e Hijra, this earlier
mysticism developed into Sufiism. Then Al-Hallaj taught in Baghdad thus: "I
am the Truth. There is nought in Paradise but God. I am He whom I love, and
He whom I love is I; we are two souls dwelling in one body. When thou seest
me, thou seest Him; and when thou seest Him thou seest me." This roused the
opposition of the orthodox divines by whom Al-Hallaj was condemned to be
worthy of death. He was then by order of the Khalif flogged, tortured and
finally beheaded. Thus died one of the early martyrs of Sufiism, but it
grew in spite of bitter persecution.

In order to understand the esoteric teaching of Sufiistic poetry, it is
necessary to remember that the perceptive sense is the traveller, the
knowledge of God the goal, the doctrines of this ascent, or upward progress
is the Tarikat, or the road. The extinction of self is necessary before any
progress can be made on that road. A Sufi poet writes:--

"Plant one foot upon the neck of self,
The other in thy Friend's domain;
In everything His presence see,
For other vision is in vain."

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Sa'di in the Bustan says: "Art thou a friend of God? Speak not of self, for
to speak of God and of self is infidelity." Shaikh Abu'l-Faiz, a great poet
and a friend of the Emperor Akbar, from whom he received the honourable
title of Malik-ush-Shu'ara--Master of the Poets, says: "Those who have not
closed the door on existence and non-existence reap no advantage from the
calm of this world and of the world to come." Khusrau, another well-known
poet says:--

"I have become Thou: Thou art become I,
I am the body, Thou the soul;
Let no one henceforth say
That I am distinct from Thee, and Thou from me."

The fact is, that Persian poetry is almost entirely Sufiistic. It is
difficult for the uninitiated to arrive at the esoteric meaning of these
writings. Kitman, or the art of hiding from the profane religious beliefs,
often contrary to the revealed law, has always been a special quality of
the East. Pantheistic doctrines are largely inculcated.[81] Thus:--

"I was, ere a name had been named upon earth;
Ere one trace yet existed of aught that has birth;
When the locks of the Loved One streamed forth for a sign,
And Being was none, save the Presence Divine!
Named and name were alike emanations from Me,
Ere aught that was 'I' existed, or 'We.'"

The poet then describes his fruitless search for rest and peace in
Christianity, Hinduism,