This is a fictional discussion on the nature of language that I wrote a few years ago. It’s part of a novel in progress that has been having rather a long holiday! “Let’s look at language as an example.” Dan stood up, swivelled his chair around and sat astride with his elbow resting on the… Read More Language, Light, and Intention
You turned and pointed, and when I looked in the direction You were indicating I saw a vast horizon of which I was unaware before. We stood at a great height and from here the distant sea was visible with its sparkling reflections of light. On the shoreline I discerned a boat waiting to set… Read More Ocean of Being
For a while I once lived in Andalucia and I used to write a regular journal on this blog that viewed life from a Sufi perspective. I’ve been back in the UK for four years now and I’m busy writing my PhD thesis on Sufism in Israel. What I miss most about Andalucia is the… Read More Once Upon a Time in Andalucia
Irving, author of the blog, Darvish, has posted a translation of one of Jalaluddin Rumi’s last sermons. Irving notes that, “We do not know if it dates from before or after his meeting with Shams al-Din of Tabriz. Rumi delivered the opening benediction and the Hadith in Arabic, the liturgical language, then switched to Persian.… Read More Rumi’s Sermon
I discovered this video in an article on the scholars of Mali in the Huffington Post It is about the rich tradition of scholarship in Timbuktu, Mali and the threat that comes from the Ansine and Al-Qaeda groups. As the author of the article, Rudolph Ware, notes, “Unfortunately, the “radical Islam” of groups like Ansar… Read More The Sufi Scholars of Mali
“Building a Shared future: Islam, Knowledge and Innovation” is the title of a joint publication of the British Council’s ‘Our Shared Future’ project and the Centre of Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge. To go straight to the pdf file of this publication click here I find this immensely exciting and encouraging. The publication… Read More It’s Time to fill the Gap Between Academic Expertise and Public Knowledge of Muslims and Islam
Drum your fingers gently, Doum, tekke-te, doum! First light is rising And the white thread of dawn Approaches! Doum, tekke-te, doum! Drum the Name of Beauty, Doum, tekke-te, doum! The goat skin sings, And the rosewood blooms, Crying, ‘Love!’ Doum, tekke-te, doum! Drum the Name of Glory! Doum, tekke-doum, Tekke-te, tekke-te, tekke-doum! Flames on the… Read More Daf
I recently spent ten days in Andalucia and was delighted to be back there again. The pomegranates were ripe and I feasted on the sweet juicy fruits. It was beautiful to be able to enjoy the vast night skies there – so clear, and so many stars. In the garden at the house I stayed… Read More Roses and Pomegranates
The beginning of movement is stillness. The beginning of sound is silence. Within every dance of creation, the flutter of a bird’s wings, the explosion of a star, the hand that heals an injured child, is stillness at the core. Within every sound in this universe, the singing of a choir, the hammering of a… Read More Shekinah and Sakinah: The Indwelling
I was just speaking to a friend on SU about the film Bab’Aziz and said how I feel the mystic tradition of all religions comes very close to the core reality of being. For me it is the Sufi path but I also find inspiration from the Kabbalah and Mahayyana Buddhism. Finally we are all… Read More Justice and Well-Being Kiss Each Other
Sometimes I write about poetry here and sometimes I write poetry myself. Today I read the following poem on the tasawwuf blog of my sister on the path, Maryam It is beautiful and with its words it captures the impossibility of capturing the Ineffable, yet we can whisper the Names of the One and the… Read More A Poem of Sufi Love from Maryam
In this beautiful miniature painting that illustrates a scene from Nizami’s telling of the folk story of Layla and Majnun we see Majnun in the wilderness longing for his beloved Layla who he is forbidden from seeing. With time however, he begins to see Layla in all things. This story of lovers serves as a… Read More Layla and Majnun and the Soul’s Longing for the Real
Two well loved stories of love from the Sufi and the Hindu traditions where both serve as metaphors for the love of the Beloved clipped from astore.amazon.com Discover the common ground shared between Islamic Sufism and Hindu Bhaktism through their literary expressions. This book examines two classic love poems-The Story of Layla Majnun (written by… Read More Unveiling the Garden of Love
Image via Wikipedia I recently put this in my Facebook notes and then thought that readers here might also enjoy it. Just a few thoughts on the experience of the dissolution of the nafs (ego matrix) that is the aim of the Sufi path. The soul dwells amidst the utmost silence of total awe and… Read More The Secret Heart
Wild Dervish Writes: A Sufi Look at Life 