Amina Shah, The Faithful Gazelle

Amina Shah reads a tale from Arabia found in her book, Tales From The Bazaars.

see: http://www.octagonpress.com/titles/books/taba.htm

"And among the wondrous things is a veiled gazelle:
A Divine Subtlety, veiled by a state of the Self,
Referring to the States of those who know. Unable
to explain their perceptions to others, they can only
indicate them to whoever has started to feel something
similar..."

Muhiyuddin Ibn Arabi -- The Interpreter of Desires

"The veiled gazelles or shrouded deer (Dhabiyun mubarqa'un) referred to by Ibn Arabi are the perceptions and experiences indicated by those who have them to those who have some inkling of them. 'Veiling' in Sufi parlance indicates the action of the subjective or 'commanding' self, which partly through indoctrination and partly through base aspirations prevents higher vision.

"Sufi poetry, literature, tales and activities are the instruments which, when employed with insight and prescription rather than automatically or excessively, help in the relationship between Sufi and pupil, towards the removal of the veils."

-- Idries Shah, Introduction to A Veiled Gazelle, 1977

see http://www.octagonpress.com/titles/LI/vegapage03.htm

"A 'Veiled Gazelle', as the great mystic Ibn Arabi explains in his Interpreter of Desires, is a subtlety, an organ of higher perception. Sufi experientialists refer to the activation of these centres of awareness as the awakening of real knowledge of Truth beyond form. A Veiled Gazelle considers the symbolic and instrumental employment of its literature in Sufi studies. Seldom didactic, and never meant only as entertainment, such works are regarded as some of the world's greatest and most important writing."

http://www.octagonpress.com/titles/books/vega.htm

Category:

Education

Tags:

• amina
• shah
• idries
• sufi
• tales
• teaching
• stories
• ishk
• arabia