nothingness

Title:
Autumn FoliageArtist: Mattias Klum
Baba Kuhi of Shiriz, a Persian dervish-poet who died in 1050 A.D.In the market, in the cloister--only God I saw.In the valley and on the mountain--only God I saw.Him I have seen beside me oft in tribulation;In favour and in fortune--only God I saw.In prayer and fasting, in praise and contemplation,In the religion of the Prophet--only God I saw.Neither soul nor body, accident nor substance,Qualities nor causes--only God I saw.I oped mine eyes and by the light of His face around meIn all the eye discovered--only God I saw.Like a candle I was melting in His fire:Amidst the flames outflashing--only God I saw.Myself with mine own eyes I saw most clearly,But when I looked with God's eyes--only God I saw.I passed away into nothingness, I vanished,And lo, I was the All-living--only God I saw.Baba Kuhi, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson