Kitāb al-Tajalliyāt

The Book of Theophanies

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A kaleidoscope of over 100 theophanic visions on a range of subjects, often involving dialogues with deceased Muslim saints such as Sahl al-Tustarī, Junayd and al-Hallāj. Written ca. 606/1210, the book is a meditation on the nature of the barzakh, the world of the afterlife.

Tajalli 58: the revelation of the ocean of Oneness

Oneness is an ocean and a shore: the shore can be communicated, the ocean cannot; the shore can be known, the ocean can only be experienced.

I stood upon the shore of this ocean, and then casting off my garment, I dived into its midst. I was tossed to and fro by its waves, preventing me from swimming, so that I remained unmoving through it, not through myself.

Then I beheld al-Junayd, and I embraced him and kissed him, whereupon he welcomed me and placed me at my ease. I asked him: “How long have you been here?”, to which he replied: “When I stood in the midst of this ocean, I forgot all me and time.”

We embraced each other, and we plunged in, dying the everlasting death, wishing for neither life nor resurrection.