QUESTION 5

WHAT am I? Tell me what "I" means.
What is the meaning of "travel into yourself"?

Answer

EGO is the amulet for the protection of the universe.
The first ray of its essence is Life.
Life awakens from its sweet dream,
Its inside, which is one, becomes many.
Neither it develops without our expansion, 5
Nor do we expand without its development.
Its inner core is a shoreless sea,
The heart of every drop is a tumultuous wave.
It has no inclination to rest,
Its manifestation is nothing but individuals.1 10
Life is fire and egos are like its flames;
Like stars they are (both) stationary and moving.
Without going outside, it looks towards others;
Though in company, is yet in privacy.
Just see its self- meditation, 15
It develops out of the trodden earth.
Hidden from the eyes, it is in tumult,
It is constantly in search of adornment.
It is in perpetual activity through its internal ardour,
As if it is at war with itself. 20
The world gets order through this strife of the ego!
A handful of dust becomes translucent through strife.
From its ray, nothing comes into being save egos,
From its sea, nothing appears save pearls.
The earthly garb is a veil for Khudi, 25
Its appearance is like the rising of the sun.
In the innermost heart of ours is its sun,
Our dust is illumined through. its potency.
You ask to be informed about "I," and
What is meant by "travel into yourself." 30
I informed you about the relation of body and so
Travel into yourself and see what "I" is.
To travel into self?-It is to be born without father and mother,2
To catch Pleiads from the edge of the roof;
To hold eternity with a single stroke of anguish, 35
To see without the rays of the sun;
To obliterate every sign of hope and fear,
To sunder the river like Moses,3
To break this spell of sea and land,
To split the moon with a finger.4 40
So to return from this experience of the spaceless world,
That it is within his heart, and the world in his hand.5
But it is difficult to unravel this secret:
Here "seeing" is valuable and "describing" worthless.
What can I say about "I" and its brilliance? 45
It is manifest from the Qur'anic text, "We proposed."6
The heavens are in terror of its glory,
Time and space are in its grip.
It sought refuge in the heart of man,
And has fallen to the lot of this handful of dust. 50
It is distinct from the other and yet related to it,7
Is lost within itself and yet conjoined with the other.
What kind of aspiration this handful of dust has
That its flight is. beyond the limitations of time and space.
It is in prison8 and yet free! What is this? 55
It is the lasso, the prey, and the hunter! What is this
There is a lamp within your heart;
What is this light which is in your mirror?
Don't be negligent, you are its trustee,
What folly that you do not look within your self! 60

[Explanatory Note] [See Notes]