The Winds Of Grace: Poetry, Stories and Teachings of Sufi Mystics and Saints

By Hohm Press

Drawing from the finest and most authentic texts available in the original Persian/Farsi language, Vraje Abramian offers this extensive collection of stories, teachings and poetry from both major and unknown saints and mystics in the Sufi tradition.

Winds of Grace is a fresh and extensive collection that will both instruct and encourage individuals on the path of love and transformation. Readers today need such roadmaps of sanity and wisdom, pointing the way through life's obstacles and detours. Indeed, reading the works of saints and sages serves as a GPS for today's wayfarer.

The reader will find selections from today's most well recognized and highly acknowledged Masters, like Rumi and Hafiz, as well as hidden saints such as Sheikh Biabanaki and Sheikh Ali Mesri. More uniquely, however, this book also introduces us to teachings and anecdotes of the obscure hermit, the mad but unknown dervish, the crazy, naked ascetic. Whether the mainstream punished, tolerated or ignored these crazy-wise people, those who knew something about the pain they spoke of venerated them as saints.

Centuries ago, many of these voices offered a shock to his or her contemporaries, jarring them from the complacency that makes automatons of human beings. Other voices contained a paradoxical twist on the religious life or practice of the times, yet were soaked with an age-old wisdom that is still vital to spiritual practitioners today. The translator and editor Vraje Abramian advises readers that these secret sages often had to protect themselves from the powers-that-be in their society, and therefore cloaked their messages in words that only disciples and initiates or those with a vulnerable mind and open heart, could actually decipher. He further reminds us that the language adopted by Sufi teachers was designed to break the habits that normally deaden our sensitivities. Abramian has therefore selected pieces that remind us to wake up, to take stock, to continue carefully observing ourselves. And, by vigilant sequencing of topics, his book gently guides readers toward the essence-truths or core-teachings of these wise ones.

The translator is uniquely qualified to make this offering to religious studies today. As an Iranian by birth, a lifelong practitioner of spiritual disciplines and an accomplished teacher of English, his renderings are characterized by academic authority, poetic word-craft, and spiritual wisdom.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hohm Press
• Release date: Jan 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781942493600

Book preview

Winds of Grace

© 2015, Vraje Abramian

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of quotes used in critical articles and reviews.

Cover design, interior design and layout:

Becky Fulker, Kubera Book Design, Prescott, AZ

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-942493-60-0

The title is taken from the author’s translation [from Persian] of a verse in the Qor’an, (Sura-15, Hajr, part 14):

As in the spring, God’s beneἀcial glance brings the world the message of new life and glory, and the breeze loosens that which the winter has entangled, and the veins in the trees and plants begin their hunger and bring life and succulent fruit and grains. Just so, God’s benevolent and loving glance at the believers’ hearts raises the winds of Grace and Obedience so they may struggle to become worthy of Holy understanding and persist in their prayers and remembrance.

Hohm Press

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Chino Valley, AZ 86323

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Winds of Grace

Poetry, Stories and Teachings of Sufi Mystics and Saints

Renditions by Vraje Abramian

Hohm Press

Chino Valley, Arizona

Translation: Bismillah-e rahman-al-rahim, In the Name of God,

Compassionate and Merciful.

Calligraphy by Miros, in the style of Khatte shekaste,

cursive calligraphy; all others in Nasta’ligh style.

Bismillah-e Rahman-al-Rahim; in the name of God

who is the soul’s Soul, and the heart’s illumination.

The One whose remembrance is the glory of the tongue

and love for Whom comforts the mind.

Whatever is other than Him is nothing but punishment,

and the heart that is not after Him is but a ruin.

A breath with Him in return for both worlds is the greatest bargain,

and should one surrender a hundred souls for a single glance from Him,

one has in truth been granted It for free.

~ Khaje Abdollah Ansari, the Pir of Herat

Other Books by Vraje Abramian

Sweet Sorrows:

Selected Poems of Sheikh Farideddin Attar Neyshaboori

Nobody, Son of Nobody:

Poems of Sheikh Abu-Saeed Abhil Kheir

The Soul and a Loaf of Bread:

The Teachings of Sheikh Abol-Hasan of Kharaqan

This Heavenly Wine:

Poems from the Divan-e Jami

Praise and Gratitude to

God who wills his benevolent

Essence to reflect in the mirror

of the heart of his friends and

allows his eternal light to shine

in their being so everyone who

comes in contact with them

is reminded of God.

~ Attar

Humbly dedicated to Huzur

and to the present Master, Baba Ji



O’ Shams of Tabriz

Only Love may fathom You

Intellect cannot.

~ Hazrat Moulana Jalaleddin Mohammad Balkhi (Rumi)

What grace is this that You have bestowed on your friends?

Whoever recognizes You, finds them,

and whoever finds You, recognizes them.

~ Khaje Abdollah Ansari, Pir of Herat

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my wife Elizabeth Ruth for her help in preparing the manuscript and to Rabia Tredeau and Regina S. Ryan of Hohm Press for their editing skills. I owe a great debt of gratitude to Massoud Valipour, the master calligrapher whose art and whose friendship I cherish.

CONTENTS

The Story of this Book

A Note on the Translation

Introduction

Part One: God – The Beloved

Part Two: Pir-e Kamel – The Perfect Master

Part Three: Love

Part Four: The Sufi

Part Five: The Human

Part Six: Life

Part Seven: Death

References

Abbreviations

Citations and Endnotes

Bibliography

Recommended for Further Reading

Contact Information

THE STORY OF THIS BOOK

Into this narrow place of opposites where night and day and good and bad are in charge, a piece of Eternity somehow came to know life.

For a long while, and nobody knows how long, she enjoyed this Play called existence in its many, many ways and forms until one day, and nobody knows when or why, she began longing for That which she had left behind but could explain to no one.

She carried on until this Insanity began to dominate her days and nights and dreams. She left her family, friends, home and town and began roaming the seas, deserts, mountains and cities. Sometimes she spoke about, or sang and danced to the One her heart knew. Many who saw her thought she was doing so for them, but there were always those who knew she was singing to and dancing for the One in her heart only.

The story of this book is this Insanity, which has no name, or perhaps everyone has a different name for it. It is known to those who have realized that in this murky place, which always seems to be getting darker and colder, love may only originate and evolve in the human heart, and then, shining in the individual’s eyes and radiating on his or her forehead, give light and warmth to all life.

And if you are indeed asking, How could Eternity be divided into pieces? and Where would these pieces be other than in It? you have begun to appreciate our wayfarer’s dilemma and might enjoy her journey.

My Beloved has just appeared

let us make merry and celebrate

since in this domain of disillusionments

I have witnessed my desires’ fulfillment.

Do not ask how He appeared

for in truth, He had never left

because leaving and returning

are material qualities and states.

And if you find it wrong to say

that He is beyond matter and states

remember that while you have qualities

you have originated from beyond qualities yourself.

~ Hazrat Molana Jalaleddin Mohammad Balkhi (Rumi)

A NOTE ON THE TRANSLATION

A wise one said —

The most delectable poems enter your heart

before your ears are finished hearing them.

Anecdotes, tales, poems and teachings in this collection were chosen based on their ability to find their way into one’s heart, and on whether they survived rendition into English. Priority was given to the message, as understood by this translator, rather than word for word accuracy. Pieces that were too culture-specific and would require lengthy footnotes were left out. It has been my experience that if the first impression a piece creates is one of ambiguity, footnotes can hardly assuage the initial letdown. I have insisted on flowing, clear and concise English rather than striving to convey intricacies the original may contain, for in every language there are domains reserved for the native speaker only and any effort in translating such pieces creates even darker shades of failure than what every work of translation is by nature heir to.

When transliterating, priority was given to reproducing Persian sounds, rather than merely following the diacritical markings based on Arabic sounds. Thus, I prefer Ha’fez, instead of Hafiz, and Khezr instead of Khidr. Nouns that may sound too different have been footnoted in standard transliteration.

Non-Sufi Characters

The Sufis frequently use non-Muslim personages such as the Greek classicists like Pythagoras, Aristotle and Plato, conquerors like Alexander the Macedonian, and Old and New Testament Prophets, like Moses, Abraham, Joseph and Christ to expound on Sufi tenets. Hence, between the covers of the present volume, the reader should expect to find references to individuals far removed from the places and traditions popularly associated with the Sufis.

Wise Fools

O’ God

Whoever gets along with You is called mad.

~ Khaje Abdollah Ansari of Herat¹

In Sufi lore, lunatic sages are commonplace and their mad wisdom is utilized to shock the individual and the society out of that routine complacency that makes automatons of humans. The archetypal lunatic is of course Majnoon, whose name derives from jonoon, literally meaning lunacy in Arabic and Persian. Majnoon is a quasi-real character who has surrendered his all to Leylee’s love. Their story is a recurring theme in many Sufi poems, and entire books by mystic poets such as Jami and Nezami Ganjavi are devoted to it. This is, in fact, a thinly veiled account of the individuated soul’s longing for her Beloved, the Soul of souls. It would be a mistake, however, to imagine that mad wisdom is limited to semi-fictional figures in popular culture.

Advanced Sufi practitioners have to journey beyond mainstream standards and values. Many choose the life of the contemplative recluse, for theirs is a private love affair to be nurtured and relished in secrecy, not to be declared in the marketplace, as the saying goes.* A few of these hidden mystics become known for their eccentricity, an academic term for what the populace might call lunacy. They are often banished, and sometimes punished, for putting truth before personal and/or social propriety. Mansour Hallaj, the most celebrated Sufi martyr, was one such character who refused to bow to the religious orthodoxy and the power structure in Baghdad at that time.

In the collection presented here, the exploits of a few such characters are mentioned and their poetry and teachings recounted. Some of them were sky-clad derelicts who slept in cemeteries and abandoned ruins and lived on alms. Others were hermits whose reluctant company was sought by the powerful and hopeful to beg for blessings or advice.

Whether the mainstream punished, tolerated or ignored them, those who knew something about the Pain they spoke of venerated them as saints. As Najm Razi, the Persian mystic and theologian said, Lovers’ words are to be shielded in secrecy and not made public.²

This invitation to secrecy, an important dictum in Sufism (as in any serious spiritual discipline), may seem odd considering that many Sufi masters spend their lives speaking to crowds and writing for generations yet to come. Obviously, one on the Path is always required to be patient and withdrawn until he or she is on solid ground and is given permission by the Pir to attend to seekers’ needs.

The language adopted by Sufi teachers is one in which existing conventions are challenged and perhaps reconfigured to break one’s habitual patterns of perception. Habits deaden sensitivities and thus one glosses over life rather than wakefully observing.

The old adage about how those who live on the shore cease to hear the ocean’s sound holds true for most of humanity. Challenging the prevalent social taboos, with considerable help from unconventional use of language, is a method employed by some of the most advanced adepts to allow the shore dweller to hear the ocean once again. Such statements know how to find their way into one’s heart and achieve the desired effect. Unfortunately, one of the first casualties in any translation or rendition effort is loss of such qualities, for they are too culture specific and too delicate to survive in an entirely alien construct.

Be it as it may, while hearing or reading about the Sufis and their teachings, perhaps one should strive for a way of perceiving where the essence takes precedence over all else. These Teachers had to protect themselves from the vested interests in their society and thus cloaked their message in words only the initiates, or those with a certain bend of mind, could decipher, as Ha’fez, the prince among a galaxy of worthy Persian poets, says,

I penned these words such

that they are covered from profane sight,

ponder through them then

and let your insight be your guide.³

---

*See the works of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Teresa de Avila, and St. John of the Cross for similar sentiments expressed in Christian mysticism.

INTRODUCTION

In the real, there is naught but the communion of the Self, and in this Self-communion, there is that which in the world of waking seems as forms and in the world of dreaming seems as voices. It is in the real that the Self is a spectator without a spectacle.

~ Keshara the Sky Walker⁴

Sufism, the esoteric dimension of Islam, is one of the many spiritual traditions where refining one’s sensitivities and attaining the highest human potential, or the true self, is the ultimate goal.** Needless to say, there have been, are, and will be, those who come to the Path due to any number of reasons that may have little or nothing to do with the axiom Know Thyself.

As far back as the eleventh century, Hujwiri (d. 1072?) warned that Sufism, which had been a reality without a name, was now a name without a reality. It seems it will always be the case that, while some steal into the desert in the dead of the night to, through Grace, experience life without one’s me, and find that inner Love Affair which sustains them here and guides them to the land of the Lovers once this is accomplished, others attach as many bells and whistles to themselves as they possibly can to let the world know they are intending to do so.

We are all like unto three butterflies,

mere proverbs in the world of Lovers.

The first, barely near the candle, loudly declares

I have now realized the meaning of Love.

The second one flutters near the flame and announces

I have now burnt in the fire of Love.

The third one hurls itself into the flame headlong.

Love’s meaning can only