And the Remembrance of God is Greater

Peace, one and all…

‎’And the remembrance of God is greater’ (29:45)

After Every Drunken Bout

Peace, one and all…

‘After every drunken bout is a hangover.
At this thought my heart fills with regret’
Mahmud Shabistari, Gulshan-i Raz 700

And to Him will you be Gathered

Peace, one and all…

‘And know that God intervenes between a man and his heart and to Him will you be gathered’ (8:24)

God Alternates the Night and the Day

Peace, one and all…

‘God alternates the night and the day.  Indeed, in that is a lesson for those who have vision’ (24:44)

Whatever You May Find Here

Peace, one and all…

Whatever you may find here,
life or death will soon steal it from you.
Surrender your heart to the One who
in different forms of being
has and will always be with you.
(Jami)

Knower of the Unseen

Peace, one and all…

‘Indeed, God is the Knower of the Unseen of the heavens and the earth.  Indeed, He has full knowledge of all that is in (humankind’s) hearts’ (Quran 35:38)

Speak to Us of Giving

Peace, one and all…

Then said a rich man, “Speak to us of Giving.”
And he answered:
You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard
for fear you may need them tomorrow?
And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog
burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the
pilgrims to the holy city?
And what is fear of need but need itself?
Is not dread of thirst when your well is full,
thirst that is unquenchable?
Khalil Gibran, The Prophet – Giving.

Wherever We Set Foot

Peace, one and all…

Wherever we set foot, it was Your street.
Whatever corner we turned, it was Your name in the air.
We said, ‘Surely there must be a road leading elsewhere?’
But every road we found, it led to You
Isma`il Anqarawi

All Your Existence

Peace, one and all…

All your existence
comes from another’s
being,
all your inebriation
flows from another’s
drunkeness.
Go and wrap yourself
in the robe
of meditation,
for your flesh
is the robe
of the Other.
(Awhaduddin Kirmani, Quatrains)

By Your Decree

Peace, one and all…

You knew what I would be like
the day You created me.
I bring only my sins to You,
and this I do by Your decree.
(Abu Sa`id ibn Abi al-Khayr)

An Ark for Noah

Peace, one and all…

‘The body is a tent for the spirit,
an ark for Noah’
Masnavi 2.455

Searching for You

Peace, one and all…

Everyone heart-lost
makes his ablutions
in tears;
everyone touched
by grief
sings his own song.
No matter what
the travller thinks
he’s looking for,
if I study him deeply
I find he’s searching
for You.
(Awhaduddin Kirmani, Quatrains)

The Meaning of the Four Books

Peace, one and all…

Those who learned to be truly human
found everything in being humble.
While those who looked proudly from above
were pushed down the stairs.
A heart that must always feel superior
will one day lose its way.
What should be within, leaks out.

The old man with the white beard
never sees the state he’s in.
He needn’t waste money on making the Hajj,
if he’s broken someone’s heart.

The heart is the seat of God,
where God is aware.
You won’t find happiness
in either world, if you break a heart.

The deaf man doesn’t hear,
the blind man mistakes the day for night.
Yet the universe is filled with light.
We’ve seen how those who came later move on.

Whatever you think of yourself,
think the same of others.
This is the meaning of the Four Books,
if they have one.

May Yunus not stray from the path,
nor get on his high horse.
May the grave and the Judgement be no concern,
if what he loves is the face of God
Yunus Emre

I found listening to Surah al-Tin after reading this poem very powerful.  This recitation by Sa`ad al-Ghamdi is especially beautiful.  You can find a recitation of the entire Quran by Shaykh al-Ghamdi at the Complete Holy Quran You Tube channel.

To Adorn You

Peace, one and all…

The worlds of mind and spirit are your resources.
The earth and sky are there to adorn you
(Mahmud Shabistari, Gulshan-i Raz, 271)

The Meaning of ‘Light Upon Light’

Peace, one and all…

 

The sensuous eye is a horse,
and the light of God is the rider:
without the rider the horse is useless.
The light of God rides the sensuous eye,
and then the soul yearns for God.
How can a riderless horse
recognise the signs of the road?
God’s light enhances the senses:
this is the meaning of ‘light upon light’
(a reference to Quran 24:35)
Masnavi 2.1290-1293

Listen, O Drop!

Peace, one and all…

Listen, O drop, give yourself up without regret,
and in exchange gain the Ocean.
Listen, O drop, bestow upon yourself this honour,
and in the arms of the Sea be secure.
Who indeed should be so fortunate?
An Ocean wooing a drop!
In God’s name, in God’s name, sell and buy at once!
Give a drop, and take this Sea full of pearls’
Masnavi 4.2619-2622

None Blows Fire But Him

Peace, one and all…

 

None blows fire
into our hearts
but Him,
none makes short
the path to Him
but Him.
If all the world
became our doctor
still
no one could cure us
of Him
but Him
(Awhaduddin Kirmani, Quatrains)

Reflecting on the First of All Commandments

Peace, one and all…

‘And Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all commandments is, hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and all thy soul, and with all thy understanding, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.  And the second commandment is like, namely this, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  There is no other commandment greater than these’ (Mark 12:29-31)

This is a truly beautiful passage from the Gospel of Mark.  In it Jesus (alaihi al-salam) responds to a learned Rabbi’s earnest question: ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’  Our beloved master’s response, that love is the greatest commandment, is beautiful and profound.

I came across this passage once again, recently, and was struck not only by its beauty, but by its deeply evocative description of love as arising in life-giving oneness.  Of course, Islam understands God’s nature differently than Christianity, but the oneness I refer to is not primarily theological in that sense.  Rather, as I read this passage, I am struck by how it calls us to see the Divine as being behind, and yet mysteriously within, all things.  I was also struck by the way in which it bids humankind to respond with everything to God’s call.

However, before proceeding any further, it is worth pointing out that I do not intend to explain these verses, as though ‘I’ know what they ‘really’ mean.  This is for two reasons.  Firstly, although, as a human being, humanity’s collective spiritual heritage is mine to draw on, I do not intend to interpret this Christian scripture to anyone, much less the worldwide Christian tradition.  Secondly, what do I know anyway?  No, my purpose here is simply to respond, to explore the profound beauty of these wonderful verses.  Anything right or true, comes from God.  Only the mistakes are mine.

Our verse begins with the Shema, the quintessential expression of Jewish monotheism: ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord’ (Deuteronomy 6:4-5).  Love arises first in the Divine, a Unity unto Itself.  The world comes into being, and is sustained moment by moment by that love.  To ‘love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and all thy soul, and with all thy understanding, and with all thy strength’ is thus to come into harmony with that overflowing Divine love.  It is also to use our every faculty in pursuit of that aim.  Our hearts, our souls/personalities, understandings and strengths, must all be dedicated towards the One, the Source of All.

It is, therefore, surely noteworthy that Jesus (as) begins with the heart, long perceived as the intellectual and spiritual centre of the human being.  Sufi tradition understands the heart as a kind of meeting-place, in which the physical and subtle energy centres of a human being meet.  The heart is also the primary entry-point of spirit, the divinely gifted source of life.  Our capacity to love thus arises in the heart, and is itself a gift from God.  In other words, our ability to love is given to us by the Divine; we are given everything we need to respond fully to that call.

If the heart is the centre, the ‘soul’ is the place in which our everyday notions of ourselves arise.  Sufi tradition understands, broadly, that the ‘soul’ (or nafs in Arabic) is born from a kind of union between spirit (ruh) and our bodies.  By soul, I am also referring to our psychological constitutions, our personalities, and our egos.  This verse shows me that I can and indeed must love God in the very depths of my soul.  Moreover, we are here told that our egos are capable of loving God, of becoming an active participant in our transformations.  I find this profound, because it echoes the deepest registers of Sufi thought, and also because it offers a healing truth: our individualities, our workaday selves are valuable and part of a deep and noble purpose.

‘And with all thy understanding’.  That Jesus (as) should mention understanding after both the heart and the soul is interesting.  It is interesting because it suggests that in truth the intellect is the servant of the heart and soul.  It is also interesting because it suggests that mere intellection has its own limits, when not grounded in the heart’s spiritual reality.  Moreover, it contradicts the idea that spiritual growth is somehow against learning and knowledge per se.  Perhaps the real point being alluded to here is that intellect must also serve.  It must not master us.

‘And with all thy strength’.  Not only do we possess strength, we also possess weakness – which is to say that our strength has its limitations.  If, however, we can open ourselves to Divine love, we can partake of the heart’s strength, which arises in the infinite love of God.  That is, if we serve in love’s cause, ‘our’ strength is enfolded by His strength.  An Arabic phrase expresses this beautifully: la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah (‘there is no power or might except in God’).

‘And the second commandment is like, namely this, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  There is no other commandment greater than these’.  By these words, Jesus (as) again draws on the deep roots of Judaism, being a re-iteration of Leviticus 19:18.  Once we come into harmony with love, our path takes us beyond ourselves, out into the world.  The perfection of love lies in service to others – with the understanding that service to God’s creatures is service to God Himself.  To love our neighbour as ourselves means many things – ethical treatment, justice, respect, and beyond all of these a deep love for those around us, that runs beyond mere superficiality, beyond sentimentality.  Moreover, from the perspective of oneness, it is God’s love that brings these relationships into existence.  We are faced with the Divine regardless of the direction we look.  The Quran expresses this most beautifully:

‘And to God belongs the east and the west.  So wherever you turn, there is the Face of God.  Indeed, God is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing’ (2:115)

May the Divine Beloved open our hearts, our souls, our minds, our bodies, and every relationship we partake of, to His overflowing grace, mercy and love.

May all that you do this day be blessed.

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

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman