Rabia : My peace is in my aloneness
The following thoughts of Rabia al Adawiyya (714? — 801 CE) were presumably spoken in an assembly of fellow seekers. For more about her, please see this earlier post. Brothers, Continue Reading →
Abdullah Ansari : The heart of your friend
Khwaja Abdullah Ansari (1006–1088 CE) was born in what is now the Herat province of Afghanistan, and came to be known as the Pir-i-Herat or Sage of Herat. Little is Continue Reading →
Sarmad : Every man who knows his secret
The following verse is by the ecstatic dervish Sufi Sarmad, also known as Sarmad Kashani (ca. 1590-1661 CE). In the second verse, ‘Ahmad rose to the heavens’ refers to the Continue Reading →
Abul Hassan : Don’t be meek in this love
This poem – or, more correctly, poetic utterance – is from the 10th c. Sufi Shaikh Abul Hassan Kharaqani. For more about this Sufi master, see this earlier post. Don’t Continue Reading →
Sarmad : I searched for your fragrance
The following verse by the ecstatic dervish Sufi Sarmad, also known as Sarmad Kashani (ca. 1590-1661 CE), points to the need for the inner life to reach the goal. For Continue Reading →
Attar : I seek her wherever I am
This poem by the Persian mystic Fariduddin Attar turns upon the well known names of the lovers Layla and Majnun. Their symbolic tale of love is recounted by Hazrat Inayat Continue Reading →