love myself...

 "And God said, "Love Your Enemy," and I obeyed him and loved myself."
Kahlil Gibran

By her, I departed to her (from The Poem of the Sufi Way) by Umar Ibn al-Farid

 English version by Th. Emil Homerin

Original Language Arabic

 

By her, I departed to her

     from me, never to return;

          one like me never speaks

               of coming back.

 

Kindly I secluded my soul

     away from my departure;

          never again did I allow it

               to be my companion.

 

Then I was made to disappear

     from where my soul stood apart,

          that no attribute could appear

               to crowd me in my presence,

 

And I was made to witness

     my absence when she appeared,

          so I found me, her there,

               in the bridal chamber of my seclusion.

 

In my witnessing, my existence

     was cast off, and I was far

          from the existence of my witnessing,

               effacing, not transfixing.

 

I embraced what I witnessed

     by bearing witness to it

          in the effacement of my witness,

               now sober after my drunkenness.

 

In the sobriety after effacement,

     I was none other than her,

          my essence adorned my essence

               when she removed her veil.

 

What a Human Is, Now I Know

 What a Human Is, Now I Know

 

by Muhittin Abdal

 

English version by Jennifer Ferraro & Latif Bolat

Original Language Turkish

 

They're always talking about human, human --

     What a human being is, now I know.

They are always discussing heart, the heart --

     What the heart is, now I know.

 

Within the heart of the believer it was found --

     it wasn't found anywhere outside.

We found it in our own vast selves.

     What faith is, now I know.

 

This is how they pick the wheat from the chaff,

     and where your words and deeds must speak for you.

This is where the wise ones guide the Path --

     What the essence of this Sufi way is, now I know.

 

What the pious fearful carry like baggage,

     why they shoot their arrows at the faithful,

What they hide and trumped in nice language --

     What doubt is, now I know.

 

Given all these attributes, I became a person.

     Through God's vastness I was forgiven everything.

I found absolute oneness with Reality.

     What the guest is, now I know.

 

I said to my inner self Be humble,

     and the Glorious One showered me in blessings;

There was a sign that seared me in the heart.

     What the proof is, now I know.

 

Muhittin proclaims the Truth is a spectator.

     God is everywhere if you are willing to see.

What is the hidden, what is the apparent --

     What a human being is, now I know.

 

 

-- from Quarreling with God: Mystic Rebel Poems of the Dervishes of Turkey, Translated by Jennifer Ferraro / Translated by Latif Bolat

The Light of God

 

It was narrated that Ibn Mas`ud said,
“There is no night or day with your Lord;
the Light of the Throne comes from the Light of His Face.” 

 

 “When the Messenger of Allah got up to pray at night, he would say::“O Allah, to You be praise,
You are the Sustainer of heaven and earth and whoever is in them.
To You be praise, You are the Light of the heavens and the earth and whoever is in them.”

 

Quran 6:141

She is it Who brought into being orchards, some trellised and others untrellised. She brought into being the palm trees and the whole of the agricultural yield of every district and season, varying in kind and in flavour, and the olives and the pomegranates besides many others of similar species and dissimilar class. Eat, therefore, of their flowers when they come to be fruits and grow ripe and pay, when you reap in harvest, what ought to be given in benevolence or in alms, but avoid prodigality, for Allah does not like the extravagant.  (Qur'an 6:141)

Traditions of Sufism

Traditions Sufism by Frederic and Mary ann Brussat

Study and Smile to:

• be constant in your remembrance of God through zikr (chanting)
• learn how the Divine qualities (names) of God can be incorporated into your character
• polish your heart to be a clearer reflection of the Divine qualities
• increase your self-knowledge and tame your nafs (ego)
• acknowledge that surrender to God is the starting point of faith
• cultivate adab, courtesy and civility toward all
• see people and events with the eye of the heart, from the perspective of Love and Unity
• enjoy the wisdom and ecstasies of mystical poetry
• expand your capacity for generosity and servanthood
• follow the examples of Rumi and other Sufi saints who yearned for unity with the Beloved
• appreciate the Sufi arts: music, dance, singing, and whirling
• experience the benefits of spiritual conversations with a sheikh and a community