The Teophany of Perfection. Ibn Arabi

“The Theophany of Perfection”

(Translated by Abraham Abadi and Aaron Cass)

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“Hear, O my beloved!
you are the reason for the being of the world
You are the centre-point of the sphere and its encompassing
You are its complexity and simplicity
You are the order brought [sent] down between heaven and earth
I did not create for you realizations
Except that you realize Me in them
And when you realize Me you realize your self
Do not strive to realize Me in the realization of your self
By my eye you will see Me and your self
You will not see Me, however, by[with] the eye of your self
Beloved
How often have I called you and you do not hear
How often have I [stood before you]presented myself to you and you do not witness [recognize]
How often have I embodied myself in scents and you do not inhale
And in the flavours and you do not savour the taste for My sake
What is the matter with you, that you do not feel me when you touch?
Why do you not recognize Me in the fragrances of musk?
Why do you not see Me? Why do you not hear Me?
What is the matter with you?
I am your most heady rapture beyond any delight
My craving for you is more intense than any born for an object of desire
I am better for you than any good thing
I am the Beautiful
I am the Elegant [witty, comely]
Love Me. Love Me. Love Me alone.
Desire Me, Ardently.
Be consumed in me[distressed, troubled, obsessed]not engrossed in other than Me.
Take Me in , receive Me, you will not find an intimate like me
Everything wants you for itself, but I want you for your sake,
But you, you avoid me.
Beloved!
You cannot meet me half-way in your drawing close to me
My drawing close to you outweighs a hundredfold the means by which you approach me.
I am closer to you than your self.
And your self, which performs these acts, is other than Me , created.
Beloved!
I am jealous of you from you.
I cannot bare to see you with otherness or with yourself.
Be with Me in Me,
with yourself just as you are with Me.
Then, my Beloved, you will not even feel the Union,
The Union.
Had we found a path toward separation,
we would let the separation savour separation.
Beloved!
Come, hand in hand, enter Reality that It may decide between us with the judgment of eternity
Beloved antagonist
Pleasure cannot be found in dispute between lovers,. Pleasure is in the converse.
As the poet said;
I wished her dead because of loving her
So that shed be my adversary on the Last Day
(Say; Do you have an understanding of the High Assembly when they are disputing?
Had the outcome of this severance been only appearance before the Judge, then what about the joy of and gazing upon the face of a beloved?)
O heart! O heart!

Ibn Arabi . XII Century

Thanks to Vastearthorchestra for the transcription of the text.

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