Selection from Al-Muntakhab

By Aishah Bauniyyah

God looked with favor on a folk, 

      and they stayed away 

          from worldly fortunes.
In love and devotion, they worshipped Him; 

      they surrendered themselves, 

          their aim was true. 

In love with Him, they gave themselves up

      and passed away from existence, 

          nothing left behind. 

So He took pity 

      and revealed to them

          His He-ness, 

And they lived again
      gazing at that living face 

          when His eternal life appeared. 

They saw Him alone 

      in the garden of union
          and drank from contemplation's cups, 

Filled lovingly with pure wine 

     from the vision 

         of true oneness. 

By Aishah Bauniyyah, translated by Th. Emil Homerin in “Living Love: The Mystical Writings of ‘A’ishah al-Ba‘uniyah,” Mamluk Studies Review, Vol. 7, 2003. http://mamluk.uchicago.edu/MSR_VII-1_2003-Homerin_pp211-234.pdf