“I am God” - The Mystic Martyr of Baghdad

Mansur Al-Hallaj was a Persian Sufi who was born in year 858 in the town of Shushtar, Iran. He was considered to be a writer, mystic, and teacher of Sufism who was later declared to be a heretic. He traveled to central Asia and India and was known to be a wanderer. He performed the Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca three times in his life yet he was accused of preaching against the pilgrimage as he was more concerned with the spiritual meaning of the pilgrimage rather than the mere rites and rituals associated with Hajj. He was accused of shirk as he uttered ‘Ana Al-Haqq’ literally meaning “Truth is me” or “I am God” during various trance like states. He was charged with claiming to be God, imprisoned for eleven years, tortured and finally executed in year 922 by the ruling authorities of Baghdad, which was then the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. According to some accounts, his hands, feet, and head were cut off. Other accounts state that Al-Hallaj happily met his demise and danced with excitement in his chains while going towards his execution.

Almost three hundred years after Al-Hallaj’s execution, Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi looked beyond the literal meaning of Al-Hallaj’s statement and found the true beauty and depth of its meaning. The following interpretation of ‘Ana Al-Haqq’ was offered by Rumi:

People imagine that it is a presumptive claim, whereas it is really a presumptive claim to say “I am the slave of God”; and “I am God” is an expression of great humility. The man who says “I am the slave of God” affirms two existences, his own and God’s, but he that says “I am God” has made himself non-existent and has given himself up and says “I am God”, that is, “I am naught, He is all; there is no being but God’s.” This is the extreme of humility and self-abasement.

and this:

He says, “There’s nothing left of me. I’m like a ruby held up to the sunrise. Is it still a stone, or a world made of redness? It has no resistance to sunlight.” This is how Hallaj said, I am God, and told the truth! The ruby and the sunrise are one. Be courageous and discipline yourself. Completely become hearing and ear, and wear this sun-ruby as an earring.

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Update: I just noticed that Shaheryar Ali from PakTeaHouse has written a very interesting and detailed account of  Al-Hallaj’s life.  An English translation of Al-Hallaj’s book ‘The Tawasin’ is available here.