All of this, that has been created,
the understanding of all that is brought into
existence
in the realm of time —
has no conjunction with Reality.
Nor —
has Reality any conjunction with that,
that which is brought into existence
in the flow of time.

Thoughts and images that rise in the mind
are relations and attachments.
Relations and attachments of that,
that which has been brought into existence
in the flow of time.
Thoughts and images in the mind
gain no access to truths.
Daunting it is to trap into perception
the gnosis of Reality.
So how much more daunting would it be
to arrive at the Reality of Reality.
Truth is farther from Reality.
And Reality is humbled before Truth …

The moth, it flutters
around the lamp, and flutters,
till the break of the dawn.
And then, it returns to other moths of its
stock,
and then transmits to them the report of its
own state,
its speech so very fine.

And then —
a longing for a union, perfect union,
pulls this moth back to the lamp.
And it drowns into the flame.
The light that bursts forth from the flame
is the knowledge of Reality.
The red heat of this flame
is the Reality of Reality.
And a union with this flame
is the verity of Reality.

This fl uttering moth
was not satiated by the light that emanated from the flame.
Nor was this moth satiated
by the heat that it poured forth.
So —
The moth jumped into full embrace
with the flame.

And far from this moth
its companions stayed in waiting, for him to
return
and tell them of that which it has witnessed
from its own eyes,
since this moth was not gratified by
transmitted reports.
Ah, but then —
These were the moments when this moth
was disappearing in the flame,
dwindling, receding from lesser to lesser.
These were the moments when this moth
was turning into sheer dust.
And whatever was left had no corporeal
frame,
nor an appearance in any fullness.
Nameless was this moth now,
beyond recognition, beyond distinguishing
mark.

— English and Urdu Translation and editorial poetic reformatting of the Arabic text are by Syed Nomanul Haq.

[Editor-Translator’s note: This is a small section of the famous Sufi Hallaj’s fascinating Kitb al-Tawsn, the Sufi who was mercilessly executed in 922 CE ostensibly due to his cry “Ana’l-Haqq” (I am the Truth). In this particular section of the book Hallaj is at the pinnacle of his poetic virtuosity and imaginative constructs. Note that here appears the powerful familiar symbolism of moth-lamp imagery, an imagery that originated from Hallaj and has been reverberating throughout the chambers of Sufism and Urdu and Persian poetry. The khabar-nazar pair (transmitted report-direct witnessing) also appears here. Syed Nomanul Haq]

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, September 18th, 2016