3
" Thou seekest Lailâ. Yet she manifesteth herself within thee.
Thou deemest her to be elsewhere, but elsewhere existeth not.
That is a madness, well-known to lovers.
So be on your guard, for otherness is the epitome of separation.
Seest thou not, how her beauty enfoldeth thee.
She disappeareth only if thou refusest part of thee.
Come close to me, thou sayst to her, to her who is thine All.
And when she loveth thee, she leadeth thee to thyself.
Bliss ineffable is the meeting with her.
No one reacheth her, who knoweth not essence without form.
I have dissimulated about her,
After I had truly displayed her through my veil.
I hid her from myself, with the garment of mine own existence,
And, out of jealousy, I hid her from the envier.
Dazzling beauty! Should the light of thy countenance
Touch the eyes of a blind man, he would see each particle of dust.
She is adorned with every grace pertaining unto beauty.
And wherever she appeareth, she is desired by those who love.
(Diwân) "
― Muhammad al-Harrâq
6
" The saints are little pieces of mystical Christ, sick of love for union. The wife of youth, that wants her husband some years, and expects he shall return to her from oversea lands, is often on the shore; every ship coming near shore is her new joy; her heart loves the wind that shall bring him home. She asks at every passenger news: " Oh! saw ye my husband? What is he doing? When shall he come? Is he shipped for a return?" Every ship that carrieth not her husband, is the breaking of her heart. What desires hath the Spirit and Bride to hear, when the husband Christ shall say to the mighty angels, " Make you ready for the journey; let us go down and divide the skies, and bow the heaven: I will gather my prisoners of hope unto me; I can want my Rachel and her weeping children no longer. Behold, I come quickly to judge the nations." The bride, the Lamb's wife, blesseth the feet of the messengers that preach such tidings, " Rejoice, O Zion, put on thy beautiful garments; thy King is coming." Yea, she loveth that quarter of the sky, that being rent asunder and cloven, shall yield to her Husband, when he shall put through his glorious hand, and shall come riding on the rainbow and clouds to receive her to himself. "
