Tawhid

Tawhid.mp3

Sheikh al-'Alawi's poem:

Tawhid

You desire tawhid, and ask it of us;
Yet were we to tell you of tawhid,
You would surely flee from us!

But –
In the heart there lies something veiled,
Which is nothing else but that which you desire.

By God, it is the Truth, and the Goal, and the Purpose
– yet you are heedless of it, and in heedlessness you remain.

His Oneness is the Essence of Essences, nothing less,
And so he who knows tawhid conceals well the secret.

But –
Rivalry in worldly increase overcame you all
Until you lost sight of it –
And now at last you have noticed!

I pray to God for you all,
And for myself:
Protect us from our weakness, and have mercy upon us,

Until the Root of All Roots is within our sights
And the Branch is in our hands –
Never to break.

Khalid