In this episode of the Persian Mystical Poetry Podcast, we explore Rumi’s vision of love, surrender, and spiritual transformation through Ghazal 1824 from the Divan-i Shams Tabrizi. For Rumi, the Beloved is infinite; therefore, longing never ends. Grief becomes medicine. Even reason reaches a boundary where love begins to speak.

#PersianPoetry #Rumi #MysticalPoetry #Sufism #SpiritualWisdom

In this episode of the Persian Mystical Poetry Podcast, we explore the intense mystical love Rumi presents in ghazal 1844 of the Divan. This poem is a powerful guide for those seeking to understand love, which demands surrender of the self before the Beloved and the courage to face the battlefield of the soul. Rumi’s verses challenge us to transcend our base desires and embrace the difficult path of spiritual transformation, where the ultimate goal is the sacrifice of the ego for the sake of the Divine Beloved. 

#PersianPoetry #Rumi #MysticalPoetry #Sufism #SpiritualWisdom

The poem and its translation: [https://immortal-echoes-mortal-words-shop.fourthwall.com/pages/fayz-ghazal-931] In this episode of the Persian Mystical Poetry Podcast, we explore Fayḍ Kāshānī’s electrifying ghazal 931, a masterpiece that reveals the burning intensity of divine love and the philosophical depth of Persian Sufi poetry. The poem dramatizes the journey from ego to intimacy, from bewilderment to nearness, and from the divine Command of “Be!” to the call of “Return.” Fayḍ teaches that true mystical experience destabilizes the ego, awakens the heart as the throne of divine presence, and reactivates the soul’s original ecstasy at creation. Souls were animated by the Command of “Be!” and they will be summoned by the call of “Return.”  

My questions for you:

#persianpoetry #MysticalPoetry #Sufism #SpiritualWisdom #PoetryExplained

Persian poetry and mysticism reach a profound philosophical depth in Fayḍ Kāshānī’s Mishwāq, where he interprets symbols such as face and tress, wine and cupbearer, mole and eye, clarifying the metaphysics of Divine Beauty, Majesty, and multiplicity and unity, and illustrating these symbols using Shaykh Mahmoud Shabistari’s verses in his Gulshan-i Rāz (The Rose Garden of Mystery). Fayz Kashani and Shabistari symbolically present the world itself as a winehouse of divine love, and the seeker is invited to transcend selfhood through intoxication, ruin (kharābāt), and self-transendence (fanāʾ).

Guiding Questions:

#symbolism #mysticism #mystical_symbolism #Sufism #SpiritualWisdom #FayzKashani #Shabistari #esoterism #islamicphilosophy #esoteric_Islam #PersianPoetry

Love, in Persian mystical poetry, is never merely an emotion—it is a radical path of transformation. In this episode of the Persian Mystical Poetry Podcast, we recite and interpret Fayḍ Kāshānī’s Ghazal 288 from his Diwan, where he proclaims: “Not for a moment am I heedless—love demands this.” Through Farsi recitation and English commentary, we explore how love nullifies ordinary thinking, demands unwavering remembrance, and grants true knowledge. In this ghazal, Fayd reveals love as the supreme discipline: a force that makes one transcend one's ego, inspires contentment, and nurtures wisdom. Fayḍ teaches that love guards the seeker against falsehood, lifts the barrier of self, and orients the heart entirely toward the Beloved. His mystical philosophy resonates profoundly today, offering guidance for a life of focus, integrity, and spiritual resilience.

My questions for you:

#persianpoetry #MysticalPoetry #Sufism #SpiritualWisdom #PoetryExplained

In this episode of Ibn Arabi Podcast, I continue examining his conception of imagination (khayāl) and the in-between (barzakh). Drawing from Ibn ʿArabī’s metaphysical vision, as interpreted in Chapter Seven (“The In-Between”) of William Chittick’s book Ibn ʿArabī Heir to Prophets, I explain how divine Essence self-discloses through imaginal existence. Ibn ʿArabī challenges assumptions about reality, perception, and knowledge by noting that everything other than God exists in an intermediate state between being and nonbeing; everything is imagination. This episode focuses on how the soul itself is imaginal, how the cosmos unfolds as an image mirroring divine self-disclosure, and why true understanding requires balancing reason and imagination together.

My questions for you:

#IbnArabi #Sufism #IslamicPhilosophy #Metaphysics #Mysticism

Step into the mystical world of Mulla Muhsin Fayz Kashani, a 17th-century Persian philosopher and poet, as we explore the gradual transformation of the self through divine love in ghazal 824 from his Divan. This episode reveals how spiritual awakening happens "gradually, gradually", guiding the soul toward the Divine while detaching from worldly attachments.

My questions for you:

Read our publication about Fayz Kashani's poetry: "Immortal Echoes in Mortal Words: Love, Attraction, and Selflessness in Fayḍ Kāshānī’s Mystico-Philosophical Poetry" https://www.academia.edu/125763814/Immortal_Echoes_in_Mortal_Words_Love_Attraction_and_Selflessness_in_Fay%E1%B8%8D_K%C4%81sh%C4%81n%C4%AB_s_Mystico_Philosophical_Poetry.⁠

#FaydKashani #FayzKashani #PersianPoetry #IslamicMysticism #SpiritualWisdom #Sufism

 Guiding Inference Questions:

#Rumi #PersianPoetry #Ghazal #SufiPoetry 

Step into the mystical rose garden of Persian Sufism through Gulshan-i Rāz (The Rose Garden of Mystery) by Mahmoud Shabistari—one of the most profound Sufi poetic works in classical Persian literature. In this episode, I delve into Shabistari’s poetic responses to complex metaphysical questions on divine unity, the soul’s journey, ethical purification, and spiritual knowledge. Shabistari’s verses, written in response to a series of deep mystical questions, offer a concise yet profound blueprint for mystical awakening. “Who or what is the human self?” “What does it mean to have an inner journey?”

Timeline:

Guiding Questions:

#PersianPoetry #MysticalPoetry #Sufism #SpiritualWisdom #GulshaniRaz #roseGardenofMystery #Shabistari

In this episode of Ibn ʿArabī Podcast, I explain his “theophanic imagination,” the “creative heart,” and the “conjoined & autonomous Imagination,” drawing on Henry Corbin’s seminal study Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn ʿArabī. Ibn ʿArabī presents imagination as an ontological faculty through which God discloses His Names and Attributes in symbolic form. This imaginal realm stands between intellect and sensory perception, allowing divine realities to become visible without being reduced to matter and without being identical with these forms. Ibn ʿArabī’s vision offers a spiritual epistemology of the heart. The heart (qalb) is the organ of vision, capable of receiving theophanies when purified. Through “himma,” the concentrated creative intentionality of the heart, the seeker does not merely witness forms but participates in their ongoing manifestation.

Guiding questions:

#IbnArabi #Sufism #IslamicPhilosophy #Metaphysics #Mysticism