This is the 19th chapter in the revised online version ofThe Republic of Rumi: a Novel of Reality
The Garden is interacting with you, obviously long after the Poet has died in his world. This has been highlighted through his appearance as the Old Man of the Desert, especially the initial parts of that chapter where you didn’t know that the Old Man was the Poet himself, and believed the Poet to be gone. If the Garden is still functioning as an interactive device, then does it mean that the Poet overcame the limitations of Time, and is that why “Time” is an indicator to the mystery of Joseph?This concern may be addressed in the next chapter:
‘Time is a Cutting Sword’
The quotation is from Imam Shafii, a leading Muslim legist of the medieval times. “By imagining Time as a line, you have sown the seed of darkness in the clay,” the Poet says to you as you enter the chapter. “O you, who are enthralled by yesterday and tomorrow, behold another world in your own heart!” Behold another world in your own heart! This could be the Garden, this virtual reality, where you are playing a certain role as the seeker of a mystery.
The Poet quotes one of the most intriguing sayings attributed to the Prophet: “Do not vilify time, for God says,‘I am Time.’”Then he says,“Now I will tell you a point of wisdom as brilliant as a pearl so that you should realize the difference between a slave and a free person. A slave is lost in the magic of days and nights but Time with all its expansion is lost in the heart of a free person. These words of mine are beyond sound and discussion, for their meaning cannot be understood easily. The musical instrument of Time has its own silent tunes. Oh, dive deep into your heart!”
Time is non-linear: it is not only series of day and night but can turn out to be something else. Earlier, in the chapter on Love, where other clues revealed their meaning, Time remained elusive like Joseph and all you could learn was that eternity received increase through the Prophet. The dimension of Time which has now appeared in the Garden is even different from eternity. It is a cutting sword: Do not vilify time, for God says,‘I am Time.’
beautiful and comprehensive narration.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much poignancy and paradoxically so much simplicity for me in this chapter that I will need to post my comments a little at a time to keep them in an "order" or progression of sorts. (Whether for just me or also for others.)
ReplyDeleteSo this is only my first response...more to follow here or perhaps later/another way...IF this is helpful? This is not meant to make these teachings more abstract...only to offer a personal perspective which for me at least feels and exists as solid as the earth under my feet..
As an adult and only with a smattering of history -and years ago- I recognized within my own deepest understanding of "the mystery" that there was something deeper and beyond the accepted views of "time" as "a line"...
Because I never ran across any other "historical authority" taking exception to the "traditional" view of "time", I oft wondered if something was wrong with me...
Nevertheless with the few "original" types of folk I was gifted to meet...I would use the phrase "outside of this 'time/space' frame" or similar...
So, if others who come here, like me, find resonance safety and great comfort in this quite refreshing consideration that in fullest reality - there is another way of seeing "Time" we will stop fighting with "time" as we have been taught for centuries to see it...
Instead, we may embrace the greater wholeness
of "Time" which has a Heart and find our mutual One-ness within this One...
We may thus ome to KNOW "Time" beyond concepts and words...
Yes, I've been allowed on occasion to be SEEN of Time and have "suspicions" because of those rare "windows"...of Love...
That instead of needing to be continually schooled by the "scholars" who still teach history and time only as that dusty "line"...
I will more fully realize more confidently that I am KNOWN of Time Who is Love...
So then my fear will more completely dissolve...
No more need for self-protection alone...
No need for perfection of only my own making...
No more "language" fights with time...
And with "Truth"...
As a matter of fact, I am suspicious that following this path...
We will oft find ourselves in The Garden...
Even now...
And see that we are all at last finally coming Home...
(If I'm on the wrong track, plz correct me...)
Wah! No other word suffice to convey my feeling on the first reading, second reading and now I can say awesome. Time and space theories of Einstein and the beautiful book of Hawking ‘a brief history of time’ seemed quite weird in comparison to this little chapter. I am revisiting Ibn Arabi for time and timelessness!
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