The One Light Poem by Mystic Qalandar

Once, when the day's noise loosened its grip
and my mind lay open as a dark sea,
I was given a seeing beyond seeing.

Before stars were counted,
before worlds received their names,
there was only this—
neither near nor far:
the silent fullness of the One.

From that unbounded depth,
garments of number and form rose like dawn—
galaxies turning in bright sleep,
minds waking to themselves,
the countless faces of humankind.

Each thing wore the mask of separation:
wave apart from sea,
spark apart from fire—
yet in every boundary burned
the same hidden flame.

I saw the heavens borrow their radiance,
the earth its endurance.
Time traced its fleeting scripts
on the surface of eternity,
never touching the source.

O Light beyond all lights—
held by neither sun nor star—
you shone through every appearance
and remained untouched by it,
nearer than breath, farther than thought.

O Light upon light—
the wise seek you in silence.
The lover finds you in beauty.
The seeker follows your reflection
through the world's many mirrors—
but no image can hold you.

You are the root of being,
the witness of every becoming,
the still center around which
all universes unfold and return.

When the veils of difference faded,
when name and form surrendered their claim,
I knew the many in the One
and the One in the many—
eternal Light,
guardian of all greatness,
essence of Heaven and Earth.

Then the vision lifted
like mist from a river at dawn.
I returned to my small room, my ordinary breath.
Yet the flame remained—
not behind my eyes, but behind every face,
every stone, every passing bird.

I write this not as a truth I own,
but as a light I once borrowed.

—MyKoul