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 →
Category: The Jewelled Garden
Flashes of divine light from illuminated souls
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 →
Abu Saeed : This flea-market
For more about the 10th c. Sufi Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Khair, who referred to himself as ‘Nobody, son of Nobody,’ see this earlier post. Your faculties are for seeing Continue Reading →
Yunus Emre : I’ve come here to depart
For more about Yunus Emre (1238–1320 CE), also called Yunus the Dervish, see this earlier post. I haven’t come here to settle down. I’ve come here to depart. I am a merchant Continue Reading →
Shams-i Tabrizi : Removing the Ka’aba
This previous post tells one version of the encounter with Shams-al din Mohammed that awoke Mevlana Jelaluddin from scholarship to mystical understanding. Shams al-din, or Shams-i Tabrizi, did not write Continue Reading →
Somnun : Speaking of love
Abul Hassan Somnun al Khauwas lived in Baghdad in the late 9th century, and is said to have died in 913 CE. Little is now known about him, but he Continue Reading →
Sarmad : I do not drown
The following verse is by the ecstatic dervish Sufi Sarmad, also known as Sarmad Kashani (ca. 1590-1661 CE). For more about Sarmad, see this earlier post. The ocean of his Continue Reading →
Abu Saeed : At the end of my rope
For more about Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Khair, see this earlier post. I have taken refuge in Your glorious court,a fallen beggar in tatters.You are all glory and grace,I am Continue Reading →