Of the sea and the tear.
Make use of our pearls, and our foam, and our fire;
For your sake we have come as Disgrace from the Sea;—
For your sake we have come in the flesh of Desire,
But glory and beauty incarnate are we.
We are the flowers in his Garden, the lights in his Hall,
The sign on his Portal, but he, he is all—he is all!
The banquet, the host, and the guest—
The seeker, the sought, and the quest—
All three,
Is he.
The given, the taker, the giver—
Love, the beloved, the lover—
All three,
Is he.
And we, to rejoin him, like torrents, escape through the hills;
No fetters, no walls can restrain us, no welfare, no ills.
Hope is sighing,
Faith is crying,
Creeds are dying—
Allah, Allah!
A clap of thunder
Rents asunder
Man’s little Wonder—
Allah, Allah!
Idols tumble
In a jumble,
Temples crumble—
Allah, Allah!
Flames are sweeping;
Priests are reaping;
Kings are weeping—
Allah, Allah!
Ashes cumber
Flame and ember,
Who remember—
Allah, Allah!
Night is crawling,
Stars are falling,
Souls are calling—
Allah, Allah!
Orbs are winging,
Fire-bringing,
And of him singing—
Allah, Allah!
Clove and nard, in
His first garden.
Wait his pardon—
Allah, Allah!
Every flower
In his bower
Is Love’s dower—
Allah, Allah!
His compassion
And his passion
Are our fashion—
Allah, Allah!
Whirl, whirl, whirl,
Till the world is the size of a pearl.
Dance, dance, dance,
Till the world ’s like the point of a lance.
Soar, soar, soar,
Till the world is no more.
Endnotes
-
A dry wind from the Sahara that prevails in Egypt about fifty days. Hence its name—Khamsin. ↩
-
I have tried to embody in these stanzas the idea, shared partly by the Sufi, that God and the Universe are one. ↩
-
Famous Sufi poet of Persia. ↩
-
Famous Sufi poet of Persia. ↩
-
Sufi philosopher and poet of Arabia. ↩
-
Famous Sufi poet of Persia. ↩
-
Sufi philosopher and poet of Arabia. ↩
-
Sufi philosopher and poet of Arabia. ↩
-
Famous Sufi poet of Persia. ↩
-
Famous Sufi poet of Persia. ↩
-
The foremost Sufi poet of Arabia. ↩
Colophon
Poetry
was compiled from poems published between 1905 and 1921 by
Ameen Rihani.
This ebook was produced for
Standard Ebooks
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Weijia Cheng,
and is based on transcriptions from
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and on digital scans from
various sources.
The cover page is adapted from
Circassian Cavalry Awaiting Their Commanding Officer at the Door of a Byzantine Monument; Memory of the Orient,
a painting completed in 1880 by
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