Divine Love is unexplainable
A mystery so incredible.
The foolish describe it aimlessly
While the wise feel it inherently.
Archives for November 2014
“In Love” with the Divine is Unexplainable
Selfless Love
Your rejection of me…
does not reject my du’as for your happiness.
Your indifference to me…
does not negate my yearn for your wellness.
Your path away from me…
does not hinder my path of love for you.
For my love is selfless.
I love you with no desire for a return.
I care for you without reciprocated concern.
My tears call out for your success that is endless
I think about you despite your lack of awareness.
For your moments of joy are my ecstatic bliss.
Your passion for knowledge brings warmth to my soul
Your love of poetry flows through the blood of my bones
Your sincere longing for God is the ultimate goal
That has permeated my being and rendered me whole.
This poem is not about a specific person, it is expressing the sentiment and state of selfless love. A lot of people may interpret this poem to mean that the writer has just been “rejected” from a lover, however that is not the case. I like to step into the shoes of other people, and try to understand how they may feel. There are also many levels and dimensions of rejection. A person may feel rejected by a child, a teacher, a community, an ideology, or a religious institution. The last couple of lines indicate that the only thing worth taking out of the “rejector” is its yearning for God. And it is this yearning for God, a separate entity from the rejector itself, that has made the writer feel whole. The rejector itself cannot make the writer feel whole.
Inner Intoxication
This love is unrestrained yet contained
Unveiled in the sacredness of night’s end
Upon the prayer mat this love begins to dance
The barrier of reason no longer holds back
The burning passion of the heart.
Let this inner intoxication come free
And take you out of the ordinary.
God revealed, “He has lied who claims to love Me
but who when night falls sleeps [and leaves] Me.
Does not every lover love to be alone with his beloved?”*
*last quote is from Imam al Haddad’s “Book of Assistance”
I release you
How can I shackle you with the chain of my selfish love?
You belong to the Reality of Permanence
The fire of my passion no longer burns
For your transitory existence.
Now I love you more and without ego
But with a deeper sentiment and credo
Of Divine Unity and Oneness.
Out of my deepest love, I release you!
To this transcendence…
This realm of freedom-bliss!
Magnify the world with your talents and light!
Ascend closer to Him on the eternal Flight!
You inspire us to reach our spiritual height!
May your union with Him grow stronger and bright!
Heartbreak (Two poems)
Begin Anew
When things aren’t going right,
And darkness has overcome light,
Disappointments cloud the heart
The time has come for you to start
Look within and see what’s wrong
Those inner flaws, detested for long
Furnish them and polish your soul
Begin anew, a person more whole
Path to Self-Mastery
One rough heart break after the next
This dunya gives you no time to rest
The ultimate, unrelenting test
That moves our souls to embark on the quest
To aim for self mastery and indifference to pain
The height of success, a noteworthy gain
With Light from above, our mission becomes clear
Let us journey this path in His trust and deep care
Culture of the Spirit
Do not call me “Guyanese” or “West Indian”. These terms are alien to me.
I associate myself with nothing less than the environment of Tasawwuf (the science of ihsan, inward purification) and all of its strivers, the religion of Oneness: One God, One Love, One Ummah; the Religion of Love and Mercy. I feel at home with the lovers of intellectual progress under the teachings of Ibn al Arabi. I feel at peace with the lovers of poetic and religious mastery under the teachings of Mawlana Rumi. My soul is at harmony with the lovers of outward discipline and inward excellence under the teachings of Imam al Haddad. My heart is satisfied in the company of the lovers of Imam al Ghazali, the Reviver of the Spiritual and Intellectual dimension of Islam in his century and beyond. I feel at bliss in the company of the lovers of our beloved teacher and final Messenger of the Creator to mankind, and all of his prophetic predecessors (Jesus, Abraham, Noah, Moses, Adam and more) and his inheritors. Peace be upon them all.
This is my family. This is my home. This is my love. This is my passion.
Let us look beyond the outward shells of culture, class, and color, and revel in the unity of the human spirit.
The Real Gain in Female Companionship
Excerpt from Shaykh Hamza Yusuf’s “Climbing Mount Purgatorio: Reflections from the Seventh Cornice”:
The spiritual power of women is great, but so too is the power of their physical attraction to men. It is this power that causes vile men to want to dominate women, and virtuous men to honor and protect them. But that physical power of the female form over men is a sensory power that veils men from her metaphysical meaning. Her sensual form prevents the man lost in carnality from knowing her spiritual reality, that she is the source of mercy in the world. The Arabic and Hebrew word for womb (rahm) is derived from the word for mercy (rahma) and an expression of the creative power of God in man. In degrading woman, we degrade the highest qualities of our human nature; in elevating her, we elevate our highest nature. When her natural virtues—compassion, kindness, caring, selflessness, and love—predominate in men, men are able to overcome their natural vices and realize their full humanity. When, however, those virtues are absent, men descend to the lowest of the low and are worse than beasts. In unveiling the outward beauty of a woman, we become veiled from her inward beauty.
As a poet from the distant past wrote:
I said to my rose-cheeked lovely, “O you with bud-like mouth,
Why keep hiding your face, like flirting girls?”
She laughed and said, “Unlike the beauties of your world,
In the veil I’m seen, but without it I’m hidden.”
Listen to the Voice of Your Heart
The greatest advice I can give anyone is to not take advice from anyone. Listen to the voice of your heart, the voice that is uncontaminated by the ego. You will many times need advice to find the right voice, but once you do, listen to your heart.
Shaykh Nuh Keller said, “Do not let the opinions of people interfere with the directions given to you from God.”
Shaykh ibn Ata’illah said, “The most ignorant of all people is the one who abandons the certitude he has for an opinion people have.”
Growing up I was usually the youngest cousin in my environment, and I was given opinions left and right about what to believe, what to seek, and how to perceive the world. Many times these ideas burdened me and made me feel worse about why I couldn’t derive happiness from them. As I grew older I realized that everyone is on a different and unique life path. Your path is special and different. Follow your own path with inward certainty, and wear a shield against the army of opinions that are coming your way.
