Dante Alighieri's mysteries

la cara e buona immagine paterna,
di voi, quando nel mondo ad ora ad ora,
M'insegnavate come l'uom s'etterna.
For in my mind is fix'd and tortures my heart,
The dear, benign, paternal image, such
As thine was, when in the world now and then
You taught me how man wins eternity.

According to some scholars, the Stil Novo was an emanation of the society of the Fedeli d'Amore of Templar origin, and therefore strongly suspected of heresy by the church. There is a similarity between the thought of this school and the Persian Sufi, especially that founded by poet Jalal al-Din Rumi. The Fedeli d'Amore were an initiatory organization created at a time in history when in Italy the power of the emperor had weakened, while the temporal power of the church was growing, with its dogmatism, Inquisition torture and burnings at the stake.
The Fedeli d'Amore has as their social goal to bring the Church back to the teachings of Christ, at a time when the morality and spirituality of the clergy was deemed marred by corruption. For this reason they were exposed to the intransigence of the Church at the time, hence the need to conceal their thoughts with an encrypted language, that of lovers, that had originated in Provence with Le Roman de la Rose, devised to protect the Albigensians against the persecution of Innocent III.


guardommi e con le man s'aperse il petto,
dicendo: "Or vedi com'io mi dilacco!
vedi come storpiato è Mäometto!
Dinanzi a me sen va piangendo Alì,
fesso nel volto dal mento al ciuffetto.
He looked at me, and opened with his hands
His bosom, saying: "See now how I rend me;
How mutilated, see, is Mahomet;
In front of me doth Ali weeping go,
Cleft in the face from forelock unto chin;
a l'altro polo, e vidi quattro stelle
non viste mai fuor ch'a la prima gente.
Goder pareva 'l ciel di lor fiammelle:
oh settentrional vedovo sito,
poi che privato se' di mirar quelle!"
upon the other pole, and saw four stars
not seen before except by the first people.
Heaven appeared to revel in their flames:
o northern hemisphere, because you were
denied that sight, you are a widower!"
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