While Rosaries Turned

Peace, one and all…

 

I passed through churches and synagogues
and found everyone speaking of You.
With Your love in my heart I entered the
idol-worshipper’s temple,
I heard Your Name whispered while rosaries turned
(Abu Sa`id ibn Abi al-Khayr)

We are like a Sea

Peace, one and all…

‘Our body is our veil in the world:
we are like a sea hidden beneath a straw’
(Masnavi 4.823)

Justice and Love

Peace, one and all…

 

All that God does is just, and that justice is based on His overflowing love.  If justice is about putting all things in their rightful place, in due order and proportion, then love is the root cause of that drive towards equilibrium.  Justice, then, is God’s love in transformative motion.  It is the still middle point, the balance, set up that we might achieve wholeness.  Love is the pivot, on which this balance rests and moves, that we might learn of life’s ebb and flow:

‘The Most Merciful
Taught the Qur’an,
Created man,
[And] taught him eloquence.
The sun and the moon [move] by precise calculation,
And the stars and trees prostrate.
And the heaven He raised and imposed the  balance
That you not transgress within the balance.
And establish weight  in justice and do not make deficient the balance’
(Surah al-Rahman 55:1-9)

Understanding that love is the foundation of justice can teach us many things.  In my own life, seeing justice as love’s own movement has helped me come to terms with all sorts of things.  It also reminds me of the need for mercy, in my dealings with others, in my dealings with myself, as the Prophet himself said (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam):

‘Whoever does not show mercy will not be shown mercy’ (Adab al-Mufrad no. 91)

Reflecting further, I begin to realise that justice is not the same thing as anger.  The operation of justice does not, by itself, require me to become angry and bitter.  Rather, it requires me to see that justice is itself a mercy, and that both of these things arise first in God, arise first in love.  The Prophet (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam) relates the beautiful words of God, in which Hu says:

‘My mercy overcomes my wrath’ (source)

As above, so below.  May my mercy always overcome my own wrath.  May I always hold fast to justice, to truth and to love.

Wa akhiru da`wana an il hamdu lillahi rabbil alameen.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

 

Let Your Whole Being Burn Away

Peace, one and all…

One day, this self, and all dear to it,
will be blown around in dust and dirt.
While you still have a chance, offer all you have here,
at this purifying flame, and be cleansed.
Garments torn, heart on fire,
let your whole being burn away in this love.
(Abu Sa`id ibn Abi al-Khayr)

You Are Love’s Creation

Peace, one and all…

You are love’s creation.
Look nowhere else for sustenance.
Turn to love.

Lover and beloved,
master and disciple,
are naught but love.

Keep out the illusion of duality.
Do not breach the covenant of unity.

Detachment is a fortress of light.
In love’s eye counts no other light.

One who has not been bestowed with the gift of love
his vision no one may trust.

Jami came from the Beloved
and dissolved back into Him.
From the Beloved is our origin
and it is our destiny to return to Him.
(Jami, Ghazal)

Finding the Beloved in the Letter Alif

Peace, one and all…

‘Those who find the Beloved in the letter alif need not open the
Quran to read it.
When they blow with the breath of love, the curtains are
pushed aside.
Heaven and hell are their slaves, made to serve them.
I give my life for those, Bahu, who enter the state of unity’
(Sultan Bahu, trans. Jamal Elias)

Alif, the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, is written with a single downward stroke of the pen.  It therefore symbolises the descent of revelation, of the sending down of divine grace (tanzil).  As the first letter, alif begins the entire sequence, being thereby the first recognisable character.  In other words, all things begin with and in the Divine.  The Quran states this clearly:  ‘Surely His Command, if He wills a thing, is only to say to it, “Be!” and it is’ (36:82).  This is further underlined when it is remembered that alif is the first letter in the Arabic definite article (al).  Or, more precisely, lam is the definite article itself, the alif is required to vocalise the sound properly.  Perhaps this tells us that every sound, every vocalisation, every conceptual ability, is a gift from the Divine.  Perhaps it also tells us that God’s action is necessary for anything to come to pass – it is only the descent of grace (here symbolised as the alif) that allows us to speak (the lam).  Lam is interesting here, because it begins a number of key phrases: la ilaha illa Allah (‘there is no deity except God’) and la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah (‘there is no power or might except in God’).

As such, the alif symbolises the moment of first definition, and thus of creation itself. The divine creative potential descends into the naked universe in each new moment and in each new place.  It is perhaps no surprise then to remember that each God’s beautiful Names begins with this alif: i.e. al-Rahman, al-Latif and so on.  This universe is thus a kind of theatre, in which the infinite qualities of God are manifested before (and within) us.  And lest we think otherwise, these qualities are all part of the infinity of Divinity Itself: alif is also the first letter of the word for God in Arabic, Allah.  Allah is often understood to be the Greatest Name, as it combines all of the other Names and Qualities within Itself; it is the comprehensive Name.  As the alif is written with a single stroke, it is also the number one.  It is thus a powerful symbol of the Unity of All Things.  God is al-Ahad (the Singular, the One, the Unique).

Beautifully, alif also speaks of our human connection to the Divine.  It is the first letter of the word Adam, father and progenitor of humanity (alaihi al-salam).  We receive our human nature via the descent of divine grace, as a literal gift from heaven.  The alif also points towards our origin, offering us a means of orientation.  Alif begins the word iman (often rendered as ‘faith’ or ‘belief’).  Faith in God, beyond every boundary and limitation, is what guides us home.  Iman is itself the ‘rope of God’ (3:103) and the ‘most trustworthy handhold’ (2:256).  As Mevlana eloquently points out, iman is the essence, beyond every external difference:

‎’Someone asked: ‘What is greater than prayer?’  Mevlana said: ‘One answer is that the soul of prayer is greater than prayer, as I have already explained.  A second answer is that faith (iman) is greater.  Prayer is a series of daily actions, while faith is continuous.  Prayer can be dropped for a valid reason, or can be postponed, but it is impossible to drop or postone faith for any excuse.  And where prayer without faith gains nothing, as in the case of hypocrites, faith without prayer is valuable.  Another point: while the prayer of every religion is quite different, still, faith does not change from religion to religion.  The states that it produces, its place in life, and its effects are the same everywhere…’ (Mevlana Rumi, Fihi ma Fihi, Discourse 8)

Alif is the first letter of the word adab – a truly pregnant term, whose most comprehensive meaning is ‘appropriate action‘.  Awareness of what is most appropriate, most fitting, in each new moment allows us to develop and expand our relationship with others, and thus with Divinity Itself. The alif is also used in Arabic as an interrogative particle.  In other words, it is used to formulate questions – questions about God, about ourselves and about the meanings of things.  The ability to think, talk and ask questions is fundamental to what it means to be human.

In closing, thinking with the first letter of the alphabet in this way can allow us access into the very heart of what it means to be alive, and what it means to be human.

wa akhiru da’wana an il hamdu lillahi rabbil alameen.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

I Am a Human First

Peace, one and all…

 ’And He taught Adam the names, all of them’ (Quran 2:31)

‘Say, ’Call upon Allah or call upon the Most Merciful.  Whichever [name] you call, to Him belong the Names Most Beautiful’ (Quran 17:110)

‘And [mention] when your Lord took from the children of Adam – from their loins – their descendants and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes, we have testified.” [This] – lest you should say on the day of Resurrection, “Indeed, we were of this unaware’ (Quran 7:172)

Video Source: The Global Oneness Project

My Favourite Paul Weller Songs

Peace, one and all…

I have long enjoyed the music of Paul Weller, as a member of first the Jam, then the Style Council and finally as a solo artist.  His first solo album, entitled ‘Paul Weller’, has long been a particular favourite of mine.  So much so, in fact, that it has become something of an old friend.  Each time I listen to it a whole world of memories, associations and images come flooding back, to the point that it seems to have taken on a life of its own.

At any rate, here are some of my personal favourites.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.  May all that you do this day be blessed.

Clues

Above the Clouds

Amongst Butterflies

Bull Rush (Live in Milan)

Kosmos (Instrumental)

Sunflower

Changing Man

That Doesn’t Carry Your Light

Peace, one and all…

There isn’t a particle in creation
that doesn’t carry Your light.
Yesterday I was asking others for a sign of You,
today there isn’t a sign that isn’t of You.
(Jami)

Remember Your Purpose

Peace, one and all…

‘Remember God has said in the Quran, ‘Do you think that I have created you in mere idle play?’ (23:115).  This means that your creation is not by chance nor is it in vain; it is for the purpose of return’
(Hz. Shams-i Tabriz)

Blessed Be the Name of the Lord

Peace, one and all…

‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised’ (Job 1:21)

To See This Love Through

Peace, one and all…

My body and soul came together to seek You,
it is You that I live and die for.
I am here but a fortnight and then,
a handful of dust.
You are here to see this love through.
(Abu Sa`id ibn Abi al-Khayr)

It Is Neither This Nor That

Peace, one and all…

‘From the spirit the heart took subtlety and from the earth gravity.  It came to be praised by both sides and was well pleasing to both.  It became the locus for the vision of the unseen.  The heart is neither spirit nor bodily frame.  It is both spirit and bodily frame.  If it is spirit, where does this embodiment come from?  And if it is a bodily frame, why does it have subtlety?  It is neither that nor this.  But it is both that and this’.
(Ahmad Sam`ani)

To Give Away One’s Head

Peace, one and all…

‘A true lover is one who accepts death for the Beloved.
He doesn’t desert love, nor turns his face, even if wounded by
many swords.
He halts and stands wherever he sees the Beloved’s mysteries.
Bahu, true love is that of Husayn and Ali: to give away one’s head
but never give away the secret’
Sultan Bahu, trans. Jamal Elias

I Have Given My Self to You

Peace, one and all…

‘In Your path, I am free from [worldly] gain and loss.
And from passion for You, I am free from this world and the next.
I have given my self to You, [so] I am without those [other] worries.
I [only] have concerns about You, [so] I am free of those [other concerns]‘.
Hakim Sana’i, Diwan, Quatrain 302.

O Sweet Water!

Peace, one and all…

‘Never does a lover seek union
unless his beloved is seeking him.
When love for the Real has grown up in your heart,
without doubt the Real has love for you.
You will never hear the sound of one hand
clapping without the other.
The thirsty man laments, ‘O sweet water!’
The water laments, ‘Where is the drinker?’
Our souls’ thirst is the attraction of the Water -
we belong to It and It belongs to us’
(Masnavi 3.4393-4399, trans. W. Chittick)

O Happy are the Eyes Lamenting Him

Peace, one and all…

‘When God desires to give us His assistance,
He moves our tendency to lamentation.

O happy are the eyes lamenting Him!
How blessed are the hearts that burn for Him!

When weeping ends there is a smile at last.
How happy is the man who is far-sighted!

Wherever water’s flowing, flowers grow,
and mercy flows wherever tears are flowing.

Groan like the water-wheel and be moist-eyed
that green may grow the meadows of your soul.

If you want tears, show mercy to the tearful;
if you want mercy, show the weak your mercy’
(Masnavi 1.821-826)

Join Hands

Peace, one and all…

‘Flee to the God of Moses and to Moses;
don’t pour away faith’s water like the Pharaoh.

Join hands with God the One and with Mohammed,
escape the Bu Jahl of the body, brother!’
(Masnavi 1.785-786)