My
blindness will cost you more
than
the sight of the other guides,
said
the eyeless man to Ibn Battuta, me.
I
started this journey as a pilgrimage,
the
Hajj that ensures the soul the bliss of Paradise.
But
Paradise is here, on the earth,
I
learnt as I travelled through Dar al-Islam.
Mountains
and valleys, rivers and deserts,
The
birds that fly and the snakes that crawl,
The
infinite variety of hypnotic women
Whose
men are grappling with fate
In
the torrid ruggedness of their life.
Sight
is a curse, said my blind guide,
in
the desert where a wind can shift a mountain.
The
sand dune you see now is a valley after a storm.
Trust
not your eyes in the land of illusions.
Trust
not your ears in the land whose air
echoes
the songs of spirits and calls of phantoms.
Trust
not your senses in the land of
Ostriches
that bury their sight in sand.
Trust
me,
I’m
the blind man of the desert
whose
heart beats with insights;
Such insightful pearls of wisdom, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Arti.
DeleteSuch thought provoking words.
ReplyDeleteGlad to have you here, Nisha.
DeleteVery true, Matheikal. A blind man sees more than his senses......Uncertainty is the potential ground for all certainties.
ReplyDeleteOur generation is getting more and more addicted to the senses, Ravish. Some blindness may be in good order :)
DeleteWhat I have seen till now is enough to make me believe in ALL which I have not seen - Am constantly trying NOT to be blinded by sight .
ReplyDeleteGreat, Kokila. That's just what I've been trying to say in the poem.
DeleteThe guide was blinded in one eye and diseased in another yet a man of intelligence and great knowledge. You have depicted it so beautifully. Simply amazing.
ReplyDeleteThe desert becomes a metaphor, Shweta, for our own 'worlds.' The vastness of the desert is puzzling enough to depress. Insights alone will help in the end.
DeleteInsightful....beautiful take
ReplyDeleteThanks, Chaitali.
DeleteMade me remember "On His Blindness" by John Milton. Ibn Batuta The traveler and a poetry coming out of history, nothing short of a master piece.
ReplyDeleteImagine Beethoven, the deaf man, composing musical masterpieces, Datta, let alone Milton. There's a kind of knowledge that can come only from within.
Delete’m the blind man of the desert
ReplyDeletewhose heart beats with insights;
I’m the blind man who sees more than the senses do.- beautiful lines
Glad to see you here, Vidyashree.
DeleteSights do blind us sometimes.... a profound piece Sir, especially love the second part... :-)
ReplyDeleteColin Wilson, in one of his books, wrote about the modern man rushing through the world in his car seeing only what the headlight reveals. A very limited perception of the world. Ibn Battuta's guide could lead him at night too. In fact, the nights turned out to be better in certain areas where the days were too hot.
DeleteIbn Batuta the mystique traveller
ReplyDeletenothing much to say Tomichan... I'm deeply touched!
ReplyDelete