A Moment Comes Like a Thunderbolt!

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

A moment comes like a thunderbolt, in which a flash of the undisclosed rends our dark apathy asunder. It is full of overpowering brilliance, like a point in which all moments in life are focused, or a thought which outweighs all thoughts ever conceived of. There is so much light in our cage, in our world, it is as if we were suspended amidst the stars.

Apathy turns to splendor unawares. The ineffable has shuddered itself into the soul. It has entered our consciousness like a ray of light passing into a lake. Refraction of that penetrating ray brings about a turning in our mind: we are penetrated by God’s insight. We cannot think anymore as if God were there and we are here. God is both there and here. God is not a being, but Being in and beyond all beings.

A tremor seizes our limbs.

Our nerves are struck, quiver like strings.

Our whole being bursts into shudders, but then a cry wrested from our very core fills the world around us as if a mountain were suddenly about to place itself in front of us.

It is one word: “God.”

Not an emotion, a stir within us, but a power, a marvel beyond us, tearing the world apart. The word that means more than Universe, more than Eternity.

Holy!

Holy!

Holy!

We cannot comprehend it. We only know it means infinitely more than we are able to echo.

Staggered, embarrassed, we stammer and say, “God,” who is more than all there is, who speaks through the ineffable, whose question is more than our mind can answer; “God,” to whom our life can be the spelling of an answer.

- From Man is not Alone, by Abraham Joshua Heschel, a contemporary of Martin Luther King Jr., an ally of his in the civil rights movement, an anti-Vietnam war activist, and a profound religious thinker of the 20th Century.

“He says before this paragraph that in general we resist the knowledge that’s coming at us. We stay inside what he calls a cage and live on a “dainty diet” because we’re apprehensive about what is waiting for us outside. But then, at a certain moment…something happens to us.”

This is the Truth.

- Reposted with thanks from the My Inner Adult blog

Ya Haqq!

The Experiment

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

This is a simple experiment. Go through one day of life without saying the word “I” or “my” or “mine.”

It is related that one of Junaid’s teachers, Al-Qalaneis, said: “I was accompanied by some people in Basra who were quite generous to me, but one morning when I said, ‘where is my robe’ I lost my favor in their eyes.”

To say “my” or “mine” in the presence of those who maintain the status of Suhbat (Companionship) is a breach of the Adab (etiquette) of the Sufis. The robe would surely have been brought to him without the need to ask for it, but it was the claim of possession of anything in this world which caused Al-Qalaneis to lose favor in the eyes of the Companions of the Way.

Alhamdulillah! All that we have of earthly possessions, or of attained knowledge, even our children and our very lives, is but a loan to us, and surely the Rightful Owner can take back the loan as He wills.

So, can you gather the intention and frame of mind go through a single day feeling that all things are ‘loaned’ to you, including your life, and there is no “I” or “mine” or “my?” That all things are prepared for your use and what you owe to Allah, the Rightful Owner, is praise and gratitude and…. well, you can decide what else you owe for yourselves.

The Prophet (pbuh) entered the Ka’ba and destroyed 360 idols. We have an idol in the Ka’ba of our hearts. Its name is “I.” - Dawoud Kringle.

- Source of Al-Qalaneis story: Brother Dara’s Untired with Loving website. The experiment was also his idea, on TheSufiNotes Yahoo group.

Ya Haqq!

In Praise of Mothers

Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.
Strength and honor are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in times to come.
She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.
Give her the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her at the city gates.

- Proverbs 31:10, 25-31

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Ya Haqq!

Computer Dependency Test

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

Here is a quick test to see if you have become way too dependent on computers.

Question: Are you male or female?

To find out the answer, look down…

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Look down, not scroll down!

hehe!

Ya Haqq!

Master of the Jinn in Spanish

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

Alhamdulillah!

Master of the Jinn: A Sufi Novel has been translated into Spanish :) So I am once again appealing to the gracious readers of this blog:

If you know any publishers or book editors of Spanish language books in the US or any Spanish speaking country, or Foreign Rights agents that work with Spanish speaking countries, please let me know in the comments, or by email at: Irvingk57 at aol dot com.

Inshallah, with your help, Master of the Jinn will soon be published in Spanish and many other languages.

Ya Haqq!

The Way of Tao

The cloud does not insist upon its form,

The wave does not force its way over the ocean,

So why should you clutch so tightly

Your little map?

Follow your heart

And know joy in all things.

The path of freedom

Has no markers,

Yet it leads to fulfillment;

The path of confusion

Is crowded with signs,

Pointing in all directions.

The Great Way is a humble, solitary path,

Leading Home:

Follow it closely and be guided.

How do you know you are on the Way?

When your map no longer serves you.

- Taken with thanks from dear Sister Krishna’s Deciphering Spirituality blog.

Ya Haqq!

The Islamic Writers Alliance

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

Alhamdulillah! I have been named the Marketing Director of The Islamic Writers Alliance, whose website you can view by clicking HERE. And I urge all Muslims in the literary arts to join this worthy organization.

From the IWA website:
The Islamic Writers Alliance is a national professional organization with an international membership for Muslims involved in the literary arts — published and aspiring authors, novelists, poets, essayists, publishers, editors, illustrators, journalists, spoken word artists, and playwrights. We support one another in our goals as writers, whether it be honing our craft, seeking publication opportunities, or promoting our published works to both the Muslim and non-Muslim world. We are dedicated to writing about, presenting, and supporting positive Islamic fiction and non-fiction reading materials, in all genres, for all ages.
The IWA is an inclusive organization and welcomes Muslim men and women of all races, ethnicities, linguistic backgrounds, abilities, and creeds.

This is true. All members of the IWA - whether they write books, plays, poems, newspaper articles, blogs, or are graphic designers of the written word - have one thing in common. Each is dedicated to portraying Islam is the best possible light in both fiction and non-fiction, and to advancing the cause of quality Islamic Children’s Books, and Islamic Fiction and Non-Fiction for teens and adults.

Many of the Muslimah in the group write Islamic Children’s Books, which are sorely lacking in schools and libraries, especially in masjid libraries. They are also excellent to use for Muslim home-schoolers.

The dues for joining as a full member are only a nominal $25.00 per year. If you cannot afford it, or live in a country where it is difficult for you to pay in US dollars, there is a fund set aside to provide your membership fee. And you get your own webpage and bio, plus a sales link to your book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc., or to your website or blog if you wish. And it’s a great way to network for writers :)

You also will receive the quarterly magazine Islamic Ink, to which all members are encouraged to contribute stories, poems, and articles.

Once again, click HERE to visit the Islamic Writers Alliance website, and check out the catalog of books by its members, including many excellent children’s books.

Join me in supporting this worthy and growing organization by becoming a member today.

Ya Haqq!

Interview

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

The Pakistani Spectator, a very interesting site that covers news, entertainment, politics, and all things Pakistan, has been conducting interviews with various bloggers around the world

And so it has just posted an interview with me about the Darvish blog. Please check it out by clicking HERE.

Ya Haqq!

The Servant’s Call

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

The Prophet (pbuh) said: “By Him in Whose hand is my life, the servant will supplicate God Most High while God is angry with him, and God will turn away from him. Again he will supplicate, and God will turn away, and again he will supplicate, and God will turn away. Then again he will supplicate, and God Most High will say to the angels, ‘My servant refuses to call upon anything other than Me so I have answered him.”

- A hadith from a longer and extremely beautiful post at the Almiskeenah blog.

Ya Haqq!

Touching Faith

you have your doubt
because doubt
is the bars of a cage
you believe in.
you see only
a blurred world of illusion.
still gently as the breath prays
the soul dreams its way
out of every prison people create,
including the fear
that leads to lack of belief.
Lover, it’s your heart we seek
inside our own. you have felt
the breath of Him on your skin
until you named it wind.
how can we know
we dress things in our own
sense of limitation?

if i placed a star in the palm of your hand,
you would feel the way
the earth feels when it becomes
a mother to a forest of seeds.
behold the star now.
if you believe it
is what you view from earth,
balance it in the palm of your hand.
if you can’t, you have touched Truth,
allowing your heart the faith
of the entire universe.

- This beautiful spiritual poem is from Sister Annie’s Kneeling Before the Rose poetry blog, and posted with her permission and my gratitude.

Ya Haqq!