Category: The Jewelled Garden

Here are more of the Intimate Conversations of Abdullah Ansari, first introduced in this post. O God, others are intoxicated by wine: I am intoxicated by the cupbearer. their intoxication Continue Reading →

Avraham Ibn Ezra (c. 1093–c. 1167 CE) was one of the great Hebrew poets of Andalusia but waves of invasion from North Africa displaced him, and from his mid-40’s he Continue Reading →

The following sentences are taken from the Munajat or Intimate Conversations of Khwaja Abdullah Ansari (1006–1088).  There are brief, highly personal expressions of a conversational nature, and they were not Continue Reading →

Nuruddin Rishi, also known as Sheikh Nuruddin (1377-1438 CE) lived in Kashmir, and is credited with founding the Rishi Order of Sufism.  Although there are many legends of his life, Continue Reading →

This is an excerpt from Mahmud Shabistari’s response to the ninth inquiry in the Garden of Mystery, in which he treats the subject of the independent Essence and the dependent–and Continue Reading →

Qasimul Anwar (1356-1433 CE) is a little known poet and mystic, who was born near Tabriz, in Iran, and settled in Herat, Afghanistan. In this poem, he tells us that Continue Reading →

Shmuel Hanagid (993-1056 CE) was one of the major Jewish poets from Andalusia, at a time when Muslim, Christian and Jewish cultures lived together in relative harmony.  Hanagid was an Continue Reading →

Here is a saying attributed to Jesus, collected from Muslim sources in the mid-9th c. CE.  The opening question of the disciples speaks of the friends of God, and is Continue Reading →

Khwajah Abdullah Ansari (1006-1088 CE) was a Persian Sufi who lived in Khorosan, now Herat in Afghanistan.   Oh, Allah, I call upon You; You open the hearts towards prayer. Continue Reading →

Amir Khusrow (1253 – 1325 CE) was a poet, musician, courtier and favoured disciple of the Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya.  His influence on the culture of the sub-continent was Continue Reading →