Poetry of Ibn Arabi from the Diwān

Two Poems from the Diwān

Translated by Eric Winkel

I ask God, the True, to guide me

I ask God, the True – to guide me
To know myself, and Him – to enliven me.

Whenever I am hungry, then Allāh feeds me.
And if I am thirsty, then Allāh quenches me.

And if I am fallen, then Allāh aids me.
And if I am sick, then Allāh heals me.
 

 
O God, You who are the Truth, I ask for Your guidance;
I ask Your guidance to know myself and to know You,
To truly know You, and
To live through You.

You feed me when I am hungry,
You quench my thirst when I need water.

Just when all seems lost,
You lead me to success.
Just when I am getting sick,
You return me to health.

If you consider God unlimited, you are the limiter

If you consider God unlimited, you are the limiter.
If you consider God consimilar, you are the confiner.

But if you consider God both matters, you are pointed right,
And you are a leader, a master concerning God’s definite nouns.
(e.g. al-baṣīr, the Seeing, a name which belongs to the True and the
creation)

And if someone argues for two, he makes Him a partner.
And if someone argues for ones, he makes Him one too.
(We all are unique, but unlike God; God is not like the unique ones we
are)

So watch out for consimilarity, so that you don’t become a similar second.
And watch for transcendence, if you are all alone (with the One).

You are not hu; no, you are hu. So you see hu in
all matters, ever disentangling and ever tangling.