Thursday 29 May 2014

Yearning for the journey's end

O my soul, come, cast away from fantasy,
O my soul, come, cast away from fantasy,
Dive into this sea of love if you would see
With your heart’s eyes wonders known in prophecy.
                              
Lovers follow Love alone as their imam,
Drunk within but outwardly serene and calm,
Love is older than all else that man has known,
Who can say who ruled before this great sultan?
                              
Death and day of dazing terror cannot end
This love that burns us, yearning for the journey’s end,
Mend us, Friend, our lazy hearts awake and tend,
Through love of You, Lord, all sicknesses that us rend.
                               ♦
We were born to serve an Emperor that cannot die
Prostrate before Him before He made earth and sky,
Our hearts still tell us that our rank with him was high,
Only Love can join us to His friends brought nigh.
                              
So Lord we pray, accept our prayers for Muhammad,
Send peace and blessings like pure rain on Muhammad,
On companions and all kin of Muhammad,
And guide us home, Lord, for the love of Muhammad.
                              

Niyazi Misri (d.1694) 
Translated by Sh AbdalHakim Murad

Tuesday 20 May 2014

Companion of my heart


"I have made You the Companion of my heart.
But my body is available to those who desire its company, 
And my body is friendly toward its guest,
But the Beloved of my heart is the guest of my soul." 

- My Lady Rabi'a

Sunday 11 May 2014

dear student: your precious path

What a precious path. Paved with tears, and sorrows and griefs. 

And every tear, and every sorrow and every grief beautifies the road ahead. I see yours glistening, may Allah protect you. And I really do wish sometimes, that it was easy for you, and your choices were facilitated. But I know that isn't how it works, and looking at your glistening path, I am comforted.

What an excellent sufficiency is our Lord.

Alhamdulila. 

Allah bless students

When you sit before your teachers, and you bask in their wisdom and intelligence, don't forget to remember - even if only for a moment - that there were long trials and dark days that they went through, to finally sit there before you. There were times when no body believed in them and their parents refused to give permission or refused to be content, times when they had no money, times when they struggled with health, and even times when they had little time.

So when you sit with your teachers, appreciate the miracle of God that has occurred for a teacher to be made. And when you see students, setting off on their studies with high aspirations and constricted means, pray for them.

O Allah, when they dedicate themselves to you - please don't reject them. Grant them the support and prayers of their parents, endow them with health and sufficient wealth, and bless them in their time and aspiration. Ya Allah, please don't reject them.

O Allah, bless the students and make us of them.