THE SEA OF BEING
Being's a sea in constant billows rolled,
'Tis but these billows that we men behold;
Sped from within, they rest upon the sea,
And like a veil its actual form enfold.
Being's the essence of the Lord of all,
All things exist in Him and He in all;
This is the meaning of the Gnostic phrase,
"All things are comprehended in the All."
THE REVELATION OF TRUTH
The Majesty of the "Truth" most glorious is revealed in two manners—the first the inward, subjective revelation, which the Súfís name "Most Holy Emanation"; it consists in the self-manifestation of the "Truth" to His own consciousness from all eternity under the forms of substances, their characteristics and capacities. The second revelation is the outward objective manifestation, which is called "Holy Emanation"; it consists in the manifestation of the "Truth," with the impress of the properties and marks of the same substances. This second revelation ranks after the first; it is the theatre wherein are manifested to sight the perfections which in the first revelation were contained potentially in the characteristics and capacities of the substances.
"'TIS HE WHO LIVES WITHIN OUR FORMS"
Both power and being are denied to us,
The lack of both is what's ordained for us;
But since 'tis He who lives within our forms,
Both power and action are ascribed to us.
Your "self" is non-existent, knowing one!
Deem not your actions by yourself are done;
Make no wry faces at this wholesome truth—
"Build the wall ere the fresco is begun."
Why vaunt thy "self" before those jealous eyes?
Why seek to deal in this false merchandise?
Why feign to be existent of thyself?
Down with these vain conceits and foolish lies!
MIRROR AND FACE
They say, "How strange! This peerless beauty's face
Within the mirror's heart now holds a place!"
The marvel's not the face, the marvel is
That it should be at once mirror and face.
All mirrors in the universe I ween
Display Thy image with its radiant sheen—
Nay, in them all, so vast Thy effluent grace,
'Tis Thyself, not Thine image, that is seen.
[1] Magians and Zoroastrians.
[2] The first verse belongs to "Flash I.," the second to "Flash II.," but I have thought it wise to couple them together on account of the unity of their meaning.
[3] That is to say that a portion of the material world, through the mercy of God, is capable of receiving Very Being, and thus the phenomenon becomes Very Being externalised. But Omnipotence requires the total destruction of all phenomena and all multiplicity of the same substance. The process is repeated ad infinitum.
"The Names" are mentioned in the Masnavi. See also Professor R. A. Nicholson's Divaní Shamsi Tabríz, p. 71.