Shah Nematollah Vali (1330 - 1431)

Shah Nematollah Vali (or Nimatullah Wali) was born to a Sufi family in Aleppo, Syria. He travelled widely through the Muslim world, learning the philosophies of many masters, but not at first finding a personal teacher he could dedicate himself to. During this time, he also studied the writings of the great Sufi philosopher and mystic, Al Arabi.

Shah Nematollah finally met Shaykh Abdollah Yafe'i in Mecca, and became his disciple. He studied intensely with his teacher for seven years until, spritually transformed, he was sent out for a second round of travels, this time as a realized teacher.

He temporarily resided near Samarkand, along the great Central Asian Silk Road. It was here that he met the conqueror Tamerlane, but, to avoid conflict with the worldly ruler, he soon left and eventually settled in the Persian / Indian region of Kerman.

When Shah Nematollah died, his fame had spread throughout Persia and India, and it is said he initiated hundreds of thousands of followers. Today the Nimatullah Sufi Order is one of the most important Sufi orders of Iran.

Poems by Shah Nematollah Vali

I Beheld my essence. What i san

 

I beheld my essence. What I saw

Was like the very light of the eye itself:

How wonderful that a single Essence should

Refract itself like a light, a single source

Into a million essences and hues.

The being of the lover and Beloved

Are the same, for where is Love without

A lover and Beloved to be found?

Behold His Essence by His Light, that you

May be yourself the seer and the Seen.

I have wandered through the essences

And found that His Reality makes up

The essence of all beings. To ourselves

We manifest ourselves; were it not so

There could be no relationship between

The One and many. Now then, go beyond

Relation, go beyond the going-beyond

Till there remains no body, soul or being.

"All that is must perish save His face"

And in His Being ours is burned to ash.

At last I see that vision of Him requires

A subject and an object: I and He.

And yet the Essence is the same, sometimes

A wave upon the sea, sometimes the sea;

Sometimes the eye, sometimes the object of

The eye. Whoever sees this ocean knows

Our essence as we know it in ourself.

We are the waves and yet in essence we

Are not different from the sea: Reality

Is one but shows itself as two: subject

And object, two in manifestation

But not in Essence: only one Existence

Though countless its attributes. The mystery

Is still too deep for all to understand,

For all to grasp: the supraformal Essence

Is the Beloved and the formal self

The lover -- but if you switch the terms around

The statement still remains unchanged and true.

Or if you say the cup and wine are one

That too is true, as true as if you claim

That cup is cup and wine is wine; or if

You say that one is us, the other Him.

Regard these different levels of the truth

As "relatively absolute" and find

The subtle occult truth. Then... WA SALAAM!

The relativity of intellect

Results in statements which must contradict

Each other on the level of the mind

And yet beyond the mind both are correct.

Sometimes I am Mahmud, sometimes Ayaz

Sometimes I glorify myself, sometimes

I sing the other: lover and Beloved.

So from time to time I change and play

Both roles, and then a third one: Love itself.

Thus spoke Mustafa, beloved of God:

Go, search for the one who has enslaved your heart

Within your heart. There find the satisfaction

Of your soul at last. Seek Ne'matollah, find

All that you seek -- and all that you require

Will then be found in me, as you desire.

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The Point of the Circle

The point appeared in the circle And was not; But it was the dot That the circle begot. The point appears As a circle, as it revolves In the eyes of him Who a circle draws. When the point Completed the circle Its beginning and end Were one. When the compass Did the circle complete It was wrapped up And rested its feet. Without existence Not-being are we; We who are Not And You existence free. I said the whole world was His dream; Then I saw His dream was He. Sweeter than the words of our guide, Nimatullah knows no other words. The Sea Is Our Essence We are of the sea, and the sea is our essence; why then is there this duality between us? The world is an imaginary line before the sight; read well that line, for it was inscribed by us. Whatsoever we possess in both the worlds in reality, my friend, belongs to God. His love I keep secretly in my heart; the less of the pain of His love is our cure. Companions are we of the cup, comrades of the saki, lest thou suppose that he is apart from us: it is the assembly of love, and we are drunk -- who ever enjoyed so royal a party? So long as Mi'mat Allah is the slave of the Lord, the king of the world is a beggar at his door.  Source: http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/N/NematollahVa/SeaIsOurEsse.htm

Bulleh Shah (1680 - 1758)

Mir Bulleh Shah Qadiri Shatari, often referred to simply as Bulleh Shah (a shortened form of Abdullah Shah) lived in what is today Pakistan. His family was very religious and had a long tradition of association with Sufis. Bulleh Shah's father was especially known for his learning and devotion to God, raising both Bulleh Shah and his sister in a life of prayer and meditation.

Bulleh Shah himself became a respected scholar, but he longed for true inner realization. Against the objections of his peers, he became a disciple of Inayat Shah, a famous master of the Qadiri Sufi lineage, who ultimately guided his student to deep mystical awakening.

 
The nature of Bulleh Shah's realization led to such a profound egolessness and non-concern for social convention that it has been the source of many popular comical stories -- calling to mind stories of St. Francis or Ramakrishna. For example, one day Bulleh Shah saw a young woman eagerly waiting for her husband to return home. Seeing how, in her anticipation, she braided her hair, Bulleh Shah deeply identified with the devoted way she prepared herself for her beloved. So Bulleh Shah dressed himself as a woman and braided his own hair, before rushing to see his teacher, Inayat Shah.

Bulleh Shah is considered to be one of the greatest mystic poets of the Punjab region.

His tomb in the Qasur region of Pakistan is greatly revered today.

 
Poems by Bulleh Shah

	Bulleh! to me, I am not known
	He Who is Stricken by Love
	I have been pierced by the arrow of love, what shall I do ?
	I have got lost in the city of love
	If the divine is found through ablutions
	Look into Yourself
	Love Springs Eternal
	One Point Contains All
	One Thread Only
	Remove duality and do away with all disputes;
	Repeating the name of the Beloved
	The soil is in ferment, O friend
	this love -- O Bulleh -- tormenting, unique
	What a carefree game He plays!
	You alone exist; I do not, O Beloved!
	Your love has made me dance all over Source: http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/B/BullehShah/index.htm

Islam and Sufis

Islam and Sufis

Sufism is commonly called the mystical branch of Islam, but many Sufis would argue the point, saying that Sufism existed before the advent of the Prophet Mohammed. This perspective makes Sufism a non-dogmatic tradition of devotion and mystical technology, somewhat parallel to the role of Yoga in India. Others, however, find this argument offensive, asserting that Sufism is well-rooted within the religion of Islam. Either way, it is a holy well of sacred experience and has inspired some of the finest mystical poetry given to the world.

The Sufis

Sufis are sometimes called the Masters of Love because the Sufi path strives for ecstatic ego annihilation in the fires of Divine Love.

The origin and meaning of the word Sufi is often debated. It is often said to derive from the Arabic word for wool (suf), and a reference to the simple, rough clothing often associated with early Muslim ascetics. Other possible meanings for the term relate to purity, the chosen ones, even a reference to the Greek word for wise man (sophos). The truth is that all of those possible meanings tell us something of what it means to be a Sufi.

The Sufi commentator Qushayri gives a beautiful description of the Sufi ideal:

Sufism is entry into exemplary behavior and departure from unworthy behavior.
Sufism means that God makes you die to yourself and makes you live in him.
The Sufi is single in essence; nothing changes him, nor does he change anything.
The sign of the sincere Sufi is that he feels poor when he has wealth, is humble when he has power, and is hidden when he has fame.
Sufism means that you own nothing and are owned by nothing.
Sufism means entrusting the soul to God most high for whatever he wishes.
Sufism means seizing spiritual realities and giving up on what creatures possess.
Sufism means kneeling at the door of the Beloved, even if he turns you away.
Sufism is a state in which the conditions of humanity disappear.
Sufism is a blazing lightning bolt.
(quoted in Sufism: An essential introduction to the philosophy and practice of the mystical tradition of Islam, by Carl W. Ernst, PhD)

Though not as widely known or practiced in the West today as Yoga, Sufism has had a profound effect on the mystical traditions of the world, both East and West, since the Middle Ages. The Sufi tradition seems to have influenced developments in modern Yoga, particularly the ecstatic devotional practices of Bhakti Yoga. In Europe, as well, where mysticism often had to remain underground and look for mystical traditions "lost" or suppressed in mainstream expressions of Christianity, the Sufis greatly inspired Christian mystics, reaching them through Moorish Spain, through the interaction of the Crusades, and through the influence of Islamic physicians and scientists in service at various European courts.

Sufi Poetry

Poetry has been a revered art in every world culture, but this is particularly so throughout the Islamic world. This is partly due to the traditional Islamic prohibition on representational art. Since portrayal of people and things was largely forbidden, the visual arts tended to focus on rich, elaborate patterns and calligraphy, while much of the Islamic artistic genius emphasized the power of words over the visual image. And the Quran itself uses highly poetic language which, of course, inspires a tendency among Muslims to express themselves in a similarly poetic fashion. Perhaps the desert environments that predominate in many Islamic countries likewise contributed to a vocal rather than a visual focus.

The poetic tradition within Islam, still very much alive today, has given us an amazing bounty of sacred and mystical poetry from the Sufi and Muslim traditions.\

source: http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Traditions/MuslimSufi.htm