A Passage for June

It’s summer here in the Northern Hemisphere and depending on what part of the world you’re in, that may mean more or less rain, varying degrees of heat and sun and possibly a visit to the nearest body of water. Many gardens are full of growing plants and fields full of crops. Some YAs have a break from academia this time of year and even those of us no longer in school still seem to feel a sense of summer vacation and may find ourselves out and about a bit more.

This passage seems to encompass many of those images of summer, and reminded us of the “grand scheme of things,” so to speak. If you find yourself in a thunderstorm, looking out over the ocean, driving through the desert, passing a field of corn or even just observing an ant crawling by, recall the words of this passage.

Join us this June in memorizing or adding to this month’s passage lineup “The Mirror of This World.”  This passage was written by Mahmud Shabestari who spent his life in Tabriz, a city in what is now northwestern Iran, during a golden age of Sufi mysticism. 

We would love to hear from you in the comments! What strikes you about this passage? Which images in the passage are particularly meaningful to you?

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The Mirror of This World – Mahmud Shabestari

Every particle of the world is a mirror,
In each atom lies the blazing light of a thousand suns.
Cleave the heart of a raindrop, a hundred pure oceans will flow forth.
Look closely at a grain of sand, the seed of a thousand beings can be seen.
The foot of an ant is larger than an elephant;
In essence, a drop of water is no different than the Nile.
In the heart of a barley-corn lies the fruit of a hundred harvests;
Within the pulp of a millet seed an entire universe can be found.
In the wing of a fly, an ocean of wonder; in the pupil of the eye, an endless heaven.
Though the inner chamber of the heart is small, 
The Lord of both worlds gladly makes his home there.