Stray Reflections

Love is a Stranger

chaiwala — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:09:18 +0000

Love is a stranger to the two worlds:
in it are seventy-two madnesses.
It is hidden; only its bewilderment is manifest:
the soul of the spiritual sultan longs for it.
Love’s religion is other than the seventy-two sects:
beside it the throne of kings is just a floorboard.
In the moments of sema* Love’s bard strikes up the melody:
“Servitude is bondage and power is a headache.”
Then what is Love? The Sea of Not-Being:
there the foot of the intellect is shattered and can no longer swim.
Servitude and sovereignty are known:
the way of the lover is hidden by these two veils.

Hz Mevlana Rumi

East and West

chaiwala — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:10:26 +0000

All civilizations are fallen, but in different ways: the fall of the East is
passive; the fall of the West is active.
The fault of the fallen East is that it no longer thinks; that of the
fallen West is that it thinks too much, and wrongly.

Frithjof Schuon- Spiritual Perspectives and Human Facts

Words of a Sage

chaiwala — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:46:32 +0000

“Spiritual realization is theoretically the easiest thing and in practice the most difficult thing there is. It is the easiest because it is enough to think of God. It is the most difficult because human nature is forgetfulness of God.”
― Frithjof Schuon

Sleep On!

chaiwala — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:01:18 +0000

Those of you who feel no love
sleep on.
Those of you who do not feel the sorrow of love
in whose heart passion has never risen
sleep on.
Those who do not long for union
who are not constantly asking, “Where is He?”
sleep on.
Love’s path is outside of all religious sects
if trickery and hypocrisy is your way
sleep on.
If you don’t melt like copper in your quest
for the alchemical gold
sleep on.
If like a drunkard you fall left and right
unaware that night has passed and it’s time for prayer
sleep on.
Fate has taken my sleep but since
it has not taken yours, young man
sleep on.
We have fallen into love’s hands
since you are in your own
sleep on.
I am the one who is drunk on Love
since you are drunk on food
sleep on.
I have given up my head and have nothing more to say
but you can wrap yourself in the robe of words and
sleep on.

Hz Mawlana (ra)
from Rumi: Hidden Music.

A Seed From Your Heart

chaiwala — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 14:45:16 +0000

O Friend, You made me lovingly
You clothed me in a robe of skin and blood
then planted deep inside me
a seed from Your heart.
You turned the whole world
into a sanctuary where
You are the only One.

Hz Mawlana (ra)

Love Wards Off Dragons

chaiwala — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 14:40:35 +0000

In a dream last night I saw the Master
He called me to come closer and said:
“Love is an emerald. Its brilliant light
wards off dragons on this treacherous path,
only for those who are truly in love.”
But my worthy scholar, if you are tired of listening,
keep telling your own stories instead.

Hz Mawlana (ra)

Remembering Mevlana

chaiwala — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 14:33:49 +0000

Hz Mawlana Jalaluddin Muhammad Balki aka Mawlana Rumi (may God be well pleased with him) passed on from this world on the 17th December, 1273.

“If you have lost heart
in the Path of Love,
Flee to me without delay:
I am a fortress invincible.”

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf on Taking a Sufi Shaykh

chaiwala — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 22:20:03 +0000

Reproduced below is a transcripted quote from Shaykh Hamza Yusuf’s durus on the Tasfiyat al Qulub of Ibn Juzayy al-Kalbi, the great Andalucian scholar. It articulates well the concerns about “organised sufism” that have been expressed on this blog preeviously.

Question: How necessarily important is it to commit to one shaykh to develop your spirituality?

Answer:
You’ll get different opinions depending on who you ask. There’s a nice translation of Ibn Abbad’s letter on whether its obligatory to take a shaykh. There’s a saying, “Whoever doesn’t have a shaykh, Shaytan is his shaykh.” Generally, first and foremost it means you have to have a teacher for the Shariah. You have to have someone who teaches you the religion. When we visited Sh. Mimmar (spelling?) the other day, what did he keep saying? “Get teachers even if you have to pay them. Have teachers. You need teachers to guide you. You need to have sources of knowledge.” In terms of spiritual advancement, if people are having spiritual experiences its good to have people who know what they are doing. Suhba (companionship) is also good. Many of the shuyukh of this period, like Shaykh Ahmad Mashur al-Haddad, who I studied with, Dr. Umar studied with, Sidi Abdul Hakim Winters studied with- he was of the opinion that the idea of taslim was over, the surrendering yourselves to a shaykh completely was over, this wasn’t its time. And there are a lot of dysfunctional aspect in a lot of relationships that happen, so there are problems in all these systems. And surrendering your sovereignty, you have to be very careful with that, who you surrender your sovereignty to, some people demand a lot. There’s a poem by Robert Frost, “They say the truth will make you free, my truth will make you slave to me.” So you just have to be careful, there’s a lot of manipulation out there. People from Pakistan know very well about the peer sahibs, and what happens there. I’m not making this up, am I? A lot of these people are flat-out charlatons, there’s charlatans all over West Africa, you know ‘Sufi shaykh, come and be a murid.’ The danger of Sufism that bothers me, is there are a lot of principles in Tasawwuf that are very easily manipulated into certain cultic control mechanisms and they become very dangerous. I think for those of us in the West, we come from a tradition of individual sovereignty and independence of self. And I personally believe those are very high Islamic characteristics and qualities. I think a lot of the problems in the East is all this slavishness, and devotion and obsequiousness to the grand Master Pu-Ba whoever. I mean, if you want my personal opinion, I do believe that. That does not mean I don’t show the utmost respect to my teachers. Sh. Abdullah bin Bayyah is my teacher and what I love about him is he’s somebody who respects my opinion, listens to my opinion, he’s never been despotic in any way. Habib Ahmad Mashur al-Haddad was not despotic at all, he didn’t get angry at people, he didn’t abuse people. Sifadur Harawi was like that. You just have to look to people and observe them. You just have to be careful. And then there are some people who are just deluded or they are trying to keep something alive and they have their limitations. Sidi Ahmad Zarruq said that there weren’t any complete teachers by his time, the 9th century, the completed masters were gone and to just find people that could do the best that they could do and recognize their shortcomings and don’t have greater expectations that they can do that. Wallahu Ta’ala Alaam. Allah knows best.

–Taken from Shaykh Hamza Yusuf’s CD set on Tasfiyah al-Qublub, (Refinement of the Heart) by Imam Ibn Juzayy al-Kalbi, CD 12, Track 3 and 4 (copyright)

Sit Only Under a Tree Full of Blossoms

chaiwala — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:33:25 +0000

My heart, sit only with those
who know and understand you.
Sit only under a tree
that is full of blossoms.
In the bazaar of herbs and potions
don’t wander aimlessly
find the shop with a potion that is sweet
If you don’t have a measure
people will rob you in no time.
You will take counterfeit coins
thinking they are real.
Don’t fill your bowl with food from
every boiling pot you see.
Not every joke is humorous, so don’t search
for meaning where there isn’t one.
Not every eye can see,
not every sea is full of pearls.
My heart, sing the song of longing
like nightingale.
The sound of your voice casts a spell
on every stone, on every thorn.
First, lay down your head
then one by one
let go of all distractions.
Embrace the light and let it guide you
beyond the winds of desire.
There you will find a spring and
nourished by its sweet waters
like a tree you will bear fruit forever.

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

Some Rules of Thumb for Sufi Aspirants

chaiwala — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:12:49 +0000

These are from Shaykh Ebrahim, a contemporary shaykh of the Darqawi Tariqa based in South Africa.

“I think the following rules of thumb are helpful:

1. If you can’t translate something which is being said to you into plain English that makes a pragmatic contribution to the issue you are struggling with then be careful.

2. If someone claims that your progress on the path is dependent on your loyalty to them then be careful.

3. If a group claim to be somehow the chosen then be careful.

4. Accept help from wherever your Rabb sent it.

5. Be diligent in making your own consciousness and the quality of your perception the fundamental project of your day to day experience and see all the things that you do as a means to that end.

6. Commit to the five pillars and most particularly your salaat as a non-negotiable cornerstone of your practice.”