Burning Bush
"Burning Bush" is a beautiful poem by Hajj Muhammad Legenhausen the author of "Islam and Religious Pluralism" (al-Hoda, 1999) who teaches philosophy in Qom, Iran.
Burning Bush
Whoever gazes in the sky
might see dragons floating by
becoming towers, birds, or apes””
every minute changing shapes.
Just for a moment, look away,
then try to find, again, your way
to what you had imagined there
and now is only wisps and air.
It’s also hard to recognize
an old acquaintance behind strange eyes.
Shifting forms make all seem strange
as each part makes a different change.
Even the self is the sacrifice
to the river in which no one steps twice.
Despite the change and complexity
of transformations and variety,
a single voice is always calling out
from every face and tree and cloud;
it calls the lion and the lamb,
it calls us all and says,
“I am!”
