Category: The Jewelled Garden

Here is another mystical lyric by the Punjabi Sufi and poet Bullhe Shah.  ‘Mansur’ refers to the early Persian Sufi Mansur al-Hallaj, who said, in a moment of ecstasy, “I Continue Reading →

We have sampled before the highly mystical poetry of Umar Ibn Al-Farid, with excerpts from his “Poem of the Sufi Way” here and here. These verses are from “The Wine Continue Reading →

Bullhe (or Bulleh or Bullha) Shah (1680–1757 CE) was one of the greatest of the mystical Punjabi poets and a disciple of the Sufi Shah Inayat Qadiri of Lahore.  It Continue Reading →

Although it is not generally recognised in the Christian world, Muslims have sincere respect for Jesus, regarding him as a prophet of God, whose attributes include a fiercely ascetic renunciation Continue Reading →

Here is a portion of Mahmud Shabistari’s subtle and profound answer to the sixth of fifteen inquiries, collected in the book Gulshan-i raz or Garden of Mystery. For more about Shabistari and this Continue Reading →

Kabir (1398-1448), the Indian mystic, poet, weaver and philosopher, here succinctly sums up the elusive nature of spiritual truth: what can be seen is not real, the real cannot be seen–and Continue Reading →

Nizami Ganjavi (1141 – 1209 CE) was born in the Azerbaijan city of Ganja, and spent most of his life in the south Caucasus.  He is one of the major Continue Reading →

Fakhruddin Iraqi, first introduced to these pages here, made insightful and ecstatic commentaries upon a series of lectures given by the Sufi al Qunawi on his teacher, the highly influential Andalusian mystic Continue Reading →

Saadi Shiraz is one of the greatest luminaries of Persian literature, and is considered a ‘prophet of poetry.’  Born ca. 1200 CE in Shiraz, he was orphaned at an early age, Continue Reading →

The following text was written by Amina Ora Ray Baker Inayat-Khan, or ‘Begum Inayat Khan,’ (that is, ‘Lady Inayat Khan) and was published in London, in the first edition of Continue Reading →