‘O heart, why do you lie bound in this transient world? Fly out from this cramped space, for you are a bird that belongs to the world of spirits. You are a friend that would always be alone, with the Beloved, abiding behind the veil of mystery. Why do you stay in this world, which is passing away?
Consider what state you are in, escape from your captivity in this material world and go forth to the grassy lawns of spiritual reality. You belong to the Divine world, you would be welcome in the assembly of Love: it would be grievous for you to remain in this abode. Each morning there comes a voice from heaven calling: “You will find the road clear for passage, when you make the dust to lie on it.”
On the way to the Ka’ba of union with Him, you will see at the root of every thorn, thousands who gave up their young lives for the sake of love. Thousands fell wounded on this road and there did not not come to them any breath of the fragrance of union, or sign from the abode of the Beloved.’
Poem by gnostic mystic Jalal Al-din Rumi (1207 – 1273)
Artwork ‘The True Trinity in True Union’ by gnostic mystic Hildegard von Bingen (1098 – 1179).
.