Hazrat Shaikh Abu Ismaïl Abdullah al-Herawi al-Ansari or Khajah Abdullah Ansari of Herat (1006–1088) (Persian: خواجه عبدالله انصاری) also known as Pir-i Herat (پیر هرات) (sage of Herat) was a famous Persian Sufi who lived in the 11th century in Herat (then Khorasan, now Herat province, Afghanistan). One of the outstanding figures in Khorasan in the 5th/11th century: commentator of the Qu’ran, traditionist, polemicist, and spiritual master, known for his oratory and poetic talents in Arabic and Persian.
– from wikipedia.
Excerpt:
If thou canst walk on water
Thou art no better than a straw.
If thou canst fly in air
Thou art no better than a fly.
Conquer thy heart
That thou mayest become somebody.
One man spends seventy years in learning
And fails to kindle the light.
Another, all his life learns nothing
But hears one word
And is consumed by that word.
On this path argument is of no avail ;
Seek, and thou mayest find the truth.
Helpless in childhood.
Intoxicated in youth,
And decrepit in old age;
Then, O helpless one, when couldst thou
Worship God?
