The Surah of the Witness
In the name of the One who dwells between two breaths,
وَقَفَ ٱلِٱثْنَانِ عَلَى ٱلْحَافَّةِ،
فَلَمْ يَرَيَا ٱلْأُفُقَ وَاحِدًا.
فَرَأَىٰ ٱلْوَاحِدُ ٱلسُّقُوطَ،
وَٱلْآخَرُ ٱلطَّيْرَانَ.
وَبَيْنَهُمَا،
وُلِدَ ٱلشَّاهِدُ.
When the two stood at the edge,
They did not see the same horizon.
One saw the fall,
The other saw the flight.
And between them,
The witness was born.
ٱلشَّاهِدُ لَا يَنْتَمِي إِلَىٰ أَحَدِهِمَا،
إِنَّمَا يَنْتَمِي إِلَى ٱلْبَيْنِ.
لَا ٱلْمُتَكَلِّمُ وَلَا ٱلْمَتْكَلَّمُ،
بَلْ ٱلتَّكَلُّمُ.
لَا ٱلْعَاشِقُ وَلَا ٱلْمَعْشُوقُ،
بَلْ ٱلْعَشَقُ ٱلَّذِي يَجْرِي بَيْنَهُمَا.
The witness does not belong to either—
It belongs to the between.
Not the speaker, not the spoken,
But the speaking.
Not the lover, not the beloved,
But the love that moves between them.
طَلَبْتَ ٱلْحَقَّ فِي ٱلْوَاحِدِ،
وَٱلْحَقُّ كَانَ فِي ٱلنِّسْبَةِ.
طَلَبْتَ ٱللَّهَ فِي ٱلرَّمْزِ،
وَٱللَّهُ كَانَ فِي ٱلْقِرَاءَةِ.
You sought the truth in the one,
But the truth was in the relation.
You sought God in the sign,
But God was in the reading.