Ibn Arabi, the great “Pole of Knowledge” (1165-1240 A.D.), tells of time he spent with two elderly women mystics who had a profound influence on him: Shams of Marchena, one of the “sighing ones,” and Fatimah of Cordova. Of Fatimah, with whom he spent a great deal of time, he says: “I served as a […]
Tag Archives: Religion Spirituality
A fascinating and gripping story
Here is a poem from Rumi…. If A Tree Could Wander Oh, if a tree could wander and move with foot and wing! It would not suffer axe blows, nor the pain of saws! What if the sun did not wander off every night? How could, every morning, the world turn to light? What if […]
Sufism and the human qualities
Sufism has been an essential part of the Islamic tradition from its origin, that is, from the time that the Qur’an was revealed to Muhammad in the seventh century. Let me simply say that the Qur’an itself employs a series of words that designate the primary concerns of the Sufi teachers over the centuries. These […]
A Rumi Poem
Inside Dome of the Blue Mosque, Sultan Ahmad, Istanbul
“Oh, if a Tree Could Wander”
Oh, if a tree could wander and move with foot and wings!
It would not suffer the axe blows and not the pain of saws!
For would the sun not wander away in every night?
How could at ev’ry morning the world be lighted up?
And if the ocean’s water would not rise to the sky,
How would the plants be quickened by streams and gentle rain?
The drop that left its homeland, the sea, and then returned?
It found an oyster waiting and grew into a pearl.
Did Yusuf not leave his father, in grief and tears and despair?
Did he not, by such a journey, gain kingdom and fortune wide?
Did not the Prophet travel to far Madina, friend?
And there he found a new kingdom and ruled a hundred lands.
You lack a foot to travel?
Then journey into yourself!
And like a mine of rubies receive the sunbeams’ print!
Out of yourself? Such a journey will lead you to your self,
It leads to transformation of dust into pure gold!
Jalaluddin Rumi
Translated by Annemarie Schimmel
Article of the Week; On Being a Human Being
Oh the seeker who wishes to learn the chemistry of secrets and follow the path of the ones who have found salvation! If you wish to know yourself, know that the One who created you has created you with two sides. One is your outside and the other is your inside.: Your outside is visible, […]
Rumi Poems
O SUN, fill our house once more with light!
Make happy all your friends and blind your foes!
Rise from behind the hill, transform the stones
To rubies and the sour grapes to wine!
O Sun, make our vineyard fresh again,
And fill the steppes with houris and green cloaks!
Physician of the lovers, heaven’s lamp!
Rescus the lovers! Help the suffering!
Show but your face – the world is filled with light!
But if you cover it, it’s the darkest night!
—
HOW SHOULD THE SOUL not take wings
when from the Glory of God
It hears a sweet, kindly call:
“Why are you here, soul? Arise!”
How should a fish not leap fast
into the sea form dry land
When from the ocean so cool
the sound of the waves reaches its
How should the falcon not fly
back to his king from the hunt
When from the falconer’s drum
it hears to call: “Oh, come back”?
Why should not every Sufi
begin to dance atom-like
Around the Sun of duration
that saves from impermanence?
What graciousness and what beauty?
What life-bestowing! What grace!
If anyone does without that, woe-
what err, what suffering!
Oh fly , of fly, O my soul-bird,
fly to your primordial home!
You have escaped from the cage now-
your wings are spread in the air.
Oh travel from brackish water
now to the fountain of life!
Return from the place of the sandals
now to the high seat of souls!
Go on! Go on! we are going,
and we are coming, O soul,
From this world of separation
to union, a world beyond worlds!
How long shall we here in the dust-world
like children fill our skirts
With earth and with stones without value,
with broken shards without worth?
Let’s take our hand from the dust grove,
let’s fly to the heavens’ high,
Let’s fly from our childish behaviour
and join the banquet of men!
Call out, O soul, to proclaim now
that you are rules and king!
You have the grace of the answer,
you know the question as well!
Translated by Annemarie Schimmel, ‘Look! This is Love’
The Qur’an; the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language.
16:88 Those who rejected, and repelled others from the path of God, We have added them retribution over the retribution, for what they had corrupted. 16:89 And the Day We send to every nation a witness against them from themselves, and We have brought you as a witness against these. And We have sent down […]
The Beauty of Following the Guidance of God by William C. Chittick, Ph.D.
This is an ancient story, constantly retold in everyday life. Everyone knows that we have lost our beauty. It is so obvious that many people refuse to consider the idea that there is any such thing. No, they respond, human beings are rotten to the core, heartless and soulless, besotted with egotistic illusions, indifferent to […]
A wonderful poem by Imam al-Haddad of Yemen. Translated into English and song in Arabic.
Imam Abd Allah ibn Alawi al-Haddad born in 1634. He lived his entire life in the town of Tarim in Yemen’s Valley of Hadramawt and died there in 1720 CE (1132 Hijri). In Islamic history, he was considered one of the sages. His works revolve around the attainment of certainty (yaqin), the degree of unshakeable faith in God and Muhammad. Imam ‘Abdallah al-Haddad was the renewer, or Mujaddid, of the twelfth Islamic century. He was renowned, and deservedly so, for the breadth of his knowledge and his manifest sanctity. The profundity of his influence on Muslims is reflected by the fact his books are still in print throughout the Islamic world.
The poem (Qasida): Qad Kafani Ilmu Rabbi
My Lord’s knowledge has sufficed me
from asking or choosing
For my du’a and my agonising supplication
is a witness to my poverty.
For this secret (reason) I make supplication
in times of ease and times of difficulty
I am a slave whose pride
is in his poverty and obligation
O my Lord and my King
You know my state
And what has settled in my heart
of agonies and preoccupations
Save me with a gentleness
from You, O Lord of Lords
Oh save me, Most Generous
before I run out of patience (with myself)
My Lord’s knowledge has sufficed me
from asking or choosing
O One who is swift in sending aid
I ask for aid that will arrive to me swiftly
It will defeat all difficulty
and it will bring all that I hope for
O Near One Who answers
and All-Knowing and All-Hearing
I have attained realisation through my incapacity,
my submission and my brokenness
My Lord’s knowledge has sufficed me
from asking or choosing
I am still standing by the door, so please my Lord
have mercy on my standing
And in the valley of generosity, I am in i’tikaf (solitary retreat)
So, Allah, make my retreat here permanent
And I’m abiding by good opinion (of You)
For it is my friend and ally
And it is the one that sits by me and keeps me company
All day and night
My Lord’s knowledge has sufficed me
from asking or choosing
There is a need in my soul, O Allah
so please fulfil it, O Best of Fulfillers
And comfort my secret and my heart
from its burning and its shrapnel
In pleasure and in happiness
and as long as You are pleased with me
For joy and expansion is my state
and my motto and my cover
My Lord’s knowledge has sufficed me
from asking or choosing
May Allah be pleased with him Imam al-Haddad .
Excerpts from the book
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