So says Husain ibn Mansūr Hallāj,
May God be pleased with him:
A lamp arose from the Light Unseen,
It arose, and then returned to its circling orbit.
This lamp — its flame flickers taller,
taller than the flame of all other lamps.
This lamp — standing exalted with its head higher,
higher than all other lamps.
A ruling moon it is, this lamp —
in the cluster of moons is manifest,
Resplendent, radiant!
This lamp — a brilliant star
Whose chamber in the heavens is
The House of Mysteries!

Truth bestowed upon him the appellation “Ummī,”
For his courage never shattered.
And in due measure to the magnificence that descended upon him
pronounced him “the one belonging to the Sacred House” —
And then, calling him “Makkī,” summoned him nigh,
For his station of repose is beside the Truth …

His courage is prior
to all courage.
His being is prior
to non-being.
His name existed before the pen,
And so, because he had emerged into
existence
before all human communities …

What a splendid spectacle this is!
Is there in the cosmos a manifestation more
distinct?
More unveiled in exuberance?
More august?
Is there a manifestation more luminous?
More renowned?
Heavier in value? Dearer in price?
Whose visibility exceeds in effulgence?
He is the one —
Never to recede into absence

From the dark clouds above him
light broke out.
From beneath his feet
thunder cracked.
And then lightening spread —
then it became rain and poured over,
And rending asunder the earth,
Rose as fruit and flower …
All knowledge but a mere drop of his ocean
All wisdom, all knowing
A tiny edge of his gushing wave
All past, present, all future
But a moment of his day and night!

— Urdu and English translations of the Arabic text and the reformatting of the original are by Syed Nomanul Haq.

[Translator-Editor’s Note: This is an abstract from the opening chapter of the famous Sufi Ibn Mansūr Hallāj’s Book of Tawāsīn. Here Hallāj, who was mercilessly executed in 922 CE, celebrates the Prophet (upon whom be peace) by projecting him onto a cosmic symbolic plane, superbly giving his devotion a purely literary-metaphysical and non-theological expression. Syed Nomanul Haq, 21 Rabi al-Awwal, 1437]