[Sunlight] No Opposite, Without its Own Opposite

~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Forgiving God desired and decided in
eternity to reveal and manifest Himself.
But no opposite can be displayed without its
own opposite, and that peerless King had no opposite.
So He made a vicegerent*, a Possessor of the
Heart, to be the mirror of His Kingship.
Then He gave him limitless purity, and
produced his opposite from darkness.
He made two banners, white and black: The
one was Adam, the other the satan of His way.
Then the strife and war that came to pass
between these two great camps came to pass.
In a similar manner, Abel came in the second
period: Opposed to his pure light was Cain. . . .
Period after period, generation after
generation, the two parties have continued to war.

-- Mathnawi VI: 2151-57, 62
Translation by William C. Chittick
"The Sufi Path of Love"
SUNY Press, Albany, 1983

* Sunlight note: "vicegerent" - A gerent is one who rules or
manages. (Latin, gerent-, gerens, present participle of gerere to
bear, carry on.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~










------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[Sunlight] No Opposite, Without its Own Opposite