Shekinah and Sakinah: The Indwelling

Image via Wikipedia

The beginning of movement is stillness. The beginning of sound is silence. Within every dance of creation, the flutter of a bird’s wings, the explosion of a star, the hand that heals an injured child, is stillness at the core. Within every sound in this universe, the singing of a choir, the hammering of a nail, the cry of a gull at sea, there is silence at the centre of each utterance. The Shekinah, Sakinah, the Indwelling, God with us at the heart of all being and It’s manifestations. Ya Hayy!

Layla and Majnun and the Soul’s Longing for the Real

Image via Wikipedia

In this beautiful miniature painting that illustrates a scene from Nizami’s telling of the folk story of Layla and Majnun we see Majnun in the wilderness longing for his beloved Layla who he is forbidden from seeing. With time however, he begins to see Layla in all things. This story of lovers serves as a wonderful metaphor for the soul and its longing for the Lord, the One Beloved in which all are united. The Names of Allah can be seen manifested through all creation and the sufi seeks to be constantly aware of this in the same way that Majnun sees Layla everywhere in the wilderness. Sometimes when this world appears to be a wilderness I try to remember that “All things pass except the Face of God”. It helps to remember and what better way is there than to do dhikr (or zikr), simply remembering all the time that we are all contained within the Mercy and Compassion of the One.

To read more on Layla and Majnun see this post here

Related articles by Zemanta

• Darkness and light (guardian.co.uk)

The Secret Heart

Image via Wikipedia

I recently put this in my Facebook notes and then thought that readers here might also enjoy it. Just a few thoughts on the experience of the dissolution of the nafs (ego matrix) that is the aim of the Sufi path.

The soul dwells amidst the utmost silence of total awe and the secret heart expands in space, knowing itself, knowing the Beloved. All is abandoned. Entirely. In savage nakedness veils are torn and slip noiselessly back into the created universe. Light pierces this being and excises every remaining trace of space and time. Stars, galaxies, universes are but sparkling jewels set in the dark mystery of the Unmanifest.

‘I was a hidden Treasure and desired to be known; therefore I created that I might be known’ (Hadith Qudsi)

Eyes Wide Open

Sometimes I get a bit of a squint trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But it’s always there. I just have to take off my sun glasses! Ya Rabb! Ya Allah! Help me to keep my eyes open.

Contemporary Sufi Poetry

This is a re-posting that was originally on my other blog, The Sufi Book and Music Blog but I thought it worth posting it here too as I get more readers here and contemporary Sufi poetry is definitely worth bringing to a wider audience.

If you do a Google search on Sufi poetry the results will most likely bring up a wealth of sites with information and examples of the masters of the art. Honoured and respected poets on the Sufi path who wrote about what they experienced and ‘tasted’ on the journey of return to unity with the One. It is a journey of longing and struggle in which all things are seen as the signs of God, including our own selves. Metaphors of love are commonly used in such poetry where the lover longs for union with the Beloved. We see this in the images of the nightingale singing to the rose or the moth drawn to the flame. There are many translations from the original languages in which this poetry was written, Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Urdu, to English. Some of these translations are more like free interpretations attempting to capture the spirit of a piece for contemporary readers. For example, the thirteenth century Sufi poet/mystic Jalaluddin Rumi is one of the most widely read poets in the United States today. But what about Sufi poetry written today by contemporary students on the Sufi path?

Very little contemporary Sufi poetry is published for a mainstream readership. There appears to be little publishing interest in contemporary Sufi writing. Yet many of today’s dervishes, like Sufis of old, still feel compelled to allow words to flow and the recent phenomenon of the blog provides a structure for that expression. Try some of the following blogs for poetry from the heart written today. Just click on the titles.

Knocking from Inside

Poems from the Edge of the Continent

The Wandering Troubadour

Court of Lions

Ecstatic Exchange

Gathering of Thoughts

Loving You

I love, I hurt, I learn, I love again

Am I foolish?

Every step is reckless,

Every caress attempts

To touch anew

The first innocence of hope

That I will return to You

Sharing Water

A watchful eye

Originally uploaded by Dave-F

I just watched a bird taking a bath in the hedgehogs drinking water. We have a whole family of hedgehogs here and my landlady puts out water for them and feeds them every evening. During the day though the drinking water is a free for all and with the first bit of sunshine in a week our regularly visiting lady blackbird was not going to miss out. She plunged in and splattered water all around her as she performed her daily ablutions with gusto. May she fly high and sing beautifully and bring some cheer to Winchester as it experiences a very patchy summer weatherwise. Life and beauty is all around us no matter what the weather is doing. A lesson in keeping my eyes open to the wonders of the universe.

Further reading: Conversation with a Hedgehog

Drunk in the Tavern

Europahütte Predawn View

Originally uploaded by Jeff Pang

Ah, we are all drunk in this tavern
for the innkeeper keeps our cups full
with the elixir of love, Hu!

Friends from the Unseen dwell here too
and give us a nudge when our eyes
alight on the summit ahead

With the wine of love that we imbibe
we look toward the light of dawn
and mount our steeds with daring tread

On this journey of love’s desire
The Beloved burns our hearts with fire
As across ice peaks we are led

Dancing in the Sky

Dancing in the sky

she moves gracefully

with the excited flow

of an astonished crowd

Tumbling to the edge

of day touching night

arabesque and pirouette

take her on a daring flight

Her heart skips

in rhythm with the sphere,

as her lover whispers

you are now and here

The Balance of Peace and Justice

This is an interesting article by Dr. Robert Crane on the balance of peace and justice for Gaza. He relates the two to transcendence and immanence and asks which is needed first. His approach is ontological but with very practical consequences. He concludes that:

“In the metaphysics of transcendence, to know God is to know and practice justice.  In the metaphysics of immanence, to know God is to know peace.  But justice is creative, and peace is not.  Peace is for the afterlife.  Justice is for the here and now.”

Gaza

Gaza

Originally uploaded by Bilal Mirza

Wait silently in the field
Do not scream
Wait silently and listen
To the empty stream

Wait silently with the crowd
Raise no fist
Wait silently and hear
The voices of the missed

Now break your silence
With the words
Emerging from broken hearts
Now shout and act
In remembrance of the pact
With the Compassionate One

Ibn ‘Arabi and Spiritual Refreshment

I can always rely on Ibn ‘Arabi for spiritual refreshment and feeling greatly in need of drinking close to the source of compassion I have been reflecting on the great Shaykh’s life and work recently. Ibn ‘Arabi is also known as the Shaykh al-Akbar, the greatest Shaykh. He was born in Al-Andalus in the mid twelfth century and lived half his life there before travelling east. He wrote prodigiously and claimed never to write anything he had not experienced personally. His influence on the development of Sufism was immense. Stephen Hirtenstein has written a biography of Ibn ‘Arabi and what I appreciate so much about this biography is the way he introduces the reader to the thought of Ibn ‘Arabi and also describes the historical context in which he lived, wrote, and pursued his spiritual path. Many scholars see Ibn ‘Arabi as being equally significant to our present day concerns alongside the work of Jalaluddin Rumi. To read this book is like stepping into the times of Ibn ‘Arabi in Al-Andalus and bathing in his spiritual wisdom. Having lived in Andalucia I often had a sense of his presence in the places he had been whether in the mosque of Cordoba, the port of Adra, or under the mulberry trees in the Alpujarran Mountains. It felt like remembering his presence in Andalucia brought a special blessing and that I had moved back several hundred years through time, or that time had become blurred and no longer relevant. One day, insh’allah, I hope to visit his tomb in Damascus.

If you would like to read more about this great Shaykh then just click on the image.

Vision of Light: Harold Hitchcock

Sun Rising Through Rigging of Ships

I have written about the work of artist Harold Hitchcock before, see here, and feeling in need of ‘a vision of light’ I visited his website today and found this inspiring work. As I am spending a lot of time reading about Gaza I immediately thought of those ships who have been sailing into the Gazan ports in recent months to bring emergency medical supplies despite the difficulties and danger involved. I also remembered all the fishermen of Gaza, who despite food shortages, are having incredible difficulties fishing along their coastline because they are being harassed and prevented from doing so. With this painting of Sun Rising Through the Rigging of Ships, I pray for peace and justice in Gaza that its ports and waters may once again be bustling with business and filled with light.

Archery of Love

Archery and Fencing

Originally uploaded by Waponi

Today you might be shot
with the dart of love
and when the sharpness
of the pain tears the veils
in which you felt comfortable
don’t run …
don’t blame …
don’t fear …

but listen and hear
and find the courage to love
in your newly broken heart

Eid Mubarak

Eid Mubarak to all my dear readers, may the blessings of Ramadhan continue to pour down on you.

Apologies also that I haven’t been posting much recently. I have been finishing my MA dissertation and am also in the midst of moving to Winchester (when I find somewhere to live, inshallah). I intend to start posting more regularly as soon as I have safely negotiated this period of transition.