Najmaldin Kubra (1145 – 1221 CE) was born in present day Uzbekistan and became a very influential Sufi, the founder of the Kubrawiya Order. Among his students was the father of Jelaluddin Rumi.

What never existed
     leaves nothing in the hand
          but wind
while “reality”
     offers nothing but imperfection
          and failure;
that being the case
     we can only dream
          of what never was
and as for what “really is,”
     remember:
          it doesn’t exist.

Translation Peter Lamborn Wilson and Nasrollah Pourjavady