Flashes of Sunlight

Peace, one and all…

Flashes of Sunlight

Flashes of sunlight
gently tease their way through the trees.
Valleys deep and lush and secret
open themselves before me.

I steal these passing moments of life,
these brief fragments of time,
jealously guarding them
in the treasure-house of my heart.

What else can I do Beloved?
When life moves so quickly,
memory’s jealous grasp
is all that I have left.

(Abdur Rahman, May 24th 2007)

Riches & Knowledge

Peace, one and all…

Hadrat Ali (may God ennoble his countenance) said:

‘Riches diminish by expenditure, but knowledge increases by dissemination’
(Courtesy of the Book Foundation)

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

If I Were A Lover

Peace, one and all…

If I Were A Lover

If I were a lover,
I would love You heart and soul,
but too much comes between us
for such to be true.

I love You,
but selfishly
and so that self of mine
comes between us.

Every time I try to empty,
to divest myself of all this weary pretence,
that self indulges in some vain pursuit
and so our meeting is delayed still further.

I have no way to draw closer
other than through the slow agony
of life’s purifying fervour,
till all thought of movement becomes still.

I have no words to speak
and so, Beloved,
another’s words must for now suffice:
‘pray release me for a spell from me’.

(Abdur Rahman, May 25th May 2007)