The Book of Certainty
The Green Silk Robe
Seminar#9
by Reza Shah-Kazemi
“This term, which is here the equivalent of the Eye of Certainty, always denotes direct spiritual vision, but its meaning varies in respect of the intensity of that vision; for in the Supreme Paradise the Heart, that is, the centre of being, is no longer the Moon nor yet the Sun. These are ‘worn’ by the Beloved as ornaments of silver and gold; their spiritual possibilities are also represented by ‘the green silk robes’ and by the ‘immortal youths’ which go round about them, whereas the Heart is the Essence Itself. It was evidently according to this highest sense that the Sufi Al-Hallaj said:
I saw my Lord with the Eye of the Heart.
I said: ‘Who art Thou?’ He answered: ‘Thou’.”
The Book of Certainty, foot note 21, p19. Martin Lings.
In this series, Dr Reza Shah-Kazemi and Emma Clark will discuss The Book of Certainty by Dr Martin Lings with more emphasis on what Lings means by ” The Green Silk Robe”, and how is that connected with the Green Knight, Al-Khidr, and the colour green in relation to the cosmos and within ourselves.
Emma Clark designs gardens with an essentially spiritual and holistic outlook, undertaking them for private clients and public institutions, both in the United Kingdom and overseas. She specialises chiefly in Islamic gardens, manifesting a traditional interpretations with a continual and naturalistic planting schemes at the heart of her practice.
