YES! “SHE” SPEAKS

“In love, nothing exists between heart and heart.
Speech is born out of longing,
True description from the real taste.
The one who tastes, knows;
the one who explains, lies.
How can you describe the true form of Something
In whose presence you are blotted out?
And in whose being you still exist?
And who lives as a sign for your journey?”

~ Rabiah al Adawiyya

“The love of the Beloved
must be unconditionally returned.
If you claim love
yet oppose the Beloved,
then your love is but a pretence.
You love the enemies of your Beloved
and still seek love in return.
You fight the beloved of your Beloved.
Is this Love or the following of shaitan?
True devotion is nothing
but total submission
of body and soul

to One Love.
We have seen humans claim to submit,
yet their loyalties are many.
They put their trust here, and their hope there,
and their love is without consequence.”

~ ibn al Qayyim al Jawziyah

“Should you not gain your wants, my soul, then be not grieved;
But hasten to that banquet which your Lord’s bequeathed.

And when a thing for which you ask is slow to come,
Then know that often through delay are gifts received.

Find solace in privation and respect its due,
For only by contentment is the heart relieved.

And know that when the trials of life have rendered you
Despairing of all hope, and of all joy bereaved,

Then shake yourself and rouse yourself from heedlessness,
And make pure hope a meadow that you never leave.

Your Maker’s gifts take subtle and uncounted forms.
How fine the fabric of the world His hands have weaved.

The journey done, they came to the water of life,
And all the caravan drank deep, their thirst relieved.

Far be it from the host to leave them thirsty there,
His spring pours forth all generosity received.

My Lord, my trust in all Your purposes is strong,
That trust is now my shield; I’m safe, and undeceived.

All those who hope for grace from You will feel Your rain;
Too generous are You to leave my branch unleaved.

May blessings rest upon the loved one, Muhammad,
Who’s been my means to high degrees since I believed.

He is my fortress and my handhold, so my soul,
Hold fast, and travel to a joy still unconceived.”

- Ali bin Husayn al-Habshi

(translated by Abdal Hakim Murad)

Never be without remembrance of Him,
for His remembrance
gives strength and wings
to the bird of the Spirit.
If that objective of yours
is fully realized, that is
“Light upon Light”…
…But at the very least, by
practicing God’s remembrance
your inner being
will be illuminated
little by little and
you will achieve
some measure of detachment
from this world.

~ Rumi

All night, a man called “Allah”
Until his lips were bleeding.
Then the Devil said, “Hey! Mr Gullible!
How comes you’ve been calling all night
And never once heard Allah say, “Here, I am”?
You call out so earnestly and, in reply, what?
I’ll tell you what. Nothing!”

The man suddenly felt empty and abandoned.
Depressed, he threw himself on the ground
And fell into a deep sleep.
In a dream, he met Abraham, who asked,
“Why are you regretting praising Allah?”

The man said, “ I called and called
But Allah never replied, “Here I am.”
Abraham explained, “Allah has said,
“Your calling my name is My reply.
Your longing for Me is My message to you.
All your attempts to reach Me
Are in reality My attempts to reach you.
Your fear and love are a noose to catch Me.
In the silence surrounding every call of “Allah”
Waits a thousand replies of “Here I am.”

~ Rumi (r)

I love my solitude and grow tired and frustrated at the world; so devoid of passion and zeal. It seems, with such oblivious minds unable to fathom the boundless depths in meaning expressed with sincerity, command and devotion, spoken word just isn’t so openly spoken. 

 A poem I recently heard had left me deeply inspired, so inspired that I had to listen to it over and over again, until I was left impenetrably moved and in deep thought and contemplation. For those who have listened with heart, mind and ears intact will appreciate its invaluable passion and message. But for others unable to contemplate the innate message, I feel for thee. Like seriously, feel for thee!

The poem, entitled “She said that she’d prefer a broken neck to another broken heart” by Amir Sulaiman. A narration of distant memories of how a man so deep in love with his upbringing, that his counsel to another is based on this love. It’s almost as though the poem is a love letter to his mother, yet a reminder and counsel to future mothers. A reminder that motherhood and manhood go hand in hand. It is the love, compassion, zeal and sincerity that really makes the poem what it is. 

A message repeated throughout the poem; attaining love for the Divine is more important, fulfilling and rewarding than any other love.  “Having love is even more important than having a lover.”     It reminded me of something that Maya Angelou  once said: “A woman’s heart should be so hidden in God that a man should have to seek Him first to find her.”  How profound? Food for a thought: be so lost in love with Him that no one is able to reach you without reaching Him. “He’s gotta truly love love before he can truly love me.”   How can one who lacks something give it to another?

The poet continually projects the struggles in women today. When asked for solutions, his counsel to another is shaped by his experiences with his mother. “She asked me how I survived, by Allah it was my mother…And the stuff I saw her endure, I never wanna see my wife endure. So I know being a man is more than being male, and I’m focused on doing it right.” It is that linkage to his mother as the centrality to his being, the mention of his mother brought a tear to my eye. Love is certainly the bond that binds the hearts.

When I think about my childhood, I don’t think about poverty. I remember how she hugged me, kissed me, taught me, loved me.” Humble beginnings of poverty to happy endings of grounded foundation;  struggles accompanied by discipline in thought that one is able to re-emerge oneself through his upbringing.  Learn from life’s experiences as a means of better understanding the state of another. 

 The poem ends as it starts “And I know you prefer a broken neck to another broken heart, Broken parts that litter the night sky like stars. But remember, even the beauty of birth leaves its own scars. And know that you will find your home, right where you are; We will find our homes right where we are.” 
 
No other love can replace the love of a mother. All praise be to He most high for giving me such a beautiful, caring and giving mother! A mother who is there, a guardian in times of need, a mother whom I have found my home with, an irreplaceable bond; unique and divine in its own right. May He most high grant us all that home and give us the strength, magnitude and will to provide that same level of love, compassion and mercy to our future generation. Aameen. JazakAllahu khaire to brother Amir for that much needed reminder! Read the rest of this entry »