I AM
How shall I define what thing I am?
Wholly existent, and yet non-existent, through Him, I am.
Whatever becometh naught out of entity,
The signification of that nothingness I am.
Sometimes a mote on the disc of the sun;
At others, a ripple on the water's surface.
Now I fly about in the wind of association:
Now I am a bird in the incorporeal world.
By the name of Ice I also style myself:
Congealed in the winter season am I.
I have enveloped myself in the four elements;
I am the cloud on the face of the sky.
From unity I have come into infinity:
Indeed, nothing existent, that I am not.
My vitality is from life's source itself;
And I am the speech, every mouth within.
I am the hearing-sense with every ear;
And also the sight of every eye am I.
My will and inclination are with all;
With mine own acts, also, satisfied am I.
Unto the sinful and vicious, I am evil;
But unto the good beneficent am I.
-Mirza Khan Ansari
