Ibn Arabi : While the sun’s eye rules my sight

For more about the Andalusian Sufi Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi (1165 – 1240 CE) see this earlier post.

While the sun’s eye rules my sight,
love sits as sultan in my soul.
His army has made camp in my heart —
passion and yearning, affliction and grief.
When his camp took possession of me
I cried out as the flame of desire
burned in my entrails.
Love stole my sleep, love has bewildered me,
love kills me unjustly, and I am helpless,
love has burdened me with more than I can bear
so that I bequeath him a soul and no body.

Translation Bernard Lewis

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