Wheresoever Ye Turn...
Do not attach yourself to any particular creed exclusively, so that you may disbelieve all the rest; otherwise you will lose much good, nay, you will fail to recognize the real truth of the matter. God, the omnipresent and omnipotent, is not confined to any one creed, for, he says, “Wheresoever ye turn, there is the face of Allah.”
-- the Sufi mystic Ibn al-Arabi,
quoted in The Spiral Staircase, by Karen Armstrong
My heart has become capable of every form:
It is a pasture for gazelles,
And a monastery for Christian monks,
And a temple for idols,
And the Ka’aba of the pilgrims,
And the tablets of the Torah,
And the book of the Koran.
I follow the religion of Love:
Whatever path Love’s camel takes,
That is my religion and my faith.
-- Ibn al-Arabi, quoted in Perfume of the Desert,
edited by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanuk
More on Ibn al-Arabi (1165-1240 CE):
posted by Darrell Grizzle | 12:52 PM
12 Comments:
Thanks Darrell
There is no north and south, no east and west. Turn not, for there is no turning except that which turns it's face to you. And that face is your beginning and end and the source of your turning.
Smiles
D
Hey, Darrell. Re Gilead, that's one of my favorite quotes too. But also the one on about the third page (I don't have the book in front of me) along the lines of, "When you read this I'll know what it's like to be dead. But I'll probably keep that knowledge to myself, that seems to be the nature of things."
And the line about how people change how they act when they're around clergy--they'll confess the most incredible things to you in private, and then try to hide a dirty joke or an alcoholic drink when they see you in public. Etc., etc., etc.
INCREDIBLE book.
Theophilus Punk
There have been studies recently into the words of jesus, as reported to us in the bible.
As I understand it, a number of scholars examined the quotes, and voted on whether or not he really said it.
I would be interested in the results of this, with regards to John 14:6...." I am the way, the truth, and the light. None can come to the father but through me"
I sincerely hope jesus didn't really say that. That would be evidence of raging egomania, which is not becoming in the "son of god". It would also violate what you said in today’s post, which makes a lot of sense to me.
Of course, there are lots of people who believe this merely because it is in the bible. THAT is a subject for another day.
I've posted that very Ibn al-Arabi quote before. Loved Karen Armstrong's Spiral Staircase. Also - met Andrew Harvy a few years ago. He offered a workshop at our church. Fascinating guy. Thanks for the quote from Perfume in the Desert. It's beautiful.
Dear chamblee54:
Consensus among most mainstream scholars is that the "I am the way" verse is not the actual words of Jesus himself, but a later addition by the early Christian community.
I read recently of a Hindu holy man who said of this passage, "Yes! Jesus is the way -- the way of Jesus' self-sacrificing love shows us all the way to God." It's all a matter of interpretation. Unfortunately, this verse has been interpreted over the years in an excluding way, not the inclusive way the Hindu holy man interpreted it.
Dear arulba:
Andrew Harvey spoke at your church? Way cool!!! What church is that?
Trinity United Methodist Church in Austin, Texas. It's a reconciling community that practices creation spirituality. We now go to a UU Church because this one was just a tad too far away for us. But it's a wonderful little community.
The minister was awarded a sabbatical and part of the award was Andrew Harvey who spoke at least 2 Sundays and gave a weekend workshop.
"Do not attach yourself to any particular creed exclusively, so that you may disbelieve all the rest; otherwise you will lose much good, nay, you will fail to recognize the real truth of the matter."
or "you will fail to recognize the real truth of the matter ..." Wow! That's a pretty serious piece of wisdom.
Darrell,
This poem by Ibn al-Arabi is beautiful. Thanks for sharing it!
"Yes! Jesus is the way -- the way of Jesus' self-sacrificing love shows us all the way to God."
The way of Jesus- is the way of Darrell, of Tommy, of all sentient beings...there is no other way! Until we are joyfully living this notion...we choose to have only one foot in the kingdom.
There are many paths up the mountain.
-Buddhist proverb
Used one of these for the final flourish of the Progressive Faith Bloggers Carnival this week - thanks!
Thanks Hamza. I came here googling for the Ibn al-Arbi's quote on creed (In line with this quote one would probably imply: dont keep all your eggs in one basket).
FYI. The Spiral Staircase (p. 289), quotes it from Nicholson's Eastern Poetry and Prose (1992, p. 148).
My may interest you and your audience.
Massalam, MT
its a brilliant post. thanks for the quotes.
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