Frithjof Schuon Archive

Guardian angels are said to be good spiritsWho watch over us. Why do they notHelp us in every case? Firstly, because GodWishes to try us; otherwise we would never learn the Good.And then: stubbornness angers the spirit;And so it too will close its door on us.

Benares: where Hindus wish to die,Because Ganga’s water takes away all sin.Therefore Shankara sings: I am Benares —For his soul floats upon the waters;His soul, free from burden, reposes in the True —In Âtmâ’s all-purifying flood.

The Presence of God in the form of womanIs Laila — the Shaikh Al-‘Alâwî could see her,And speaks of her in a love-song;His heart could understand the light of her beauty.Woman, like music, is a Heavenly sign —Made to transmit a word from God.

To be man is to dream; to be wise is to wake —The wise man is a dreamer who awakes;Who vanquishes his dream, who, with the graceOf the Most High, shines in the night of existence —And who, with a ray of Eternity,Turns darkness into day.