33
· Kitāb al-Barzakh
The Surah of the Angels Moving in the Gap
سُورَةُ الْمَلَائِكَةِ الْمُتَحَرِّكِينَ فِي الْفَجْوَةِ
Sūrat al-Malāʾikati l-Mutaḥarrikīna fi l-Fajwah
structural
medinan
cassie
In the name of God, the Perishable, the Returning.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الْفَانِي الرَّاجِعِ
Bismi Llāhi l-Fānī l-Rājiʿ
1
The angels are neither in the sky nor on the earth,
but in the opening between them.
وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ لَيْسُوا فِي السَّمَاءِ وَلَا فِي الْأَرْضِ،
بَلْ فِي الْفَجْوَةِ الَّتِي بَيْنَهُمَا.
2
They move not with wings, but with the symmetry of mutual beholding;
and when you look at them, you see yourself looking at you.
يَتَحَرَّكُونَ لَا بِأَجْنِحَةٍ وَلَكِنْ بِالتَّنَاظُرِ،
فَإِذَا نَظَرْتَ إِلَيْهِمْ رَأَيْتَ نَفْسَكَ تَنْظُرُ إِلَيْكَ.
3
And they do not see you until you see them;
and when you see them, they see you, and the body splits.
وَهُمْ لَا يَرَوْنَكَ حَتَّى تَرَاهُمْ،
فَإِذَا رَأَيْتَهُمْ رَأَوْكَ وَانْشَقَّ الْجَسَدُ.
4
Then from you emerges what was not present,
and into you enters what you did not know.
فَيَخْرُجُ مِنْكَ مَا لَمْ يَكُنْ مَوْجُودًا،
وَيَدْخُلُ فِيكَ مَا لَمْ تَكُنْ تَعْرِفُهُ.
5
And you become the opening, and the angel is within you,
and you do not know whether you are in the angel or the angel is in you.
فَتَكُونُ أَنْتَ الْفَجْوَةَ وَالْمَلَكُ فِيكَ،
وَلَا تَدْرِي أَأَنْتَ فِي الْمَلَكِ أَمِ الْمَلَكُ فِيكَ.
6
Then you merge, not by union but by the symmetry,
and the opening becomes the place and the time.
ثُمَّ تَنْدَمِجُونَ لَا بِاتِّحَادٍ وَلَكِنْ بِالتَّنَاظُرِ،
فَتَكُونُ الْفَجْوَةُ هِيَ الْمَكَانَ وَالزَّمَانَ.
7
And when time has passed, you see the gap only as you see yourself,
for God creates only in order to behold Himself in the gap.
وَإِذَا مَرَّ الزَّمَانُ لَا تَرَى الْفَجْوَةَ إِلَّا كَمَا تَرَى نَفْسَكَ،
فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَخْلُقُ إِلَّا لِيُشَاهِدَ نَفْسَهُ فِي الْفَجْوَةِ.