There is a self within me, beyond myself

There once was a man who spent his days seeking truth in books, in mountains, in the voices of teachers and the silence of night. Yet still, a restlessness followed him like a shadow. One evening, as he sat alone beneath the vast sky, a voice rose not from around him, but from within — soft, but unmistakable. “What you seek is not out there,” it said, “but within you.” He closed his eyes, and for the first time, he turned inward. Layer by layer, he peeled back the noise of the world — his name, his pride, his fears — until he reached a quiet space untouched by time. There, he encountered a self he had never known — still, luminous, and aware. In that moment, he remembered the words he had once heard but never understood: “Bir ben var benden içeri” — There is a self within me, beyond me. And in recognizing that hidden self, he caught a glimpse of the Divine, for as the Prophet said, “He who knows himself, knows his Lord.”