The Whole of Beauty (Farid)

Meet Umar Ibnu ‘L-Farid, one of the greatest Arabic mystical poets of the 12th century and experiences the Oneness of his words.

Passage

Let passion’s swelling tide my senses drown
Pity love’s fuel, this long-smouldering heart,
Nor answer with a frown,
When I would fain behold Thee as Thou art,
“Thou shalt not see Me.” O my soul, keep fast
The pledge thou gav’st : endure unfaltering to the last
For Love is life, and death in love the Heaven
Where all sins are forgiven.
To those before and after and of this day,
That witnesseth my tribulation, say,
“By me be taught, me follow, me obey,
And tell my passion’s story through wide East and West.”
With my Beloved I alone have been
When secrets tenderer than evening airs
Passed, and the Vision blest
Was granted to my prayers,
That crowned me, else obscure, with endless fame,
The while amazed between
His beauty and His majesty
I stood in silent ecstasy,
Revealing that which o’er my spirit went and came.
Lo, in His face commingled
Is every charm and grace
The whole of Beauty singled
Into a perfect face
Beholding Him would cry,
“There is no God but He, and He is the most High!”