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THE DARK NIGHT
One dark night,
Fired with love's urgent longings
--Ah, the sheer grace!--
I went out unseen,
My house being now all stilled;
In darkness, and secure,
By the secret lader, disguised,
--Ah, the sheer grace!--
In darkness and concealment,
My house being now all stilled;
On that glad night,
In secret, for no one saw me,
Nor did I look at anything,
With no other light or guide
Than the one that burned in my heart;
This guided me
More surely than the light of
noon
To where He waited for me
--Him I knew so well--
In a place where no one else
appeared.
O guiding night!
O night more lovely than dawn!
O night that has united
The Love with His beloved,
Transforming the beloved in her Lover.
Upon my flowering
breast
Which I kept wholly for Him alone,
There He lay sleeping,
And I caressing Him
There in a breeze from the fanning cedars
When the breeze blew from the turret
Parting
His hair
He wounded my neck
With his gentle hand,
Suspending all my senses.
I
abandoned and forgot myself,
Laying my face on my Beloved;
All things ceased; I went our
from myself,
Leaving my cares
Forgotten among the lilies.
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STANZAS CONCERNING
AN ECSTASY EXPERIENCED IN HIGH CONTEMPLATION
I entered unto unknowing,
And there I remained unknowing,
Transcending all knowledge
.
I entered unto unknowing
Yet when I saw myself there
Without knowing where I was
I understood great things;
I shall not say what I felt
For I remained in unknowing
Transcending all knowledge
That perfect knowledge
Was of peace and holiness
Held at no remove
In profound
solitude;
It was something so secret
That I was left stammering,
Transcending all
knowledge.
I was so whelmed,
So absorbed and withdrawn,
That my senses were left
Deprived of all their sensing,
And my spirit was given
And understanding while not
understanding
Transcending all knowledge.
He who truly arrives there
Cuts free
from himself;
All that e knew before
Now seems worthless,
And his knowledge so soars
That he is left in unknowing
Transcending all knowledge.
The higher he ascends
The less he understands,
Because the cloud is dark
Which lit up the night;
Whoever knows this
Remains always in unknowing
Transcending all knowledge.
This knowledge in unknowing
Is so overwhelming
That wise men disputing
Can never overthrow it,
For their knowledge does not reach
To the understanding of
not understanding.
Transcending all knowledge.
And this supreme knowledge
Is so exalted
That no power of man or learning
Can grasp it;
He who masters
himself
Will, with knowledge in unknowing,
Always be transcending.
And if you
should want to hear:
This highest knowledge lies
In the loftiest sense
Of the essence
of God;
This is a work of His mercy,
To leave one without understanding,
Transcending
all knowledge.
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