Allah’s (s.w.t.) Secrets

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

Richard Le Gallienne, born Richard Thomas Gallien, was the younger lover of Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde.  He was also the first the translate selected quatrains of Shaykh Abu al-Fath Ghiyats ad-Din ‘Umar ibn Ibrahim al-Khayyami an-Nishaburi (q.s.) into English, and popularised him in the West.  His translation, which is surprisingly good for someone who had no real training, was published as “Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam”.  It inspired the translation of a great many works into English, including that of Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi (q.s.) and Shaykh Farid ad-Din ‘Aththar Abu Hamid ibn Abu Bakr Ibrahim (q.s.). 

Shaykh ‘Umar al-Khayyam (q.s.) wrote, in his Ruba’iyyat: 

“Allah, perchance, the Secret Word might spell;

If Allah be, He Keeps His Secret well;

What He hath Hidden, who shall hope to find?

Shall God His secret to a maggot Tell? 

The Qur’an!  Well, come put me to the test —

Lovely old book in hideous error drest —

Believe me, I can quote the Qur’an too,

The unbeliever knows his Qur’an best. 

And do you think that unto such as you,

A maggot-minded, starved, fanatic crew,

God Gave the secret, and Denied it me? —

Well, well, what matters it! Believe that too.”