31 Thursday Jan 2008
Posted in Abdur Rahman's Poetry
Peace, one and all…
Waiting for You
Though the wind may blow
and the rain may fall,
I will strive to love You.
Though snow may fall upon me,
holding my soul in its icy grip,
I will seek the sun of Your face.
Though life may come
and life may go,
I will struggle to open my heart to You.
So let love’s swollen river
burst its bonds and stride towards the land,
I will be here waiting for You.
(Abdur Rahman, 31st January 2008)
31 Thursday Jan 2008
Posted in Abdur Rahman's Poetry
Peace, one and all…
Love’s Enduring Truth
O Howling Wind!
How you shake the trees,
wailing in your separation.
O Weeping Cloud!
How your tears of sorrow
rend my very heart.
O Windswept Hill!
You teach me love’s truth:
I must patiently endure in the face of the storm.
(Abdur Rahman, 31st January 2008)
31 Thursday Jan 2008
Posted in Islamic Music
Peace, one and all…
The poetry of Bulleh Shah is profound and beautiful. It is even more beautiful when set to music. Here are two excellent examples, both sung by the Wadali Brothers (hit tip to Sadiq bhai of Mysic Saint). I’ve also included, as a bonus, a version by Abida Parveen.
Enjoy, and may Allah make them beneficial.
Bulla Ki Jana By the Wadali Brothers
Tere Ishq nachaya by the Wadali Brothers
Tere Ishq Nacahaya by Abida Parveen
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
30 Wednesday Jan 2008
Posted in Abdur Rahman's Poetry
Peace, one and all…
Hope
Where is hope,
in these days of ours,
and where can it be found?
Hope stands forth
in the quiet doing
of kindness.
Hope is revealed
in the smiling eyes of children
and the tender wisdom of the old.
Hope shines
in all the glories of the dawn
and in all the majesty of the night.
Hope lives
in the flowing grace of the painter
and in the word-craft of poets.
Hope runs free
in the easy glow of laughter
and in the blessed rain of tears.
Hope walks among us still,
and always
in the hour of our greatest need
(Abdur Rahman, 30th January 2008)
30 Wednesday Jan 2008
Posted in Muslim & Sufi Poetry
Peace, one and all…
‘One who heart is revived by love shall never die,
inscribed is our immortality on the tablet of the Universe’
(Hafiz Shirazi)
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
30 Wednesday Jan 2008
Peace, one and all…
As I was driving home on Monday evening, I was listening to a sohbet of Shaykh Kabir Helminski. During the course of the sohbet, the Shaykh made a really very profound statement, which I wanted to share with you all:
‘the highest wisdom is reflected in the harmony of our relationships’
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
30 Wednesday Jan 2008
Peace, one and all…
‘Be humble to whomever you learn from and to whomever you teach’
(Imam Jafar al-Sadiq)
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
29 Tuesday Jan 2008
Posted in Islamic Music
Peace, one and all…
Here are some more qawwali videos for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy, and may Allah make them beneficial.
Badar Miandad Qawwal: Ganjshakar Walian Da Raja
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Surat Teri
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – Kinna Sohna Tenu Rab Ne Banaeya
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
29 Tuesday Jan 2008
Peace, one and all…
Imam Ali (may God ennoble his countenance) is reported to have said:
‘Among the things which expiate the major wrong actions are helping the unfortunate and relieving someone’s affliction’
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
28 Monday Jan 2008
Peace, one and all…
‘Be merciful to those of you who are weak, for showing mercy to them is the means by which God will show mercy to you’ (Imam Ali, may God ennoble his countenance)
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
28 Monday Jan 2008
Posted in Abdur Rahman's Poetry
Peace, one and all…
Beyond All Thought of Shapes
Beloved one, let my heart
move beyond
all thought of shapes.
Let me not stop even then.
Though the stars rend my heart with their beauty,
they have not the glory of Your face.
Pour out upon this waiting page
these living tears of me,
into the land where love walks unmasked.
(Abdur Rahman, 26th January 2008)
28 Monday Jan 2008
Posted in Flashes
Peace, one and all…
In days now mercifully past, words like ‘love’ and ‘truth’ and ‘beauty’ were merely words, empty vessels waiting to be filled. But now, mere Dost, You have graced me with a single drop of love, which is as wine to my soul – and all of these empty jars of me have shattered!
Love and truth and beauty are not containers. They are no mere vessels, for carrying some other thing. They are names. They are powers. They are worlds entire. They have no beginning, as they have no end. Love and truth and beauty, and hope and glory and heart-rending mercy, are holes in the curtain of this world. They are living, beating doorways into another realm entirely.
They are gateways into the gardens of beholding Your radiant face.
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
28 Monday Jan 2008
Posted in Abdur Rahman's Poetry
Peace, one and all…
That Others Do Not Possess
I know You, my love.
Somehow, I have always
known You.
How could this have come to pass?
How could such a fate
have been mine?
I have no merit,
that others
do not possess.
I have no strength,
that others do not hold
in greater measure.
It’s just the fire in Your eyes
that speaks
this way.
It’s just the blood in my veins
that calls out to You
in response.
So my love, come quickly
and speak Your fire of longing
into the hidden ear of my heart.
(Abdur Rahman 26th January 2008)
27 Sunday Jan 2008
Posted in Abdur Rahman's Poetry
Peace, one and all…
Foolish Things
I am naught but a moment,
a brief and uncertain flicker of light.
But I can know love’s glory,
if I choose to behold its unfolding epiphany.
I am naught but a drop of water
thrown onto life’s unready shores:
the path back to water runs true,
should I choose to take it.
I am naught but these moments of water,
drifting slowly towards the sea’s great eternity:
I can choose to join the dance
or to fold my arms in scorn at such foolish things.
(Abdur Rahman, 26th January 2008)
27 Sunday Jan 2008
Posted in Abdur Rahman's Poetry
Peace, one and all…
A Constant River of ‘Light Upon Light’
This world is held together by holes,
through which pours forth
a constant river of ‘light upon light’.
At the heart of each living thing
lies a doorway into
an entire world of light.
So, if you seek paths unto the light,
O ibn al-Sabil,
seek them in the heart of all things.
(Abdur Rahman, 26th January 2008)
27 Sunday Jan 2008
Posted in Abdur Rahman's Poetry
Peace, one and all…
When I Reach For You
When I reach for You,
it is Your hand
that stretches forth first.
When I set my foot
upon the road to Your door,
You have already laid the path before me.
When I call Your name
in hope of love’s embrace,
it is Your mouth that breathes the first sigh.
So, Beloved, finish what You have begun.
Let hand and foot and eye
behold the One they love.
(Abdur Rahman, 26th January 2008)
27 Sunday Jan 2008
Posted in Miscellaneous
Peace, one and all…
Does death bring an end to our travels, or will we continue to walk amidst the silent halls of reflection? Is death the end of all thought, or will we sit in the quiet of our graves and ponder the meanings of our lives? Is death merely a descent into blank nothingness, or is there a place of gathering in the great beyond?
In truth, I do not know the answer to these weighty questions because I have no experiential knowledge of death (or at least none that I consciously recall). But, I do know that one day an end will come to this passing stage-play of me. This performance that I am shall end, and my final curtain will fall. I have accepted this; death is a natural part of life after all. In any case, it will happen whether I want it to or not!
But, what does death really mean? What does it signify for us as human beings?
Death, of course, has many meanings. It speaks of endings, as it speaks of moving beyond this world of trial and test. Death speaks of going out alone into the long night. It speaks of crossing the dark void to whatever lies beyond it. It speaks of a return to our home, our point of origin beyond all conscious thought.
But, lest you think me morbid, death also speaks of life. This is not merely because, as a Muslim, I do not believe that death is the end of existence. It is also because death teaches us that we should strive to live each moment as though it were our last. As indeed, it could well be! Death, then, is time’s dour handmaiden – reminding us that each moment must be felt, experienced and lived.
Death is the great leveller. The rich and the poor, the strong and the weak, all of them will go down into Shoal, all of them will be laid to rest in the silent bosom of mother earth. Death is the great giving back. As we came into this world, so shall we leave it: naked, with naught but the skin that God gave us.
The grave is the place of truth. It speaks truth to all who pass by, making null and void the lies that we weave in our foolishness. We can take no money to that place. Neither can we take fame, or power, or strength, or reputation. There is but one thing we can take and that is goodness. The only things we take with us into the realm beyond this one are deeds of love and words of love.
Perhaps this is why the Islamic tradition encourages constant reflection on death. I don’t mean to say that we should meditate on death sorrowfully and with morbid fascination. Rather, death should be welcomed as one more stage of our journey, as a long-expected and welcome guest. If death is a house-guest, then we should prepare for his arrival now. Indeed, let us lay the table of our selves with deeds of goodness and thoughts of love whilst there is still time.
Image credit: Wikipedia
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
27 Sunday Jan 2008
Posted in Hazret-i Pir Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi
Peace, one and all…
Be Refreshed in the Darkness
‘Night cancels the business of the day;
inertia recharges the mind.
Then the day cancels the night,
and inertia disappears in the light.
Though we rest and sleep in the dark,
doesn’t the dark contain the water of life?
Be refreshed in the darkness.
Doesn’t a moment of silence
restore beauty to the voice?
Opposites manifest through opposites:
in the black core of the heart
God created the eternal light of love’
(Mathnawi I.3861-3865, trans. Kabir Helminski)
Image Credit: Yale University Library
