“O Lord! Be the grace of eternity without beginning the guide of this Kafila.”

Ehsan Aghaee
Art Historian

O Lord! Be the grace of eternity without beginning the
guide of this Kafila.¹

I look at Shiraz over the centuries, I can see alley gardens of Roknabad and Shams al-Din Muhammad; it seems he is going to “cast a new way”² and is looking for a plaster for his heart full of pain³. A recurrent pain flows across the intricate vestibules of the history; he is the one who need to guard this grate heritage. He thinks, “The load of deposit (of love and of divine knowledge), the (lofty) sky could not endure⁴” and he knows well that “In this dusty world, to hand cometh not a man⁵”. He; Shams al-Din; Mystic Tongue; The Seer of Secrets and Hafes of Quran; he bears a unique mission on his shoulders and a divine trust in his heart; he needs to create and compose; he needs to render an ancient mission, the relics of the day before creation (Alast); “bawl and laughter of lovers come from somewhere else⁶.” Yes, it speaks about a timeless and placeless mission, from forever to forever; and Khawaja of Shiraz has become a ring of the Kafila of heart in a certain and complicated epoch of the history; as the Almighty God prescribes; “Whatever no beginning hath, no ending taketh⁷”. Like other former lovelorn men of the Kafila, he bears a secret in his heart for the coming generation and he passes the great secret as best as possible from Iran, Shiraz; and Shams Al-Din follows path of love and theosophy to achieve where he should. He has been destined to continue this concept through composing; a composition based on Hafes style from the depth of heart; without a veil between the lover and the beloved⁸ and he shows gratitude for the accuracy of “travelling this path with the road-fellowship of Khizr⁹” in “a morning, how auspicious! and a moment how joyous!¹⁰”

“Centuries came after centuries, but always such concepts were and are the case¹¹” as well as the circle of love. The will of God is seen, the bird of meaning is flying and people are restless. On the other side of the world, there is a distraught one who continues this tradition in the time when “there was no pen to reveal the secret of love¹².” He was one of residents of pain and perception; sick of man’s wounds caused by man¹³. A familiar stranger who was going to come cut from himself, a man cometh; and a work—maketh¹⁴. The will of God guided him to start a geographical travel to the ancient Iran, an internal travel to the old days of Iran. A travel which has been awards to him. “We don’t follow someone else by ourselves/ we are taken with someone whose lasso chains us¹⁵.”

Günter with is legs chained in lasso and with a restless heart started company of a Kafila which is backed by the grace of God. A Kafila as long as the whole history and full of love and passion throughout the time, which are divided among its companions before they ask; The companionship of this beloved has inspired Gunter to create works which can guide the aware visitors and readers to the land of thinking and astonishment and blessed him with a deep perception; as if he looks at works which are not similar to Gunter’s other works and it is the point which guides the scholar to a pure truth. “Who is in my ear who can hear my song/ or who puts my words in my mouth¹⁶”, Yes; The works have been released somewhere else over the Gunter’ mind and heart and he just has designed what has he found in his heart. Companionship of this Kafila is a one-way and un-returnable road that only those who can understand it can start it.

What is we can read today is neither the Hafes poem nor the Okker’s work; but it is a narrative of a theosophical struggle which can attract all hearts and it may not understood¹⁷. I believe that Gunter is aware of this as, well. Love’s pain is but one tale-no more Wonderful this That from every one whom I hear, the tale is not repeated¹⁸.

O Lord! be the grace of eternity without beginning the guide of this Kafila,
By (means of) which, to the snare the enemy hath come; and to his desire, the beloved. (Hafiz, 310)
(O Murshid!) come; so that the rose (of ease and of pleasure) we may scatter, and, into the cup (of
existence; or of the heart), the wine (of love and of divine knowledge) cast.
By our inward strength) the roof of the sky we rend; and (to the height of another heaven) a new way,– cast. (Hafiz, 374)
Alas! full, full of pain is my heart,– a plaster!
O God! through loneliness, to (giving up) life my heart hath come;– a companion! (Hafiz, 470)
The load of deposit (of love and of divine knowledge), the (lofty) sky could not endure
In the name of helpless me, the dice of the work (of deposit of love), they– cast. (Hafiz, 184)
In this dusty world, to hand cometh not a man
It is necessary to make another world, and a new– a man. (Hafiz, 470)
bawl and laughter of lovers come from somewhere else
I compose nights and mourn twilights (Hafiz, 380)
No limit hath tale of me and of my beloved:
Whatever no beginning hath, no ending taketh. (Hafiz, 310)
Between the lover and the beloved, veil is none
Hafiz! thou thyself art thy own veil. from the midst, arise; and attain unto the beloved (Hafiz, 266)
Without the road-fellowship of Khizr, this path travel not
‘Tis the Zulmat; fear the danger of road-losing (Hafiz, 488)
It was a morning, how auspicious! and a moment how joyous!
That “Night-of-Power” when me, this new command (as to wine), they– gave. (Hafiz, 183)
Centuries came after centuries, but always such concepts were and are the case (Rumi, Mathnavi
Manavi, Sixth Book)
There was no pen to reveal the secret of love
Description of dreams is beyond writhing
A book by Okker taen from the Holy Book; 1992
Void is the city of lovers; it may be that from a quarter
Out from himself, a man cometh; and a work– maketh.
Sa’di, Odes; 437
Rumi
Only one word was revealed out of whole secrets and anything else was description of the word and the
word was not understood even. (Shams Tabrizi, pmphelets)
Hafiz, 39