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Whenever Sufism is mentioned, figures like Rumi and Ibn Arabi are always at the top of the name list of famous Sufis. Yet we cannot forget or ignore one of the most important and earliest Sufi teachers and poets, Al Hallaj. Born in the second half of the 9th century BC in Iran, he moved to Iraq in his early 20s where he rose to prominence during the Abbasid period by inspiring much controversy through his Sufi teachings on the religious level, and even on a more political level with different power plays. This lead to his brutal execution by torture, crucifixion, and burning. Al Hallaj left us with some of the most important poems and teachings of Sufi Islam. You see, the main message of Al Hallaj is that the one can form a true connection with the divine in which the divine can be manifested through the one’s body and words. Religious rituals become secondary, and any “strict ruling�� by any religion can actually sway away the person from the divine. We, and only we, are capable of letting the divine speak through us. All religions to Al Hallaj are just different paths leading to the same goal, so if the individual truly worked on himself/herself, a connection with the divine can be formed. And of course, this divine isn’t limited by time and space. Al Hallaj wasn’t a monotheist in the since of just “One God�� ,but “An all-encompassing divine.�� This not only led to many accusing him of blasphemy and apostasy, but also he was considered a political threat by some Shia sects in Iraq during that time as he could have been seen as a revolutionary figure.

What truly epitomized Al Hallaj’s belief in being a vessel for the divine was his famous phrase “I am The Truth/Right�� (أنا الحق). He rarely referred to the divine or god in his poems and teachings as “God�� or “Allah��, but “Al Hak��. It’s hard to directly convey the meaning of this word in English, but it closely means “The Truth�� or “The Right��, as in the True divine appearing. Furthermore, one of the greatest aspects of Sufi poetry is that at a first reading, the poems appear as simple love poems directed to another person. Yet they are love poems to the divine, which leads more, even to this day, to many considering the Sufis as heretics. Yet I really love the literary production of the Sufi poets and the messages of love and unity in their poems, especially in those by Al Hallaj. It should be also noted that many famous Euro-centric orientalists such as Louis Massignon sought to “Westernize�� Al Hallaj by either negating his Islamic or by presenting him more as a Christ-like figure, rather than treat him as an independent figure in Islamic history. But such a fact is another huge discussion on its own. For the time being, if you’re interested in Sufi history or Arabic poetry, I do recommend Al Hallaj. You’ll find here a couple of translated poems attached. One shows the Sufi message of Al Hallaj and the other was one of his last poems before being executed. Nevertheless, Al Hallaj believed that by his death he shall truly let the Divine manifest itself through him, and The Truth would appear and express itself. His tragic death was Al Hallaj greatest manifestation of The Truth.

“Amazed by you and by me, O you, the desire of the desirers
You drew me closer to thee, until I thought that you were me
I vanished in ecstasy until you erased me from myself by thee
O my blessing in life and my rest after death
I have no intimacy with anyone but thee
When I’m afraid or in safety
O you, the gardens of meanings that surround all my art
If I want anything, it’s you, my utmost desire��



�� Kill me, my trusted friend. In killing me there is my life.
My death is my life, and my life is my death.
For me: The annihilation of self for the blessings
And remaining in my traits is of the ugliest of sins.
My soul is jaded from my life in fading costs.
So kill me and burn me with my mortal bones,
Then pass by my ashes in the learned graves.
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