The Self or the Other

Sheikh Awhaduddin Kirmani says,

The Self

dar āyeneye dūst nazar mīkardam
xod rā ze xodī be xod xabar mīkardam
goftam ke magar kīst dar dīdeye man?
xod būdam o xod be xod nazar mīkardam

I peered
       into the mirror
              of the Beloved
gave conscious as myself
       about the Self
              to my self.

I looked closer:
       was there someone
              reflected
in my eye?
       I was alone.
              I saw myself in me.

 

The Other

īn hastīye to hastīye haste degarast
vīn mastīye to mastīye maste degarast
ro sar be garībāne tafakkor barkaŝ
kīn daste to āsetīne daste degarast

All your existence
       comes from existence
              of the Other.

all your inebration
       flows from drunkenness
              of the Other

Go and wrap yourself
       in the robe
              of meditation
about your arm
       that is the sleeve
              of the Other.

- Awhaduddin Kirmani, Heart’s Witness (Awhaduddin’s Quatrains), tran. Bernd Weischer & Peter Wilson, Quatrains 109 & 117, with applying some chages in the translation.

On seeing and mirror, see borther Sadiq’s wonderful post and its related posts here.

Tags: Awhaduddin Kirmani, Mirror, Persian Poems, Shuhudiya, The Other, The Self, Witness, Wujudiyah