Moulana Shah Maghsoud The verbal unity The verbal unity comes from the words by Moulana Shah

h Maghsoud from Diwan-e-Ghazal (in Farsi), by Moulana Shah Maghsoud / Translated by Seyedeh Nahid Angha Some days days its the really short poems that speak to me, like this two-line sh er. Yes, you can say so much more, surround it with more words, with evocative i mages, paint a rich tapestry. But then again, why? Sometimes its the shortest str ing of words that act as a thunderclap to silence the busy mind. These two lines, for example Through words we gain verbal unity, mental connections, the joining of concepts, b uilding the structures of informational knowledge. While hugely important, that is only one form of knowledge and, ultimately, a limited form a knowledge. Real knowledge, deep knowledge, the knowledge of Reality as a whole is not a con struction of words and concepts. No matter how it strains the mind of cognition cannot grasp such knowledge, and so it is a secret. And the secret is this: We dont claim that knowledge, we enter into it. We participate in it. This knowledge do es not reveal itself through domination but through yielding. It is read only by the open heart. Moulana Shah Maghsoud Iran/Persia (1914 1980) Timeline Muslim / Sufi

Hazrat Moulana Shah Maghsoud Sadegh Angha was a scientist, a philosopher, a poet , and one of the acclaimed Sufi masters of the 20th century. He was born in Tehran, Iran in 1916. His father was Mazrat Mir Ghotbeddin Mohamm ad, also a greatly respected Sufi and scholar. Maghsouds first book of poetry was published when he was only fourteen years old. He studied spirituality under the guidance of his father, while his academic pur suits led him to study at the University of Tehran. He wrote: I graduated from school and emerged with the customary body of education, but tha t education did not make me knowledgeable. Even then, I understood that words co uld not transfer the essence of their meanings from one individual to another, a nd that the human storage of memory was not a library of knowledge, even though I had learned many sayings, ideas, and beliefs of great people of all times, tho se were not my knowledge, but only quotations, narration. Even recognizing the limitations of external education, he showed himself to be a talented student and, later, teacher. He often quoted the Koran verse that says, Do not follow whatever you have no kno wledge of, suggesting that merely following a tradition or ritual is pointless if you havent discovered its inner meaning. In the 1960s and 70s, he oversaw the construction of Sufi Abaad, a complex of bu ildings that included a museum, library, and observatory. The materials used to create these buildings tiles, mirrors, hand-carved doors and windows were all cr eated by Iranian artists and artisans. Moulana Shah Maghsouds writings ranged from poetry and treatises on Islam to phil osophy, science, and medicine. His daughter, Dr. Seyedeh Nahid Angha, has been o ne of his primary translators. More poetry by Moulana Shah Maghsoud