Ibn al-Arabi (Earth, mystic, soul, creation, faith)

[wayfaring]

Any one here familiar with Ibn al-Arabi?

[earl]

Ibn al-Arabi is 1 of my favorite mystic writers. I'll share 2 quotes I like among many which give a good flavor of his thought:

"Neither my heaven nor my Earth contains me, but the heart of my faithful believer contains me. This because the heart is a mirror in which the manifested form of God is at each moment reflected in the microcosm." & my favorite:

"A garden among the flames...my heart has become capable of all forms. It is a meadow for gazelles and a monestary for Christian monks, a temple for idols and the pilgrim's Ka'aba, the Tables of the Law and the book of the Koran. I profess the religion of love and whatever direction its steed may take, Love is my religion and my faith."
take care, earl

[zenzero]

Sufi poetry
All Pervading Consciousness


And as His Essence all the world pervades
Naught in Creation is, save this alone.
Upon the waters has He fixed His Throne,
This earth suspended in the starry space,
Yet what are seas and what is air? For all
Is God, and but a talisman are heaven and earth
To veil Divinity. For heaven and earth,
Did He not permeate them, were but names;
Know then, that both this visible world and that
Which unseen is, alike are God Himself,
Naught is, save God: and all that is, is God.

And yet, alas! by how few is He seen,
Blind are men's eyes, though all resplendent shines
The world by Deity's own light illumined,
0 Thou whom man perceiveth not, although
To him Thou deignest to make known Thyself;
Thou all Creation art, all we behold, but Thou,
The soul within the body lies concealed,
And Thou dost hide Thyself within the soul,
0 soul in soul! Myst'ry in myst'ry hid!
Before all wert Thou, and are more than all!

- Farid al-Din Attar