Ḥallāj: Translation (a bit of license taken): O wind of the dawn, I say to the gazelle it only makes me thirstier, the water of this well I have a beloved whose love lives within me And if she likes, she walks on my cheeks as well Her spirit is my spirit and my…
When my Beloved appears, with what eye do I see Him? With His eye not with mine; for no one sees Him except Himself. -Ibn ‘Arabi Original: إذا تجلى حبيبي بأي عين تراه بعينه لا بعيني فما يراه سواه Hallaj: I saw my Lord with the eye of my Heart, I…
Translation (sung portion in bold): On the day of parting they did not saddle the full-grown reddish-white camels until they had mounted the peacocks upon them, Peacocks with murderous glances and sovereign power : thou wouldst fancy that each of them was a Bilqis on her throne of pearls. When she walks on the glass pavement l…
Pombas Brancas Translation: White doves Flying high Scratching the shadows Of the large clouds There they go Doves that do not return They bring within Their wings In rosy beaks Scattered clouds On the sea Doves of my singing Merely singing Various recollections Coming on the paths Nobody knows Where they go The Doves that…
This amazing poem of Ibn ‘Arabi’s is often interpreted somewhat sentimentally, but the love he writes of is far more than mere sentiment, and the universalism he espouses is much more than mere coexistence. Among other things, it refers to a profound spiritual transformation in which opposites unite and the limitations of particular existence are…
