The Ecstasy of Mansur al-Hallaj
A poem about Mansur al-Hallaj (c. 858 - March 26, 922), a Persian mystic, writer and teacher of Sufism who was tortured and publicly crucified by the Abbasid rulers for what they deemed 'theological error threatening the security of the state'.
The votes are in, the die is cast
As orthodoxy stands aghast.
The molders of the ummah's mind
Reflexively profess to find
In 'Ana'l-Haqq' — I am the Truth —
An imprint of the devil's hoof.
While learned elders slip away
to stroke their grizzled beards and pray,
The torturer receives his brief:
To break all bones, if not belief.
And thus is moral outrage bent
Once more to murderous intent.