THE TÁ’IYYA (iii) — vv. 400–599

(400) That one (the slanderer) helps the spirit, guiding it to its region for the sake of a contemplation which takes place in a spiritual mould;

(401) And this one (the railer) helps the soul, driving it to its companions for the sake of an existence which occurs in a material form.

(402) Whoever knows, as I do, (the real nature of) those figures, his doctrine in removing the perplexity of doubt (as to the Divine Unity) is unmixed with polytheism.

(403) My essence endowed with delights the whole sum of my worlds (of being) both in particular and in general, in order to replenish them with its all-embracing unity.

(404) And it bounteously poured forth its overflow when there was as yet no capacity for acquisition (of being), and it was capable (of overflow) before there was any preparation for receiving (the overflow).

(405) The forms of existence were made happy by the Soul, and the spirits of (the plane of) contemplation were refreshed by the Spirit.

The inward oneness of the Essence with its attributes or emanations is now further illustrated by reference to what takes place in audition (samá’), when the mystic falling into ecstasy at the sound of music finds God, only to lose Him again as soon as the momentary transport has ebbed away.

(406) My twofold contemplation of a slanderer hastening to his region and a railer bestowing good advice on his companions

(407) Bears witness to my state in the samá’, a state caused by two things which draw me (to and fro), namely, the law of my abiding home and the law of the place where my sentence is passed.

(408) And my denial of being perplexed (with doubts touching ittiḥád) by the five external senses is established to be true by the agreement of the two images.

(409) Now, before (I come to) my purpose, let me tell thee the mystery of that which my soul received secretly from them (the external senses) and communicated (to the inward senses).

(410) Whenever the idea of beauty appears in any form, and whenever one afflicted by sorrow raises a mournful cry in (reciting) the verses of a chapter of the Koran,

(411) My thought beholds Her with the eye of my phantasy, and my memory hears Her with the ear of my intelligence,

(412) And my mind brings Her in imagination before my soul, so that my understanding deems Her sensibly at my side,

(413) And I wonder at my drunkenness without wine, and am thrilled in the depths of my being by a joy that comes from myself,

(414) And my heart dances, and the trembling of my limbs doth clap its hands like a chanter, and my spirit is my musician.

(415) My soul never ceased to be fed with (spiritual) desires and to efface the (sensual) faculties by weakening them, until at last it waxed strong.

(416) Here I found all existing things allied to aid me—though the aid (really) came from myself—

(417) In order that every organ of sense might unite me with Her, and that my union might include every root of my hair,

(418) And that the veil of estrangement between us might be cast off, albeit I found it no other than friendship.

(419) Mark now—and do not hope to learn this by study—how the sense conveys to the soul by immediate revelation what She brings to light.

(420) When a north wind travelling by night from Her blows at dawn, its coolness recalls the thought of Her to my spirit,

(421) And mine ear is pleased when in the forenoon grey doves warbling and singing on the branches arouse it,

(422) And mine eye is gladdened if at eve flashes of lightning transmit and give it from Her to the pupil of mine eye,

(423) And it is bestowed on my taste and touch by the wine-cups when they are passed round to me at night,

(424) And my heart conveys it as an inward thing to the mental faculties through the medium of the outward thing that was delivered by the bodily messengers (the senses).

(425) He that chants Her name in the assembly (of listeners) makes me present with Her, so that as I listen I behold Her with my whole being.

(426) My spirit soars towards the heaven whence it was breathed (into me), while my theatre of manifestation (my soul), which was fashioned by the spirit, stoops to its earthly peers.

(427) Part of me is pulled towards Her and part of me pulls towards itself, and in every pull there is a tug like giving up the ghost.

(428) The cause of this is my soul’s recollecting its real nature from Her when She inspired it,

(429) So that it longed in the limbo of earth to hear the Divine call alone (uncontaminated by the call of the lower self), since both (the spiritual and the sensual natures) take hold of my bridle-reins.

(430) Concerning my state in audition a babe, even though he grow up to be dull, will inform thee by throwing it upon thy mind like (a flash of) inspiration or insight.

(431) When he moans because of the tight swaddling-clothes and restlessly yearns to be relieved from exceeding distress,

(432) He is soothed with lullabies, so that he lays aside all the weariness which came over him and listens to his soother like one attending silently,

(433) And the sweet words make him forget his bitter grief and remember the speech that passed in times of old,

(434) And by his state he explains the state of samá’ (audition) and confirms the absence of imperfection from the mystic dance:

(435) When through the one that is hushing him he becomes distraught with longing and would fain fly to his first home,

(436) He is quieted by being rocked in his cradle as the hands of his nurse move it to and fro.

(437) I have felt, when She is called to mind by the beautiful tones of a reciter (of the Koran) or the piercing notes of a singer,

(438) As the sufferer feels in his agony when the angels of Death take to themselves his all.

(439) For one who feels pain in being driven to part (from his body) is like one who is pained by feeling (rapture) in his yearning after his (spiritual) companions:

(440) As the soul of the former had pity for that (body) in which it appeared, so my spirit soared to its high origins.

Having exhibited the phenomena of the samá’ in their due relation to the doctrine of ittiḥád, Ibnu ’l-Fáriḍ returns to the region of the self-contained Unity which is sole actor on the universal stage.

(441) My spirit passed the gate which barred my going beyond union (with the Beloved) and soared to where no barrier of union remained.

(442) He that like me makes it (this gate) his chosen quest, let him follow me and ride for it with firm resolution!

(443) Before entering it, I have plunged into how many a deep! wherefrom none that craved (spiritual) wealth was ever blest with a draught.

(444) I will show it to thee, if thou art resolved, in the mirror of my poesy, therefore turn the ear of insight to what I let fall.

(445) I cast aside from my speech the word “self-regard,” and from my actions self-interest in any act;

(446) And my looking for fair recompense for my works, and my care to preserve my mystical states from the shame of suspicion,

(447) And my preaching—all these things I put away with firm resolution as one who is entirely disinterested; and my casting aside regard for my casting aside applies to each division.

(448) So my heart is a temple in which I dwell: in front of it (hindering approach) is the appearance from it of the attributes belonging to my veiledness.

(449) Amongst them my right hand is a pillar (corner-stone) that is kissed in myself, and because of the law in my mouth my kiss (qubla) comes from my qibla (the object to which I turn in worship).

(450) My circumambulation in the spirit is really round myself, and my running from my Ṣafá to my Marwa is for the sake of my own face (reality).

(451) Within a sanctuary of my inward my outward is safe, while my neighbours around it are in danger of being snatched away.

(452) My soul was purified by my solitary fasting from other than myself, and gave as alms the overflow of my grace;

(453) And the doubling of my existence during my contemplation became single in my oneness (ittiḥád) when I awoke from my slumber;

(454) And my inmost self’s night-journey to myself from the special privilege of the Truth is like my voyage in the general obligation of the Law;

(455) And my divinity did not make me neglectful of the requirement of my theatre of manifestation, nor did my humanity cause me to forget the theatre in which my wisdom is manifested.

(456) From me the covenants derived their binding power upon the soul, and by me the laws of religion were instituted to restrain the senses,

(457) Inasmuch as there had come to me from myself an Apostle to whom my sinning was grievous, one taking jealous care of me from compassion,

(458) And I executed my command (given) from my soul unto herself, and when she took charge of her own affair she did not turn back;

(459) And from the time of my covenant, before the era of my elements, before the (prophetic) warning was sent to (the world) where men shall be raised from the dead,

(460) I was an apostle sent from myself to myself, and my essence was led to me by the evidence of my own signs.

(461) And when I conveyed my soul, by purchase, from the possession of her own land to the kingdom of Paradise

(462) For she had fought a good fight and had died a martyr in her cause and had gotten joy of her contract when she paid the price

(463) She soared with me, in consequence of my union, beyond everlasting life in her heaven (Paradise), since I did not consent to incline towards the earth of my vicegerent;

(464) And how should I come under (the dominion of) that over which I am lord, like the friends of my kingdom and my followers and my party and my adherents?

(465) There is no celestial sphere but therein, from the light of my inward being, is an angel who gives guidance by my will,

(466) And there is no region but thereon, from the overflow of my outward being, falleth a drop that is the source of the clouds’ downpouring.

(467) Beside my countenance the far-spreading light (of the sun) is like a gleam, and beside my watering-place the all-encompassing sea is like a drop.

(468) Therefore the whole of me is seeking the whole of me and is directing itself towards it, and part of me is drawing part of me with reins.

(469) Every direction tends to the all-guiding face of him who is above (the relation of) “below” and below whom is (the relation of) “above.”

(470) Thus (in my experience) the “below-ness” of the earth is the “above-ness” of the aether, because of the closing of that which I clave asunder; and the cleavage of that which was closed is only the outward aspect of my way (sunna).

(471) And there is no doubt, since union is the essence of certainty, and no direction, since place is a (relation of) difference arising from my separation;

(472) And there is no number, since numeration cuts like the edge of a sword, and no time, since limitation is the dualism of one who fixes a definite term;

(473) And I have in the two worlds no rival who should doom to destruction what I built or whose command should cause the decree of my authority to be enforced;

(474) Nor have I in either world any opposite, for thou wilt not see amongst created beings any incongruity in their mode of creation, but all are alike (in perfection).

(475) And from me appeared that which I made a disguise to myself, and by means of me the phenomena were caused to return from me to myself;

(476) And in myself I beheld those who bowed in worship to my theatre of manifestation, and I knew for sure that I was the Adam to whom I bowed;

(477) And I discerned that the spiritual rulers of the earths amongst the angels of the highest sphere are equal in relation to my rank.

(478) Although my comrades craved right guidance from my horizon that is near (to them), the union of my unity was shown forth from my second separation,

(479) And in the swoon that crushed my senses my soul fell prostrate before me in order that she might recover ere repenting as Moses repented.

(480) For there is no “where” after (vision of) Reality, since I have recovered from intoxication, and the cloud that veiled the Essence has been cleared away by sobriety.

(481) The end of a self-effacement that preceded my (individual self’s) conclusion is like the beginning of a sobriety (self-consciousness), because both are circumscribed by a period.

(482) I weighed in a scale him who is rapt by an obliterating effacement in death (to self) with him who is cut off by the sobriety of sense (self-consciousness) in separation (from God).

(483) Therefore the dot of the “i” of “film” was effaced from my sobriety, and the wakefulness of the eye of the Essence annulled my self-effacement.

(484) One who loses (God) in sobriety and finds (God) in self-effacement is incapable, owing to his alternation, of the fixity of nearness (to God).

(485) The drunken and the sober are alike inasmuch as they are qualified by the mark of “presence” or by the brand of “enclosure.”

(486) No followers of mine are they in whom the attributes of “disguise” or the vestiges of any remnant (of these attributes) succeed each other.

(487) He that does not inherit perfection from me is faulty, a backslider into chastisement.

(488) In me is naught that would lead to the “disguise” resulting from a remnant (of self-existence), nor any shadow (of phenomenal being) that would condemn me to return (to an inferior degree).

(489) How little may a heart communicate in the form of thought or a tongue utter in the mould of speech!

(490) All sides (of Being) joined in me and the carpet of otherness was rolled up in virtue of the equality (of all),

(491) And my existence, in the passing-away of the duality of existence, became a contemplation in the abidingness of unity.

(492) That which is above the range of intellect—the First Emanation—is even as that which is below the Sinai of tradition—the last handful.

(493) Therefore the best of God’s creatures forbade us to prefer him to the Man of the Fish, although he is worthy of preference.

(494) I have indicated (the truth concerning phenomenal relations) by the means which language yields, and that which is obscure I have made clear by a subtle allegory.

(495) The “Am not I” of yesterday is not other (than what shall be manifested) to him who enters on to-morrow, since my darkness hath become my dawn and my day my night.

(496) The secret of “Yea”—to God belongs the mirror of its revelation, and to affirm the reality of union (jam’) is to deny “beside-ness.”

(497) No darkness covers me nor is there any harm to be feared, since the mercy of my light hath quenched the fire of my vengeance.

(498) And no time is, save where is no time that reckons the existence of that existence of mine which is computed by the reckoning of the new moons;

(499) But one imprisoned in the bounds of Time does not see what lies beyond his dungeon, in the Paradise everlasting.

(500) Therefore ’tis upon me the heavens turn, and marvel thou at their Quṭb (Pole) which encompasses them, howbeit the Pole is a central point.

(501) And there was no Quṭb before me, whom I should succeed after having passed three grades (of sanctity), although the Awtád rise to the rank of Quṭb from the rank of Badal.

(502) Do not overstep my straight line, and seize the best opportunity, for in the angles there are hidden things.

The poet now describes some of his strange experiences in love. The first of these is a state which the commentator calls “the greatest absence from self” (al-ghaybiyyatu ’l-kubrá).

(506) Through Her I became oblivious of myself, so that I thought myself another and did not seek the path that leads to thinking myself existent.

(507) And my being oblivious (of myself) in Her, caused me to lose my reason, so that I did not return to myself or follow any desire of mine in consequence of my thinking (that I existed).

(508) And I became distraught for Her, engrossed with Her; and whomsoever She renders distraught through being taken up with Her, him She makes forgetful of himself.

(509) And I was so preoccupied with Her as to forget the preoccupation that made me forget myself: had I died for Her, I should not have been aware of my departure (from the world).

(512) And I was seeking Her from myself, though She was ever beside me. I marvelled how She was hidden from me by myself.

(513) And I ceased not from going with Her to and fro in myself (in search of Her), because my senses were intoxicated by the wine of Her beauties,

(514) Travelling from the knowledge of certainty to the intuition thereof; then journeying to the fact thereof, where the Truth is.

(521) (So was I seeking Her within me) until there rose from me to mine eye a gleam, and the splendour of my daybreak shone forth and my darkness vanished.

(522) Here I reached a point from which the intellect recoils before gaining it, where from myself I was being joined and united to myself.

(523) And when I attained unto myself, I beamed with joy because of a certainty that saved me from saddling for my journey;

(524) And since I was seeking myself from myself, I directed myself to myself, and my soul showed the way to me by means of me.

(525) And when I removed the curtains of the shroud of sense which the mysteries of mine own ordainment had let down,

(526) I lifted my soul’s curtain by unveiling her, and ’twas she that granted my request (that the veil should be removed).

(527) And I was that which cleansed the mirror of my essence from the rust of my attributes, and the rays that surrounded it were from myself;

(528) And I caused myself to behold myself, inasmuch as in my beholding there existed none other than myself who might decree the intrusion (of duality).

(529) And when I uttered my name, that which uttered it caused me to hear it, though (in truth) ’twas my soul that listened and pronounced my name while sensation was banished.

(530) And I embraced myself, but not through contact of my limbs with my ribs: nay, I embraced my very essence.

(531) And I let myself smell my own perfume, while the perfume of my breath made fragrant the scents of bruised spices.

(532) And the whole of me was transcending the dualism of sensation, howbeit my transcendence was in myself, since I had unified my essence.

Human thought distinguishes the essence of God from His attributes, names, and actions, but in the mystic’s vision of Oneness all is essentialised and every partial relation identified with the Whole.

(533) To praise my attributes because of me (my essence) enables my praiser to glorify me (for what I am essentially), but to praise me (my essence) because of my attributes is to blame me (my essence).

(534) Therefore he that beholds my attributes in my companion (my body) and beholds me (my essence) by means of them will never alight at my abode—for I veil myself (with my attributes).

(535) And to call to mind my Names through me (my essence) is a waking vision (a revelation of the Truth), but to call me (my essence) to mind through them is the (false) dream of one that slumbers in the night.

(536) Likewise, he that knows me (my essence) through my actions knows me not, whereas he that knows them through me is a knower of the Truth.

(537) Receive, then, the knowledge of the principal attributes, which are attached to outward abodes (visible organs), from a soul well acquainted therewith,

(538) And (receive) the understanding of the Names of the Essence, which are made manifest through them (the attributes) but (themselves) reside in the inward (invisible) worlds, from a spirit that gives an indication thereof (by means of symbols).

(539) The manifestation metaphorically of my attributes (e.g. sight and hearing) from the names of my bodily organs (e.g. the visual and auditory faculties)—names by which my soul was named because of my judgment (that in reality they belong to the soul, not to the body)

(540) Consists of a knowledge (latent in the soul)—marks traced on the veils of forms (bodily organs) and throwing light on what is beyond sense-perception in the soul.

(541) And the manifestation actually of the names of my essence from the attributes of my inward being, for the sake of mysteries whereby the spirit was gladdened,

(542) Consists of hints concerning treasures (of knowledge)—hints revealing the significations of a mystical doctrine and encompassed by the arcana of that which is hidden in the depths of the heart.

(543) And their effects in all that exists, together with the knowledge of them—and created things are not independent of the effects produced by them (the Names and Attributes)

(544) Are (shown by) the existence of praise that is gained (by God) for strength of dominion, and by the beholding of thanks that are gathered in return for universal favours.

(545) They (the effects of the Names and Attributes) are theatres of manifestation for me: I appeared in them, although I was not hidden from myself before my epiphany (in them).

(546) For speech—and the whole of me is a tongue that tells of me—and sight—and the whole of me is an eye in me for regarding me

(547) And hearing—and the whole of me is ears (asmu’) listening to the proclamation of (my) bounty—(and power)—and the whole of me is a hand strong to repel destruction,

(548) (All these faculties) are a means of manifestation for Attributes which established (the presence in the soul of) what transcends the (outward) vesture (the body) and for Essential Names which spread abroad that which sensation related (to the soul).

In language so figurative as to be almost untranslatable the poet describes (vv. 549-574) the Divine Names according to (1) their characteristic qualities; (2) the benefits which accrue from them to body and soul; and (3) their respective spheres of influence, viz., the visible world (‘álamu ’l-shaháda), the invisible world (‘álamu ’l-ghayb), the world of dominion (‘álamu ’l-malakút), and the world of almightiness (‘álamu ’l-jabarút). Here again he rises to the plane of undifferentiated unity (jam’), where plurality (tafriqa) has disappeared. This phase, however, is momentary. As we have seen, in the highest mystical experience plurality returns under the form of unity: the One does not exclude the Many, but comprehends them in its own nature, so that every part is the essence of the whole.

(575) The whole of me performs that (devotion) which is required by the Path, while keeping the way of that (unity) which was required by my Truth.

(576) And when, no longer separating, I joined the rift, and the fissures caused by the difference of the attributes were closed,

(577) And nothing that leads to estrangement was left between me and a firm trust in the intimacy of my love,

(578) I knew for sure that we (lover and Beloved) are really One, and the sobriety of union restored the notion of separation,

(579) And my whole was a tongue to speak, an eye to see, an ear to hear, and a hand to seize.

All particular attributes being thus dissolved in the universality of the Essence, the “unified” mystic can say that his eye speaks, his tongue sees, his hand listens, etc., and that his sense of smell speaks, sees, hears, and takes, or conversely, that his tongue, eye, ear, and hand are endowed with the sense of smell; and can declare that all his faculties are exercised simultaneously by every atom of his body (vv. 580-88).

(589) Therefore I read all the knowledge of the wise in a single word, and show unto myself all created beings in a single look;

(590) And I hear the voices of them that pray and all their languages in a time less than the duration of a gleam;

(591) And ere mine eye winks, I bring before me what was hard to convey on account of its distance;

(592) And with one inhalation I smell the perfumes of all gardens and the fragrance of what (herbs) soever touch the skirts of the winds;

(593) And I survey all regions (of the earth) in a flash of thought and traverse the seven tiers of Heaven in one step.

The next passage indicates the origin and nature of these extraordinary powers which the poet claims not only for himself but for all prophets from Adam to Mohammed and for the Moslem saints in general. It is perhaps unnecessary to add that where he uses the words “I” and “my” he assumes the character of the universal Spirit.

(594) The bodies of those in whom remains no remnant (of self) because of my union (with them) are like the spirits: they are encompassed (with my union) and made light (subtle);

(595) And whosoever is sovereign or munificent or mighty in onset only finds his way (to these qualities) through my aiding him with a particle (of my union).

(596) He walked not on the water nor flew in the air nor plunged in the flames but in virtue of my volition,

(597) And I am the source whence he whom I aided with a particle (of my union) became changed in a moment from all his (normal) being,

(598) And whence he that with his whole being followed my union recited the Koran, from beginning to end, a thousand times in an hour or less.

(599) And had a breath of my grace been bestowed on a dead man, his soul would have been given back to him and caused to return.