I look into the mirror and see my own beauty;
I see the truth of the universe revealing itself as me.
I rise in the sky as the morning Sun, do not be surprised,
Every particle of creation is me alone.
What are the holy spirits? my essence revealed.
And the human body? the vessel of my own form.
What is the ocean that encircles the world?
A drop of my abundant Grace;
And the purest light that fills every soul?
A spark of my own illumination.
I am Light itself, reflected in the heart of everyone;
I am the treasure of the Divine Name,
the shining Essence of all things.
I am every light that shines,
Every ray that illumines the world.
From the highest heavens to the bedrock of the earth
All is but a shadow of my splendor.
If I dropped the veil covering my true essence
The world would be gone – lost in a brilliant light.
What is the water that gives eternal life?
A drop of my divine nectar.
And the breath that brings the dead back to life?
A puff of my breath, the breath of all life.
Fakhruddin Araqi (1213-1289) was an important poet and mystic of the golden age of Sufism. This passage is published in Easwaran’s spiritual anthologies, “God Makes the Rivers to Flow” and “Timeless Wisdom.” The audio recording is by Eknath Easwaran’s wife, Christine Easwaran.