Mansur al-Hallaj (Sufi and Poet)

I am the truth

Mansur al-Hallaj  who is one of the most famous Sufis,  is onsidered to be a great poet-saint. Al-Hallaj was born in the province of Fars, Persia (Iran). He later moved to what is now Iraq, where he took up religious studies, particularly the Sufi way.

Al-Hallaj was executed for blasphemy in his poetry particularly in a line in which he says:

"Ana 'l-Haqq," meaning I am the Truth 

Al-Hallaj reached  the mystical realization of unity with the Eternal in his Sufism. He was condemned by a council of theologians, imprisoned for nine years, and eventually put to death.

Nowadays, Al-Hallaj is considered as a martyr for truth by many Sufis and mystics.

Examples of his poetry

To Reach God

" For your sake, I hurry over land and water:

For your sake, I cross the desert and split the mountain in two,

And turn my face from all things,

Until the time I reach the place

Where I am alone with You."

Kill Me, My Faithful Friends

Kill me, my faithful friends,
For in my being killed is my life.

Love is that you remain standing
In front of your Beloved
When you are stripped of all your attributes;
Then His attributes become your qualities.

Between me and You, there is only me.
Take away the me, so only You remain

I am the One Whom I Love

I am the One whom I love, and the One whom I love is myself.
We are two souls incarnated in one body;
if you see me, you see Him,
if you see Him, you see us.