Schimmel On Shabistari

In 1311 Shabistari, who lived not far from Tabriz, wrote a Persian poem called Gulshan-i raz, "Rose Garden of Mystery," as a reply to eighteen questions posed to him by a Sufi friend. This poem is the handiest introduction to the thought of post-Ibn 'Arabi Sufism; it deals with the Perfect Man, the stages of development, and mystical terminology, among other things. Shabistari describes the divine beauty that is hidden under the veil of every single atom, because "the Absolute is so nakedly apparent to man's sight that it is not visible"--an idea often expressed by the mystics: overwhelming nearness blinds the eye, just as unveiled light becomes invisible, "black." The Perfect Man is, in Shabistari's definition, he who goes the twofold way: down into the world of phenomena, then upward to the light and divine unity.

--Mystical Dimensions of Islam, 280.