Ohhh yes! What an exquisite 'comment' straight from where 'It' speaks to the mystic!
And I strongly suspect there are nuances in the original that simply cannot be conveyed in translation.
It is fascinating to me that Ibn Arabi could express this in a poem of so many words, while many centuries later (when that poetic vein seems to have mostly dried out) the Big Lady Downstairs would pack it all in a curt and practical command 'be breathed'.
Enna, you have a gift for describing what (to me) has been ineffable. Perhaps it is your reverence for and observation of nature and the most humble and uncorrupted non-human beings that speaks so clearly to me. Many ‘a-ha’ moments.
Too kind, ShieldMaiden, but you overestimate the 'gift for describing' - it doesn't flow just like that. For some obscure reason, there is something in the ineffable compelling me to search for ways through our sick language, not so much to share 'my ineffable' but to nudge others into theirs. And you are correct in respect of 'uncorrupted non-human beings' - see next post (you must have a gift of precognition!).
A-HA! I, too, am compelled to seek precision using imprecise language when writing prose. But I only comprehend two languages -- English and the Unspoken/Nonverbal. The latter is quite amazing in its directness and scope; translating it to words can be laborious don't you think?
The translation has to come first from the non-rational mind, as close to it as possible - at the edge of language. After which, it's a matter of polishing and polishing again... chewing on words until the right word, or the closest, or a totally different word pops up. At least that's how it seems to operate for me, and I suspect these mysterious ways are not identical from one translator to the next. Chuckle.
Lovely Enna, really. I hope you don't mind me posting my favorite poem, a "Sophianic" poem by Ibn Arabi. I think the experience of this poem relates.
Listen, O dearly Beloved!
I am the reality of the world, the center of the circumference,
I am the parts and the whole.
I am the will established between Heaven and Earth,
I have created perception in you only in order to be the object of my perception.
If then you perceive me, you perceive yourself.
But you cannot perceive me through yourself.
It is through my eyes that you see me and see yourself,
Through your eyes you cannot see me.
Dearly beloved!
I have called you so often and you have not heard me.
I have shown myself to you so often and you have not seen me.
I have made myself fragrance so often, and you have not smelled me.
Savorous food, and you have not tasted me.
Why cannot you reach me through the object you touch
Or breathe me through sweet perfumes?
Why do you not see me? Why do you not hear me?
Why? Why? Why?
For you my delights surpass all other delights,
And the pleasure I procure you surpasses all other pleasures.
For you I am preferable to all other good things,
I am Beauty, I am Grace.
Love me, love me alone.
Love yourself in me, in me alone.
Attach yourself to me,
No one is more inward than I.
Others love you for their own sakes,
I love you for yourself.
And you, you flee from me.
Dearly Beloved!
You cannot treat me fairly,
For if you approach me,
It is because I have approached you.
I am nearer to you than yourself,
Than your soul, than your breath.
Who among creatures
would treat you as I do?
I am jealous of you over you,
I want you to belong to no other,
Not even to yourself.
Be mine, be for me as you are in me,
Though you are not even aware of it.
Dearly beloved!
Let us go toward union.
And if we find the road
That leads to separation,
We will destroy separation.
Let us go hand in hand.
Let us enter the presence of Truth.
Let it be our judge
And imprint its seal upon our union
For ever.
ibn Arabi
Ohhh yes! What an exquisite 'comment' straight from where 'It' speaks to the mystic!
And I strongly suspect there are nuances in the original that simply cannot be conveyed in translation.
It is fascinating to me that Ibn Arabi could express this in a poem of so many words, while many centuries later (when that poetic vein seems to have mostly dried out) the Big Lady Downstairs would pack it all in a curt and practical command 'be breathed'.
Many, many thanks!
Enna, you have a gift for describing what (to me) has been ineffable. Perhaps it is your reverence for and observation of nature and the most humble and uncorrupted non-human beings that speaks so clearly to me. Many ‘a-ha’ moments.
Too kind, ShieldMaiden, but you overestimate the 'gift for describing' - it doesn't flow just like that. For some obscure reason, there is something in the ineffable compelling me to search for ways through our sick language, not so much to share 'my ineffable' but to nudge others into theirs. And you are correct in respect of 'uncorrupted non-human beings' - see next post (you must have a gift of precognition!).
A-HA! I, too, am compelled to seek precision using imprecise language when writing prose. But I only comprehend two languages -- English and the Unspoken/Nonverbal. The latter is quite amazing in its directness and scope; translating it to words can be laborious don't you think?
The translation has to come first from the non-rational mind, as close to it as possible - at the edge of language. After which, it's a matter of polishing and polishing again... chewing on words until the right word, or the closest, or a totally different word pops up. At least that's how it seems to operate for me, and I suspect these mysterious ways are not identical from one translator to the next. Chuckle.