Shah Nimatullah Wali: We are of the sea, and the sea is our essence
Photo: Shah Nematollah Vali Shrine in Qajar era
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We are of the sea, and the sea is our essence
why then is there this duality between us?
The world is an imaginary line before the sight
read well that line, for it was inscribed by us.
Whatsoever we possess in both the worlds
in reality, my friend, belongs to God.
His love I keep secretly in my heart
the less of the pain of His love is our cure.
Companions are we of the cup, comrades of the saki
lest thou suppose that he is apart from us
it is the assembly of love, and we are drunk
who ever enjoyed so royal a party?
So long as Nimatullah is the slave of the Lord,
the king of the world is a beggar at his door.
(Shah Nimatullah Wali)
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Source and Recommended Reading:
'Music of a Distant Drum: Classical Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Hebrew Poems'
By Bernard Lewis
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Description:
In Islam, two sources are used to explain the religion and its laws: the Qur'an, a revered text, and the hadith, the sayings and activities of the Prophet Muhammad as reported by friends and followers during his lifetime. This skilled translation, which includes the Arabic of one of the key Islamic texts, long-awaited in English, presents a fascinating selection of hadith compiled by the ninth-century scholar at-Tirmidhi that humanizes the Prophet for modern audiences, presenting him through the eyes of contemporaries who comment not only on his spiritual demeanor and qualities but also on his physical appearance and mannerisms including his hairdressing, his sitting posture, his sandals and turban, his armor, his favorite condiments, and his jests and laughter.
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