The People of Perplexity and Wonderment
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim
Peace to your hearts dear dervishes of love
I found this beautiful passage this morning in Ibn Arabi’s, “The Seven Days of the Heart”, translated by Stephen Hirtenstein. It is on page 111 (!), so it feels like a little nod from our Pirs. Stephen is quoting it from the Fusus al Hikam, the “Bezels of Wisdom”, so you can also find it there in the chapter on Noah, aleyhi salam.
“For the person of perplexity and wonderment (hayra) there is turning, and the circular movement of turning is always around the Pole (or center of the circle) from which she never departs. The person of the protracted Way (on the other hand) is always turning aside from the aim and intention, seeking (elsewhere) what is already within her, taking what her imagination has conjured as her goal. Such a one has a starting point and a destination and whatever lies between them, while for the person of circular movement there is no beginning that she has to keep to nor end that can impose upon her, since she possesses the most complete being and has been granted the totality of the Words and the Wisdoms.”
May the Most Merciful of the Merciful, for the sake of the beloved of the Beloved, create us to be the people of perplexity and wonderment always turning around the Pole!
Heart in heart around the Pole
Fariha