If It was never veiled, all would be spellbound

Then Hallaj stopped by the gate that leads into the Attab Mosque, and began to speak — words some part of which we understood, but part was obscure. Surely, he said in the clearer part, if He create creature of His, it must be in pure goodwill towards it. And if He blazes upon it sometimes, and sometimes hides Himself from it behind a Veil, it is still always that the creature may go onward. If that Light never came, men would deny the very existence of God. If It was never veiled, all would be spellbound. That is why he will let neither state last forever. For me in this moment there is no Veil, not so much as a wink, between me and Him — a time for quiet, that my humanity die into His Deity while my body burns in the fire of His Power; that there be an end to trace and relic, face and word.

– from “Akhbar al-Hallaj”

Hallaj (c. 858–922) was a Persian mystic, revolutionary writer, and teacher of Sufism, Islamic mysticism, who was most famous for his poetry. He was also made famous by being accused of heresy and executed after a long investigation into his writings and actions. In particular, he was accused of blasphemy for declaring that “I am the truth,” a claim he makes based on Koran verse 50:16: “And We have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him, and We are closer to him than [his] jugular vein.”