…inwardly we preceded everyone

If for fruit the gardener

Felt no desire or hope

Why then would He have planted

The root of the tree

****

Inwardly then, that tree arose

From the fruit

Through outwardly the fruit

From the tree arose.

 

That is why the Prophet declared:

“Adam and all are prophets

Are my descendants

Under one banner

 

And this too is why Mohammed

The master of all arts, declared:

“Outwardly, we are the last of all,

But inwardly we preceded everyone

Translation: Dr Javad Nurbakhsh

One Response to “…inwardly we preceded everyone”

  1. Irfan Shah Says:

    Absolutely brilliant. Great meraphor used to describe something which is hard to understand otherwise.
    I guess the original poem is written by Rumi. But for those who don’t know, a clearer mention of the poet’s name in the post would help.

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