Something to mull over

Burning stakes blossom from the footsteps of the christ redeemers;
the Quran fashions daggers carried by true believers;
the atheist has faith in what his eyes disclose,
the Sufi, in what he sees when both his eyes are closed.
It is a Buddhist doctrine that all doctrines must fail;
the Hebrew knows nothing, in exquisite detail;
the Brahmin fears risks that in his next life he runs;
the hedonist trembles, for his life comes only once
and briefly.
In the great insane asylum
of this revolving earth chaos creates the rules.
There are believing and unbelieving fools.

Al-Ma'arri (973-1057 AD)

Ok, so prehaps i should add a little to why i think that this is such a brilliant bit of poetry.

Firstly, it was written a thousand years ago, in an islamic country, by a man of supposedly islamic faith. If he'd have written and published that today, in an Islamic country, he'd have been jailed for heresey. If he'd have written it in christian Eorupe at the time, he'd have been jailed and probably killed for heresey. It's both slightly funny, and very telling of human nature, how the tides have turned.

basicly it's saying (from my point of view a thousand years on) That we know nothing, even if you think you have some of the answers via faith. We are but fools.

It's a poigant today, as it was 1000 years ago.



[edit on 2/6/2009 by Acidtastic]

reply to post by Acidtastic

Burning stakes blossom from the footsteps of the christ redeemers;

Torture and fear of torture, this is consistent with global conquest.
Jesus had the unpardonable sin of denying the truth of Christ when the Holy Spirit tells you it is.
The expansionist monopolizing pseudo-ecclesiastical corporation puts itself higher than God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit by punishing, themselves, people who do not follow their teachings. And when I say their, I mean they made them up, they are not the teachings of Jesus. Those were locked up and replaced by a strange philosophy.


[edit on 2-6-2009 by jmdewey60]

Originally posted by jmdewey60
reply to post by Acidtastic

 

Burning stakes blossom from the footsteps of the christ redeemers;

Torture and fear of torture, this is consistent with global conquest.
Jesus had the unpardonable sin of denying the truth of Christ when the Holy Spirit tells you it is.
The expansionist monopolizing pseudo-ecclesiastical corporation puts itself higher than God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit by punishing, themselves, people who do not follow their teachings. And when I say their, I mean they made them up, they are not the teachings of Jesus. Those were locked up and replaced by a strange philosophy.


[edit on 2-6-2009 by jmdewey60]

Couldn't agree more. And I think the poet who I quoted above agreed with your view to, in this peice.

If criminals are fated,
It's wrong to punish crime.
When God earth's ores created,
He knew that on a time
They would become the sources
For sword blades dripping blood
To flash across the manes of horses
Iron-curbed, iron-shod.

The rest of his work (or what has survived a thousand years) can be found here
www.humanistictexts.org...

It's really insightfull. Alot of what he wrote then, still rings so true today. He was a man of God, but not a man of religion. A true free thinker of his time.