By: Abbas Ali
“Among the wonders of the universe, the greatest surprise is the human Eye. It is like a camera, and the Perfect Divinity has demonstrated the utmost skill in His creation. By being the ornament of human visage, it acquires the status of being the symbol of distinction.
Eyes are our source of connectivity with the universe. The Entity that has given the human Eye to see, the same Entity, has created a beautiful universe and colorful panoramic scenery. Among those scenes, He has demonstrated the power of showing His miracles.
The Artist Himself is visible in the scenes of the art. Had there been no Eyes, all light was unnecessary and had no importance. If observation, on the one hand, is the perfection of manifestation of the observed, simultaneously, it is the unmatchable beauty of the way of perception of the observer.
The taste of creation demonstrated by nature while decorating the colorless earth with an open Eye can only provide its appreciation. Only the eyed person can enjoy the raptures of your bloom, and a blind Eye is nothing but a blind eye.
An eye can see crores of stars simultaneously, bringing the sky onto the earth, the distant scenes closer, and it sees whatnot. It observes everything but its Self. To see itself, it needs a mirror… it needs someone else. The vastness of the earth and the sky is evident before it except its entity…. The journey of its Self is impossible without the help of someone else…. this resource is the essential source of self-observance. In the absence of self-knowledge, acquiring knowledge of God is impossible. The mirror shows the eyes the way to delve into their inner Self. If the mirror is not available, the Eye considers itself as the world knowing and suffers from the curse of pride.
The Eye shows a man a tremendous miracle. When the Eye is engrossed in observing the spectacles, it’s fun is worth observance. Dedicated and surprised, the Eye turns bewildered in the palace of the beauty. The Eye is lost in the splendor and the motionless existence, unaware of himself, needless of his surroundings, gets freedom from the rotation of time and space. There is the season of burning Chinars in the valley of eyes during the waiting period. And during the season of separation, ambers sprout in the garden of eyes. And the heart yearns to convert into blood and desires to flow with the stream of tears.
The eyes desire to perceive the distant scenes closely; during the separation of a spectacle, a new phenomenon takes birth, and a priceless treasure is discovered. The world of pain, the world of passion, and the world of longing is bestowed upon the man…. The eyes provide the consciousness of peeping into the vails and masquerades, and a weeping eye is the most significant source of nearness to the ultimate Truth. The eyes let us recognize each other, and if eyes recognize the eyes, it would mean we have recognized each other. Eyes wonder that they are familiar with each other before the first meeting. That is the reason that we cry out, “Yes! this is the spectacle we were searching for….”
The eyes guide a man in another style, and it is the most extraordinary guidance….upon seeing the spectacle, the Eyes, with the help of a certain sense telecast it to the other parts of the body, then evolves a particular style in human life. The observed spectacle is sent to Heart, the mind, the Self, the soul, and the power of imagination….. with this performance of Eyes begins the exciting pilgrimage of the mysticism of essence.
If the spectacle is referred to the mind, the man sets out on the journey of surprise….. he gets introduced to the nature of the things….. he observes the process of existence and non-existence. He keeps on traveling and watching….in the time’s temple of punishment, the result of the wish- worshipers….. he observes the consequences of those false people who used to spend life with the pride, the conceit, and the boastfulness. What happened to those who hurt hearts? Who walked with arrogance? In which condition are they lying under the earth? Who did not pay heed to the voice of the righteousness, what shame have they got written for themselves! Where have Dara and the Shikwah gone? Where have those gone who were here till yesterday? The eyes introduce us to an enormous tragedy, and they unveil a massive accident. This is the world; nobody can stay here, and the flowing time takes everything with its flow; many a caravan got lost in this desert. Many a palace was razed to the ground, and many habitations were turned into desolation. Many a garden dried out and many a region was destroyed….. the eyes keep on showing a spectacle after spectacle. The man shouts out only the entity of His Majesty remains ……. Everything is destroyable, everything is a traveler, and everything is a wanderer. The biggest favor of the eyes is that it provides food for the sensitive and contemplative people…… spectacle within the spectacle… mirror within the mirror….and the river within the river… the proper selection of the phenomena is the real education. This is the favor of the eyes.
And if the eyes deem it appropriate, they refer the spectacle to the heart and then only the phenomena of flower and the song, color and light, beauty and the charm, the night of longing, night of reunion and the night of separation and the man…… Silent, the beating heart, suddenly is introduced to new heartbeats…. Wonders of affectation come into being in front of the man, and longing for the beloved’s appearance and yearning for the spectacle makes the man restless. The man makes only one face as the purpose of his life; everything else is futile…… the incoming person receives feast after feast time and again, and the outgoing experiences the wrath of nature. The existence of the beloved becomes the holy existence ……. This universe takes a new dimension for the people of heart…… there are attractions; there is enjoyment……upon the meeting of eyes, the color of the sky and the earth changes……. Weather changes, sentiments undergo metamorphosis; relationships change, priorities are reshuffled…… even the venue and the space change.
No sooner than the eyes showed the spectacle, the world, nay, both the worlds underwent metamorphosis……. springs sprang out from the hearts of stones. We get introduced to the sensitivities of the sentiments. Numbness and stagnation come to an end……. for upcoming times, beautiful memories are edited. The Eyes do not speak, only see; however, all the speeches get sacrificed on the observance of the eyes.
The time of innovation of idea and novelty of statement sets in. Man dies for man……. The desire for the proximity of beauty is love.……. ultimately, the eyes make us love-cognizant. …… and life comes out of prose and turns into a poem……. the eyes are the real benefactors.
At the time, the eyes refer to the subtleness of the spectacle towards the soul. …… this is on requisite to awaken the man from the slumber of ignorance……the eyes are the Muezzin of the soul……… wake up O the sleeping one! The spectacle of the Truth is waiting for you…. of the seeker of the appearance of the beloved……. Remember the time of “Alast bi Rabikum” Am I not your Lord??? Remember that day you had told “Bala”…. Have you forgotten……this is the talk of the yesterday….? blessings were showered upon you. The gifts were bestowed upon you, the rains of the benefit were showered upon you, He had made His spectacle easy onto you…. had bestowed upon you the Love of His beloved……. Behold!…… those who have shrines are alive……those who remembered the Lord have organized fairs in the graveyards, and the ignorant people have turned their lives into the graveyards……. what are you people doing……this is the favor of the eyes that they awaken the negligent. They show such a spectacle that the man travels from a one-time span to some other period. The distances of the time shrink, and the soul are engrossed in the worship. Thousands of prostrations in the forehead of love are longing to be placed at the altar of His Majesty. And the man reaches a destination where his self-knowledge turns becomes a journey of God-knowing. This is the actual achievement of existence……. this is when purity and holiness demonstrate their spectacles. Signs and signs; parts and divisions are scattered all around. This favor of the eyes is the biggest….
Sometimes, the eyes get angry with the man …. And then take him towards the wretched spectacles. He starts wandering …… he becomes fascinated with the nudity of the bodies. The eyes search and bring before the man such phenomena which ruin him completely……the searcher of wretched spectacles becomes part and parcel of such awful spectacles. He reaches a conclusion destined for such wonders. The process of provocation of the Self starts from the eyes……. And then the man turns into a beast sets out in search of his prey…. the search for the sin itself is the sin…this act of the eyes at times destroys the nations…. God forbid, may God never do such treatment to us; if our country is punished for the non-performance of any duty, VCR (Videocassette Recorder) can also be a reason. When the sin of spectacles ends, the sins of existence will come to an end. Such falsely knowledgeable eyes can be cured if they get the antimony, known as the dust of Madina and Najaf.
The eyes sometimes show the past also…. whatever has happened starts happening again. Whatever has passed starts passing again……the tragedy upon which we have wept; we wish to cry over it again. This is the wonder of the eyes: it shows a specific spectacle at a particular time, and then we remember the old songs. Old anthems, yes national anthems come to our memory……. But what could be done???
All the efforts of the eyes are silenced……. The epoch of passion is no more…. people get lost in the world of interest and profit……. Who comes into the desert of pain……….and the period of love, too, has given just a memory?? A tower…. Has it to make us ashamed??? Why should we be ashamed??? Let us close our eyes……. but….
Only the bell’s sound remained in the ears
And the dust of the caravan in the eyes.”
Wasif Ali Wasif (Haraf Haraf Hakeeqat pp.77-82)
Abbas42@rediffmail.com
