A collection of verses from West African poets on the theme…
The first is said to have been improvised extemporaneously by Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Ya’qūb al-Kānemī (from Kanem in contemporary Northeastern Nigeria) upon his visit to the Almohad Sultan Abū Yūsuf Ya’qūb al-Manṣūr (d. 1199) in Marrakech. The Nigerian poet composed and recited these verse on the spot upon entering the Sultan’s presence:
He removed his veil, but out of awe, my eyes still saw him through a veil
His favour drew me near, but out of awe, found myself distant in this nearness.
Original:
ازال حجابه عنّي وعيني تراه من المهابت في حجابي
وقرّبني تفضّله ولاكن بعدت مهابتاً عند إقترابي
See this post for more on this theme and its symbolism…
The second is from a contemporary Tijānī scholar from Mauritania:
I was annihilated in love for him and I subsisted until
I was annihilated from that annihilation and from subsistence as well.
-Muhammad Ould Shaykh ‘Abd Allah
Original:
فنيت بحبه و بقيت حتى فنيت عن الفناء وعن البقاء
-لمحمد ولد شيخ عبدالله
As is this last set of verses:
I love the the sun when it appears, since it reminds me of the appearance of matchless love
And no star is seen when she comes forth, either from above or from below
And so, O Maya, you have appeared in the eye of my heart, and everything other than you has disappeared
So I see you in whatever is not you, and I don’t see other than you whenever I see you
—Shaykh Manna Abba “Shaykhānī” wuld Muḥammad al-Ṭulbā, (modified from the translation by Muṣṭafā Okon-Briggs)
Original:
أحبّ الشّمس تطهر اذ تحاكي ظهور الحبّ من غير اشتراك
فلا نجم يلوح متى تبدّت ولو من غفرة أو من سماك
كذا يامىّ أنت لعين قلبي ظهرت فعاب عنها من سواك
أراك إذا رأيت سواك فيه ولستأرى سواك متى أراك
from: https://floodplains.tumblr.com/tagged/madh
Original:
Your beauty’s burned my vision black
I’ve stared into the sun too long
and when my sight comes blinking back
all things your face appears upon
