Thursday, March 17, 2016

Farid ud-Din Attar - The Dullard Sage


Lost in myself
      I reappeared
            I know not where
a drop that rose
      from the sea and fell
            and dissolved again;
a shadow
      that stretched itself out
            at dawn,
when the sun
      reached noon
            I disappeared.
I have no news
      of my coming
            or passing away–
the whole thing
      happened quicker
            than a breath;
ask no questions
      of the moth.
            In the candle flame
of his face
      I have forgotten
            all the answers.
In the way of love
      there must be knowledge
            and ignorance
so I have become
      both a dullard
            and a sage;
one must be
      an eye and yet
            not see
so I am blind
      and yet I still
            perceive,
Dust
      be on my head
            if I can say
where I
      in bewilderment
            have wandered:
Attar
      watched his heart
            transcend both worlds
and under its shadow
      now is gone mad
            with love. 



Lost in myself
      I reappeared
            I know not where
a drop that rose
      from the sea and fell
            and dissolved again;
a shadow
      that stretched itself out
            at dawn,
when the sun
      reached noon
            I disappeared.
I have no news
      of my coming
            or passing away–
the whole thing
      happened quicker
            than a breath;
ask no questions
      of the moth.
            In the candle flame
of his face
      I have forgotten
            all the answers.
In the way of love
      there must be knowledge
            and ignorance
so I have become
      both a dullard
            and a sage;
one must be
      an eye and yet
            not see
so I am blind
      and yet I still
            perceive,
Dust
      be on my head
            if I can say
where I
      in bewilderment
            have wandered:
Attar
      watched his heart
            transcend both worlds
and under its shadow
      now is gone mad
            with love. - See more at: http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/blog/2010/02/17/farid-ud-din-attar-the-dullard-sage/#sthash.rbCMZP1V.dpuf

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