What is the Way?

Someone asked, “What is the Way?” I said,
“This way is to abandon desires.”
Oh lover of the King! Know that your way is to
seek the pleasure of that Generous Lord.
When you seek the Beloved’s desire and
pleasure, seeking your own desire is forbidden.
The spirit will be totally transformed into love
for the Beloved, for the ascetic cell of the noble travelers is
Love.
His Love is not less than the top of some
mountain — His Love’s mountaintop is enough for me!
The cave where you can find the Friend is
Love — then the spirit will gain the adornment of Love’s
beauty.
Whatever purifies you is the correct road — I will
not try to define it.
Be silent and hold fast to the shaykh-Love — for
in the two worlds, he is your leader.

– Ode 374
Translation by William C. Chittick
“The Sufi Path of Love”
SUNY Press, Albany, 1983

 

Seek the King of Hearts

O lovers, O lovers,
heaven’s drum calls my spirit and says,
It’s time to leave this world.

Look!
The camel driver has risen,
The caravan is about to leave.
He says, “Forgive me for waking you . . . .
But why, O pilgrim, are you asleep?
Before you and behind you
the camel-bells are ringing.
It’s time to go.

With each passing moment
a soul sets off to find itself.
From the stars,
suspended like candles
from the blue vault of heaven,
wondrous souls have appeared
and the Unseen has revealed itself.

The revolving spheres have lulled you
into a deep sleep.
Beware of this floating life.
Beware of this weighty slumber.

O heart, seek the King of Hearts.
O friend, seek the Eternal Friend.

O watchman, be wakeful –
the whole city could be lost
if you fall asleep!

Tonight, amidst the shouts and din of the city,
Amidst the light of candles and torches –
Tonight this fecund world
will give birth to eternity.

You were dust and now you are spirit.
You were ignorant and now you are wise.
The one who brought you here
will bring you still further.
Your pain will become your pleasure
as He draws you near.
Don’t be afraid –
His flames are like cooling water.
To give your soul life is His sacred duty,
To break your binding chains is His only mission.

O foolish puppet, popping up from your box,
You call out to the world,
This is mine!
How long will you jump up?
If you don’t bend your neck
He will bend it for you!

You put others down
and spin a web of deception.
O imposter,
You think God is a plaything in your hand?

O donkey, you belong with the straw.
O cauldron, you deserve to be blackened!
O outcast,
you deserve to be at the bottom of a well!

“In me there’s another force
that gives rise to these harsh words.
Scalding water
is caused by fire, not water.”

I have no stone in my hand,
no argument with anyone.
I put down no one,
for I am as sweet as a bed of roses.

That Supreme Source speaks through me . . . .
It has given you a hint – that is enough.

Now let me sit here,
on the threshold of two worlds,
Lost in the eloquence of silence.

– ( Hz Mawlana Rumi) Version by Jonathan Star

 

Shariah, Tariqah and Haqiqah

Hz Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi (r.a.) explains the relationship between the Shariah (law), the Tariqah (way) and the Haqiqah (Truth/Reality) thus:

The Law is like a lamp: It shows the way. Without a lamp you will not be able to go forward. When you enter the path your going is the Way. And when you reach the goal, that is the Truth.

The Law may be compared to learning the theory of medicine. The Way involves avoiding certain foods and consuming certain remedies on the basis of this theory. Then the Truth is to find everlasting health and to have no need for theory or practice.

When man dies to the life of this world, the Law and the Way will be cut off from him and only the Truth will remain………The law is knowledge, theWay is works and the Truth is attainment to God.

Masnavi BK 5 (Intro)

 

The Secret of Love

Love has nothing to do with the five senses and the six directions:
its goal is only to experience the attraction exerted by the Beloved.
Afterwards, perhaps, permission will come from God:
the secrets that ought to be told will be told
with an eloquence nearer to the understanding
than these subtle confusing allusions.
The secret is partner with none but the knower of the secret:
in the skeptic’s ear the secret is no secret at all.

Masnavi BK 6 (5-8).

 

No Ruin is Empty of Treasure

You may despair of finding a true friend of God;
but since the treasure does exist in this world,
consider no ruin empty of treasure.
Go to every dervish at random,
and when you find the sign of a true saint,
keep his company regularly.
If the inner eye has not been granted to you,
always think that treasure could be in anybody.

Masnavi Bk2 (2153-2155)

 

Afternoon Tea with Shaykh Abdal-Hakim Murad

Bismillah-The Journey Of the Soul (the following are some notes I took-I have a feeling this will be long one)Shaykh Abdul Hakim began by speaking about the year coming to its end, with the Hajj having just taken place and reminding us that all ibadaat are forms of dhikr; our days are punctuated with the five daily prayers, we have Jummah once a week, Ramadhan once every year and Hajj once in our lifetime. He mentioned how Hajj is the last pillar of Islam and how this practice is symbolic of the returning journey of the soul from whence it came. (It wasn’t until the end of his talk that I understood and appreciated the link between Hajj and the title of the talk).

We begin from the beginning, from even before we were manifest in our mother’s wombs; before we were given our bodily forms comprised of flesh and bones:

‘When your Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam , from their reins, their seed, and made them testify of themselves, He said: ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said, ‘Yea! We testify!’ That was lest you should say on the Day of Arising: ‘Of this we were unaware.’’ (7:171)
This is an excerpt from an excellent talk by Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad which I found transcribed on Usma’s Just Another Blog. Read it in full here.

 

Inner Garment of Love- Hz Mawlana (RA)

The Inner Garment of Love

A soul which is not clothed
with the inner garment of Love
should be ashamed of its existence.

Be drunk with Love,
for Love is all that exists.
Where is intimacy found
if not in the give and take of Love.

If they ask what Love is,
say: the sacrifice of will.
If you have not left your will behind,
you have no will at all.

The lover is a king of kings
with both worlds beneath him;
and a king does not regard
what lies at his feet.

Only Love and the lover
can resurrect beyond time.
Give your heart to this;
the rest is second-hand.

How long will you embrace
a lifeless beloved?
Embrace that entity
to which nothing can cling.

What sprouts up every spring
will wither by autumn,
but the rose garden of Love
is always green.

Both the rose and the thorn
appear together in spring,
and the wine of the grape
is not without its headaches.

Don’t be an impatient
bystander on this path -
by God there’s no death
worse than expectation.

Set your heart on hard cash
if you are not counterfeit,
and listen to this advice
if you are not a slave:

Don’t falter on the horse
of the body; go more lightly on foot.
God gives wings to those
who are not content to ride an ass.

Let go of your worries
and be completely clear-hearted,
like the face of a mirror
that contains no images.

When it is empty of forms,
all forms are contained in it.
No face would be ashamed
to be so clear.

If you want a clear mirror,
behold yourself
and see the shameless truth
which the mirror reflects.

If metal can be polished
to a mirror-like finish,
what polishing might the mirror
of the heart require?

Between the mirror and the heart
is this single difference:
the heart conceals secrets,
while the mirror does not.

– Version by Kabir Helminski
“Love is a Stranger”
Threshold Books, 1993

 

God Suffices Me

Love is a ship for the elect:
it is deliverance from disaster.
Sell intelligence and buy bewilderment:
your intelligence may be opinion,
while bewilderment may be naked vision.
Sacrifice your understanding in the presence of Muhammad:
say, God suffices me.*

Masnavi Bk4 1406-1408

* from Qur’an.

…

 

Vintage Rumi

Classic advise from Hz Mawlana (RA) :

There’s a basket full of loaves on your head,
yet you’re begging for crusts of bread from door to door.
Pay attention to your own head, abandon giddiness.
Why are you knocking at every other door?
Go, knock at the door of your own heart.

Masnavi BK 5 1073-1074

 

Don’t plant anything but Love

Here’s more vintage wine from the master.

When you plant a tree
every leaf that grows will tell you,
what you sow will bear fruit.
So if you have any sense, my friend
don’t plant anything but love,
you show your worth by what you seek.
Water flows to those who want purity
wash you hands of all desires and
come to the table of Love.

Do you want me to tell you a secret?
The flowers attract the most beautiful lover
with their sweet smile and scent.
If you let God weave the verse in your poem
people will read it forever.

– Translation by Azima Melita Kolin
and Maryam Mafi
“Rumi: Hidden Music”
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2001