428 quotes
I was, ere a name had been named upon earth,
Ere one trace yet existed of aught that has birth:
When the locks of the Loved One streamed forth for a sign,
And Being was none save the Presence Divine!
Named and name were alike emanations from Me,
Ere aught that was ‘I’ yet existed, or ‘We’;
Ere the veil of the flesh for Messiah was wrought,
To the Godhead I bowed in prostration of thought.
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)
"Tell me, gentle traveller, thou
Who hast wandered far and wide,
Seen the sweetest roses blow
And the brightest rivers glide,—
Say, of all thine eyes have seen,
Which the fairest land has been."
"Lady, shall I tell thee where
Nature seems most blest and fair,
Far above all climes beside?—
’Tis where those we love abide;
And that little spot is best
Which the loved one’s foot hath pressed.
"Though it be a fairy space,
Wide and spreading is the place;
Though ’twere but a barren mound,
’Twould become enchanted ground.
With thee, yon sandy waste would seem
The margin of Al Cawthar's stream;
And thou canst make a dungeon’s gloom
A bower where new-born roses bloom.
Attributed Pebbles, Pearls and Gems of the Orient (1882)
The reed bewailed departed bliss and present woe: "Plucked untimely from my native banks, my heart is torn, that through me may sound the notes that charm the grave and gay. Who that hears my strains knows the secret of my bleeding heart?" Not fruitless was the pain of the reed that made it melodious. And thou, brave heart, arise. Be free of every chain, though blazing with gold. Be nobly bold. Follow the true bride of thy life, though her name be Sorrow. Let the shell perish, that the pearl may appear. Men may not know the secret of thy sad life, but through a bruised heart must be breathed the strain of love and hope which shall enrapture human souls.
Attributed Pebbles, Pearls and Gems of the Orient (1882)
Little by little, wean yourself. This is the gist of what I have to say. From an embryo, whose nourishment comes in the blood, move to an infant drinking milk, to a child on solid food, to a searcher after wisdom, to a hunter of more invisible game.
Think how it is to have a conversation with an embryo. You might say, "The world outside is vast and intricate. There are wheatfields and mountain passes, and orchards in bloom. At night there are millions of galaxies, and in sunlight the beauty of friends dancing at a wedding."
You ask the embryo why he, or she, stays cooped up in the dark with eyes closed. Listen to the answer.
There is no "other world." I only know what I've experienced. You must be hallucinating.
Attributed
I was, ere a name had been named upon earth,
Ere one trace yet existed of aught that has birth;
When the locks of the Loved One streamed forth for a sign,
And being was none save the Presence Divine.
Ere the veil of the flesh for Messiah was wrought,
To the godhead I bowed in prostration of thought.
I measured intently, I pondered with heed
(But, ah, fruitless my labor!) the cross and its creed.
To the pagod I rushed and the magian's shrine,
But my eye caught no glimpse of a glory divine.
The reins of research to the Caaba I bent,
Whither, hopefully thronging, the old and young went.
Candahár and Herát searched I wistfully through,
Nor above nor beneath came the Loved One to view.
I toiled to the summit, wild, pathless, and lone,
Of the globe-girding Kâf, but the phœnix had flown.
The seventh earth I traversed, the seventh heaven explored,
But in neither discerned I the court of the Lord.
I questioned the pen and the tablet of fate,
But they whispered not where He pavilions his state.
My vision I strained, but my God-scanning eye
No trace that to godhead belongs could descry.
But when I my glance turned within my own breast,
Lo, the vainly sought Loved One, the godhead confessed!
In the whirl of its transport my spirit was tossed,
Till each atom of separate being I lost;
And the bright sun of Tauriz, a madder than me,
Or a wilder, hath never yet seen, nor shall see.
Attributed Pebbles, Pearls and Gems of the Orient (1882)
I once journeyed long, said Dakiki, seeking the souls wherein my friend had mirrored himself,—in the drop of the: bucket to find the sea and its wealth, in the atoms, in the sunbeam, to know the great sun.
I came in my wanderings to the shore of ocean, where time and space disappeared from my thought. Seven lights I saw, whose flames lapped the heavens. Again the lights flowed together, the lights joined in one whose splendor cleft the bosom of the skies. Amazed, overcome, I sank to the ground; but when I awoke, instead of the flame, seven persons I see walking on shore. I could not trust my eyes, since; instead of seven men, seven trees come to view. Their peaks transcend the throne-dwelling of God, their roots pierce the inmost recesses of earth and the deeps.
But, wonder of wonders over all! to no eyes but mine was the vision revealed. Hundred thousands pass along there, but never one sees the trees and their fruits. A strange spell is upon their organs: they see the mote in the sunbeam, but never the sun.
I shout to them, Hither: come here, eat this fruit, living bread you shall find. They laugh at me, call me foolish, giddy, and demented. But I know I don’t dream. Yet never could I hold my senses sound, were it not that every instant the fruits refresh and inspire me.
Then of a sudden again the fruits and trees evanish, and seven persons appear before me. Seven blend in one, one flows out and divides into seven.
Attributed Pebbles, Pearls and Gems of the Orient (1882)
"Allah!" was all night long the cry of one oppressed with care,
Till softened was his heart, and sweet became his lips with prayer.
Then near the subtle tempter stole, and spake: "Fond babbler, cease!
For not an 'Here am I' has God e'er sent to give thee peace."
With sorrow sank the suppliant's soul, and all his senses fled;
But, lo! at midnight the good angel Chiser came and said:
"What ails thee now, my child, and why art thou afraid to pray?
And why thy former love dost thou repent? declare and say."
"Ah!" cries he, "never once spake God to me, 'Here am I, son.'
Cast off, methinks I am, and warned far from his gracious throne."
To whom the angel answered: "Hear the word from God I bear:
'Go tell,' he said, 'yon mourner, sunk in sorrow and despair,
Each "Lord, appear!" thy lips pronounce, contains my "Here am I!"
A special messenger I send beneath thine every sigh,
And, sleeping in thy "Come, O Lord!" there lies "Here, son!" from me.'"
Attributed Pebbles, Pearls and Gems of the Orient (1882)
That person one night was crying ‘O Allah!’
That his mouth might be sweetened thereby,
And Satan said to him ‘Be quiet, O austere one!
How long wilt thou babble O man of many words?
No answer comes to thee from nigh the throne,
How long wilt thou cry “Allah!” with harsh face?’
That person was sad at heart and hung his head
And then beheld Khizr present before him in a vision
Who said to him ‘Ah! thou hast ceased to call upon God,
Wherefore repentest thou of calling upon Him?’
The man said ‘The answer “Here am I” came not,
Wherefore I fear that I am repulsed from the door.’
Khizr replied to him ‘God has given me this command
Go to him and say “O much tried one!
That calling ‘Allah’ of thine was my ‘Here am I;’
And that pain and longing and ardour of thine was my messenger;
Thy struggles and strivings for assistance
Were My attractions and originated thy prayer.
Thy fear and thy love are the covert of My mercy,
Each ‘O Lord!’ of thine contains many ‘Here am I’s’.’
Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)