II :: Woot to a 13th Century Egyptian Sufi Sheikh

I was amazed by what I found in Sufi mysticism. Ibn ‘Ata’Illah’s Book of Wisdom sang of God in verse as I have no language for. He captured exactly what I think, what I feel, how I approach God, and what I struggle with in prayer.

What I’m trying to say is, he nailed it from 800 years away.

Those who are voyaging to Him are guided by the lights of their orientation,

Whereas those who are united to Him have the lights of face-to-face confrontation.

The former belong to their lights, whereas the lights belong to the latter, for they belong to God and to nothing apart from Him

Book of Wisdom 2:31

I wanted to highlight every verse: to celebrate them, to remember them, to return to them. I began writing out passages in my journal that had imprinted themselves on my heart.

Whatever is deposited in the invisible world of innermost hearts is manifest in the visible world of phenomena

Book of Wisdom 2:28

I knew, of course, that none of the rest of the books would be on par. Lightening doesn’t strike twice, and besides Ibn ‘Ata’Illah had said everything I had dreamed of being able to say.

And then came Kwaja Abdullah Ansari’s Intimate Conversations – a 10th century Persian Sufi.

Here’s the thing. I’ve searched for prayers. I’ve talked to people about prayer – where do they find them in their faith? I’ve tried to find words that capture how my heart cries out to God when I end up in a tangled mess of praise. The Quran is beautiful, but I cannot understand Arabic. Recitation soothes me; it is safe, beautiful. But King James translations leave me alienated. Nothing against Jesus, but he wasn’t British. And neither was Muhammad. Just sayin’.

Abdullah’s Intimate Conversations are so moving there are passages I won’t reprint here for fear of bumbling across his direct line of site to God.

O God

If you would but once call me your slave, my joy would surpass the Throne of Heaven

O God

Those who labor for wages are content with you but those who know you are indifferent to past and future

O God

If you raise me to the gallows, let it be, but exile me not!
If you send me to hell, that is your pleasure, but send me not away from you!

I went to bed mid-day, overwhelmed into slumber.