Martin Lings: The Stars
Photo: Old Cairo
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We boast of travelling to the earth's ends, souls that are lame,
And of our flights in yonder heaven, souls that crawl,
And in persuasion of our progress beyond all
The men of old, new feats with wonder we acclaim,
Not seeing, while with no escape, folk without aim,
Backwards into the future through the dark we fall,
That we are blind, unless we hold our looks in thrall
Up to the high past, where the stars of wisdom flame.
Friends, if in earnest we would travel, let none trust
His fellow for a pilot, but, since go we must
Upon that shoreless ocean beyond fathom deep,
And up that mountain where no summit crowns the steep,
Knowing this night is not our element, yet knowing
None other, let us watch the stars to guide our going.
(Martin Lings)
And in persuasion of our progress beyond all
The men of old, new feats with wonder we acclaim,
Not seeing, while with no escape, folk without aim,
Backwards into the future through the dark we fall,
That we are blind, unless we hold our looks in thrall
Up to the high past, where the stars of wisdom flame.
Friends, if in earnest we would travel, let none trust
His fellow for a pilot, but, since go we must
Upon that shoreless ocean beyond fathom deep,
And up that mountain where no summit crowns the steep,
Knowing this night is not our element, yet knowing
None other, let us watch the stars to guide our going.
(Martin Lings)
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Recommended Reading:
'Enduring Utterance: Collected Lectures'
By Martin Lings (Author), Trevor Banyard (Editor)
Purchase Book:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Description:
A collection of lectures by renowned Sufi scholar Martin Lings. Delivered in London in the late nineties, they cover topics relating to metaphysics, comparative religion, Islamic doctrines, Sufism, mysticism and literature, affording rare glimpses into the traditionalist school of thought and the perennial philosophy.
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