29 Monday Apr 2013
Posted in Adab, Being human, Dervishood, Polishing the Heart's Mirror, Ruba'iyyat, Ruzbehan Baqli
Peace, one and all…
Yesterday I polished my mirror,
Made it bright and placed it before myself.
I saw so many faults of my own in the mirror
That I forgot other people’s faults completely
Ruzbehan Baqli, Quatrain 3 (Source)
28 Monday Jan 2013
Posted in Abu Sa`id ibn Abi al-Khayr, Adab, Exploring Oneness, Love, Qawwali
Peace, one and all…
Those given to Your love have no claims on life.
Having eyes for You only, they have long forgotten
themselves.
In the tavern where these single-minded ones drink
the whole wine cellar is emptied and no one
loses his manners
(Abu Sa`id ibn Abi al-Khayr)
03 Thursday May 2012
Peace, one and all…
You are not really a hunter, seeking Me,
instead you are My slave and lie at My feet.
You devise means to attain to My presence
but you are helpless either to leave or to seek Me.
The search for Me causes you anguish;
last night I heard your heavy sighs.
It is within My power to end your waiting,
to show you the Way and grant access.
So that you may be released from this whirlpool of time,
and may at last set foot on the treasure of union with Me,
but the sweetness and delights of the resting-place
are in proportion to the pain endured on the journey.
Only when you suffer the pangs and tribulations of exile
will you truly enjoy the homecoming.
Masnavi 3.4152-4158
26 Monday Mar 2012
Peace, one and all…
Childhood has gone and youth has faded from the young.
The day of old age has come, so fly up from this world.
The agreement for every guest is three days of hospitality.
Sir, three days have elapsed, so drive forth your little donkey.
Mevlana, Quatrain 1801
07 Wednesday Mar 2012
Peace, one and all…
‘Pay heed to a tradition of the Most High:
‘No prayer is done without the heart’s attention’
Masnavi 1.382, trans. A. Williams
03 Saturday Mar 2012
04 Saturday Feb 2012
Peace, one and all…
Imam Zayn al-Abidin (God sanctify his noble soul) writes, in his Treatise on Rights (Risalat al-Huquq):
‘Know – God have mercy upon you – that God has rights against you and that these encompass you in every movement through which you move, every rest through which you rest, every waystation in which you reside, every limb which you employ, and every instrument which you put to work’
03 Friday Feb 2012
Peace, one and all…
These sayings of mine are really a prayer to God,
words to lure the breath of that sweet One.
If you seek an answer from God,
how then can you fail to pray?
How can you be silent, knowing He always replies to
your, ‘O Lord?’ with, ‘I am here’.
His answer is silent but you can feel it from head to toe.
Masnavi 2.1189-1191
28 Saturday Jan 2012
Posted in Adab, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Chivalry, Understanding the Heart
Peace, one and all…
It is reported that Imam Ali said:
‘When a word comes from the heart, it falls onto the heart; but when it comes from the tongue, it will go no farther than the ears’
The Scale of Wisdom, 877
19 Thursday Jan 2012
Peace, one and all…
01 Sunday Jan 2012
Peace, one and all…
‘The Prophet (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam) said: ‘Seek knowledge even as far as China’. There is more than one kind of knowledge, however. The highest knowledge is the knowledge that helps us to realise what it means to be a human being: the purpose of being human, and our relationship with Absolute Truth, Allah’
(Shaykh Kabir Helminski, The Book of Language, p. 86)
17 Saturday Dec 2011
Peace, one and all…
‘When I die and you wish to visit me,
do not come to my grave without a drum,
for at God’s banquet mourners have no place’
Mevlana, Divan-i Shams 683
Today is Seb-i Arus, the festival marking the return of Hazret-i Pir Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi to the Divine Beloved. To mark this auspicious occasion, I wanted to offer a virtual Mehfil-i Sema, or sema gathering, in honour of Mevlana. The spiritual music offered here includes many of my personal favourites.
The Mevlevi Rose Prayer
May this moment be blessed. May goodness be opened and may evil be dispelled. May our humble plea be accepted in the Court of Honour; May the Most Glorious God purify and fill our hearts with the Light of His Greatest Name. May the hearts of the lovers be opened. By the breath of our master Mevlana, by the secret of Shams and Weled, by the holy light of Muhammad, by the generosity of Imam Ali, and the intercession of Muhammad, the unlettered prophet, mercy to all the worlds. May we say Hu, Huuu….
Quranic Recitation: Surah al-Fatihah & Surah al-Baqara 1-5
Turkish Section
Ney Solo
Mevlevi Nat-i Serif
(Poem in Honour of the Prophet, alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam)
Ayini Selam
Daglar ile Taslar ile
Ya Mevlana
Dinle Sozumu
Qawwali Section
Hamd
(Qawwal in praise of God)
Sabri Brothers, Allah Hoo
Naat
(Qawwal in praise of Muhammad, alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam)
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Sare Nabian Da Nabi
Manqabat Imam Ali
(Qawwal in honour of Imam Ali)
Mevlana Qawwal, sung by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Imam al-Shushtari: My Sweetest Moments
Mevlana, Andak Andak
Little by little, the group of the lovedrunk arrive
Little by little, the worshipers of wine arrive
They are on their way; Comforting and gentle
Like flowers from the flowerfield they arrive
Little by little, from this world of Being and non-Being
The non-existent leave and the existent arrive
They come with hands and clothes full of gold
For the poor and hungry they arrive
The gaunt, exhausted from the trials of Love
Strong and healthy they arrive
Like the rays of the Sun , the lives of the Pure
From those heights to the lowly valley they arrive
Green and fresh the garden for the pure
With new fruits from the love drunk they arrive
Their essence is grace and grace they unfold and expand
From the garden towards the garden they arrive
16 Friday Dec 2011
Peace, one and all…
‘Did I not tell you, ‘Do not leave, for I am your friend’?
For in this mirage of nothingness I am the Fountainhead of Life!
Even if in anger you leave Me for a hundred thousand years,
in the end you will return, for I am your true Goal!
Did I not tell you, ‘Be not content with worldly form’?
For I am the fashioner of the tabernacle of your contentment!
Did I not tell you, ‘I am the Sea and you are but a single fish’?
Do not be tempted ashore, for I am your Crystal Sea!
Did I not tell you, ‘Do not fly like a bird to the snare’?
Come to Me, for I am the very Power of your flight!
Did I not tell you, ‘They will rob you and leave you numb with cold’?
But I am the Fire and the Warmth and Heat of your desire!
Did I not tell you, ‘They will taint your character,
until you forget that I am your Source of Purity’?
Did I not tell you, ‘Do not question how I direct your affairs’?
For I am the Creator without directions.
If you heart is a lamp, let it lead you to your true path.
And if you are godly, know that I am your Lord!’
Mevlana, Divan-i Shams, Ghazal 1725
15 Thursday Dec 2011
Peace, one and all…
What wisdom was this, that the Object of all desire
caused me to leave my home joyously on a fool’s errand,
so that I was actually rushing to lose the way
and at each moment being taken farther from what I sought -
and then God in His beneficence made that very wandering
the means of my reaching the right road and finding wealth!
He makes losing the way a way of true faith;
He makes going astray a field for the harvest of righteousness,
so that no righteous one may be without fear
and no traitor may be without hope.
The Gracious One has put the antidote in the poison
so that they may say He is the Lord of hidden grace.
(Masnavi 6.4339-4344)
14 Wednesday Dec 2011
Peace, one and all…
God made the earth and celestial sphere
in six days of deliberate work,
even though He could bring forth a hundred earths and heavens
with the words: ‘Be, and it is’
Little by little until forty years of age
He raises the human being to completion,
although in a single moment He was able
to send fifty flying out of nothing.
Jesus by means of one prayer could make the dead spring to life:
Is the Creator of Jesus unable
to suddenly bring full-grown human beings
fold by fold into existence?
This deliberation is for the purpose of teaching you
that you must seek God slowly, without any break.
A little which moves continually
doesn’t become tainted or foul.
From this deliberation are born felicity and joy:
Deliberation is the egg,
Good luck is the fledgling that hatches.
(Masnavi 3.3500 – 3508)
12 Monday Dec 2011
Peace, one and all…
‘May my heart never abandon your face,
or abandon your innumerable favours!
If a thorn bush grows on top of my grave,
that thorn bush will still long for you’
Mevlana, Quatrain 1048
09 Friday Dec 2011
Posted in Adab, Awhaduddin Kirmani, Exploring Oneness, Love, Servanthood
Peace, one and all…
When you caress me
I am your
beloved servant.
When you spurn me
I am your
rejected slave.
Rejection
and acceptance
are equal to me,
so long
as I am occupied
with You.
Awhaduddin Kirmani, Quatrain
08 Thursday Dec 2011
Peace, one and all…
‘In love, the part sings first – then the whole.
In the orchard, the sour grape is first – then the wine.
O heart, this is the rule in the springtime:
That the cat becomes noisy first – and then the nightingale’
Mevlana, Quatrain 943
