Love and Beauty, Unity and Multiplicity, Realization and Reason

Three of my favorite verses of Arabic poetry (the last of which is from Ibn al-Farid) form a lovely meditation on these three topics (Love, Unity, and Truth), when taken together. 

 

“Various positions have those who love from (mere) passion
But I have a unique place, in which I dwell alone.”

 

 

مذاهب شتى للمحبّين في الهوى            و لي مدهب فرد أعيش به وحدي

 

Our expressions our many,
and your beauty is one
And it is to your beauty
that all of them allude

عباراتنا  شتّى و حسنك واحد      و كلّ إلى ذاك الجمال يشير

 

How often argument creates disputes amongst the clever
and how often beauty mediates between the lovers

 

فكم بين حذاق الجدال تنازع                وما بين عشاق الجمال تنازع

 

4 thoughts on “Love and Beauty, Unity and Multiplicity, Realization and Reason

  1. Thanks for this post. Can you provide more info on the 1st drawing? What is that symbol?

    • It’s three letter “waw”‘s. I take them to stand for wujud, wijdan, and wajd (Being, Consciousness, and Ecstasy_the Islamic counterpart of the Hindu trinity: Sat, Chit, and Ananda.

  2. I liked first two, can you elaborate what each of them means exactly, like in the first one which color means what? thanks

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