Though You Be Drowning

Peace, one and all…

Though you be drowning, stretch out your hand that another might swim!

Clothes

Peace, one and all…

‘So long as you are outside, you see clothes;
take off your clothes, come in, my dear
companion.
For there is no way in with clothes.  The body
obscures the soul as clothes obscure the body’
(Masnavi I.2783-2784)

Patience within Patience

Peace, one and all…

Sahl ibn Abdullah (God sanctify his secret) described patience in the following manner:

‘Patience means maintaining patience within patience, that is to say, not being conscious of one’s own patience; not wailing in affliction; and being aware that this power of patience is from God, Who has conferred it upon one, thereby enabling one to maintain it, as where He enjoins: ‘Have patience, for your patience is only through the help of God’ [Quran 16:127]

Infinite Hope

Peace, one and all…

‘We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope’
(Martin Luther King)

Repentance and Patience

Peace, one and all…

Here are some musings inspired, in part, by my online retreat…

Each new breath brings forth a new moment from God.  Each new breath brings forth a new opportunity for communion with that moment, and with the One Who wrought it.  Life is thus a series of moments, an always unfolding story of relationship and interaction.  To make the most of this ongoing flow, I must be patient.  I must wait at the Beloved’s bright door.

Patience is thus the acceptance and integration of life’s ever-breaking waves.  These lines of Hafez speak powerfully to me here:

‘If your patience is like that of Noah
in the sadness of the storm,
affliction will leave you and the hopes
of a thousand years will be fulfilled’

Unheplful deeds separate us from the seas of life, as though we turned from the ocean to face a dry and barren land.  To sin, therefore, is to see oneself as separated, as divorced, from the whole.  To sin is to ignore the revelation of each new moment, to deny this flow as it manifests itself in ourselves and in others.

Repentance is the deep, inward acceptance of all our unhelpful interruptions.  Repentance is therefore re-connection, where that which is time-bound is joined once more to that which is time-less.  To repent is to realise that our actions have eternal significance; that the things we do here, in this small world, reverberate throughout the cosmos.  Mevlana (God sanctify his noble soul) says it this way:

‘The undisciplined man doesn’t wrong himself alone -
he sets fire to the whole world’
(Masnavi I.79)

Life is not a series of random, discrete pieces but an integrated, united whole.  Repentance is thus the sound of the drop falling back into the ocean once more.  And God says in His glorious Book:

 

‘We have made every living thing out of water’ (21:30)

To truly live I must realise that I am a part of that Ocean; indeed, I am sustained and nourished by it in each living moment, as Mevlana says so beautifully here:

‘Though your life has almost passed,
this present moment is its root:
if it lacks moisture, water it with repentance.
Give the Living Water to the root of your life,
so that the tree of your life may flourish.
By this Water past mistakes are redeemed.
By this Water last year’s poison is made sweet’
(Rumi, Masnavi V.2222-2224)

May Allah al-Tawwab turn me back to Him once more, and may Hu bless all who pass by. 

And my last prayer is in praise of God, Sustainer of All Being. 

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

 

 

The Dawn Comes

Peace, one and all…

The Dawn Comes

The dawn comes,
bearing new light into the world,
and my eye is blessed to receive it.

The dawn comes,
roses slowly opening,
heaven’s fragrance walks among us still.

The dawn comes,
trees stretch out their branches in welcome.
May my hand be turned to goodness this day.

The dawn comes,
and my heart begins to see:
this new day’s lesson is love.

The Prayer of Ma`ruf al-Karkhi

Peace, one and all…

‘God is enough for me in my religion.  God is enough for me in my mundane life.  God, the Generous, is enough for me in what distresses me.  God, the Affectionate, is enough for me against him who oppresses me.  God, the Stern, is enough for me against him who hurts me by evil.  God, the Compassionate, is enough for me at death.  God, the Merciful, is enough for me at the Inquisition in the Grave.  God, the Generous, is enough for me at the Reckoning.  God, the Beneficient, is enough for me at the Scales.  God, the Powerful, is enough for me at the crossing of the Traverse.  God is enough for me.  There is no god but Him.  In Him do I trust, and He is the Lord of the Glorious Throne [Quran 9:129]‘
(taken from Imam al-Ghazali, The Revival of the Religious Sciences, Invocations and Supplications)

Eyvallah!

Peace, one and all…

‘Praise be to God; Whose compassion is all-embracing and Whose mercy is universal; Who rewards His servants for their remembrance [of Him] with His remembrance [of them] – verily God (exalted is He!) has said, ‘Remember Me, and I will remember you’ [Quran 2:152]; He Who has induced His servants to make petition and supplication by His command, and said, ‘Supplicate to Me, and I will answer you’ [40:60], He Who has invited the obedient and the disobedient, and those who have strayed far away and those who have remained close to Him, to joy in His majestic presence, by submitting their needs and wishes, by His Word: ‘Verily, I am near.  I respond to the supplication of a suppliant when he makes it to Me!’ [2:186]  Blessing be upon Muhammad, the lord of His prophets, and upon his Family and Companions, the foremost of His chosen ones!  May God grant him peace abundantly!’
(Imam al-Ghazali, The Revival of the Religious Sciences, Invocations and Supplications)

Whatever I Say

Peace, one and all…

‘Whatever I say, You are the subject.
Wherever I go, every impulse is toward You.

It’s true, those who don’t love You are soul-less dolls,
but the living need a Beloved like You.

You’ve veiled Yourself from the whole universe.
At a single sight of You it would perish.

Giants and elves, humans, angelic powers,
all beings are in love with You.

The seraphim and maidens of paradise crowd around You
and can’t bear to leave Your presence.

From Your hand poison is a delicious drink.
My soul is healed by anything You do.

When I eat something sweet without You, it’s bitter.
You are the soul’s taste, what else could I want?

If my soul suffered a hundred wounds,
my joy would not decrease.
This love washes everything clean.

Yunus is just one atom of it.  This planet,
this whole universe is born from a taste of love.

(Yunus Emre, trans. by Rafik Algan and Sheikh Kabir Helminski)

Beyond All Thought of Number

Peace, one and all…

O Great and Merciful God!  O Beloved Allah!  Numberless are Your hidden friends.  Beyond count are all those who cling to You and who love Your healing Name.

Ya Allah!  I am humbled to the very core.

And my last prayer is in praise of God, Sustainer of All Being.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

The Living Water

Peace, one and all…

Praise be to God in every condition and state!

I have just started a 7 week online retreat with the Threshold Society at Spirituality and Practice.  Thank you Allah for Your every mercy!

‘Say: “Shall I tell you of better things than those [earthly joys]? For the God-conscious there are, with their Sustainer, gardens through which running waters flow, therein to abide, and spouses pure, and God’s goodly acceptance.” And God sees all that is in [the hearts of] His servants’ (3:15, trans Asad).

‘Though your life has almost passed,
this present moment is its root:
if it lacks moisture, water it with repentance.
Give the Living Water to the root of your life,
so that the tree of your life may flourish.
By this Water past mistakes are redeemed.
By this Water last year’s poison is made sweet’
(Rumi, Mathnawi V, 2222-2224)

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

May God Grant them Success

Peace, one and all…

Today marked the effective end for this academic year’s teaching.  Allah!  How swiftly time passes by.  At any rate, may Allah bless my students.  May God make their exams easy and bless their hearts and minds with true knowledge.  May God forgive me for my many mistakes in teaching and may Hu grant them success in spite of my many shortcomings.

And my last prayer is in praise of God, Sustainer of all being.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman