Each new day we are given
Is a blessing from God
Each breath at waking
A new beginning
Take nothing for granted
Time and fortune are fleeting
Each exhalation
May be your last
O Friend, breathe deeply
In the morning light
The rise and fall of your lungs
Is the body’s prostration
The prayer of life
Invoking His name
All-ah! All-ah!
- Irving Karchmar, September 2008
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Posted by darvish
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!
9 Comments | Books & writing, Commentary, Current Affairs, Islam, Islamic Artists, Religion, Spirituality & Religion, Sufi, Sufism, Uncategorized | Tagged: blog, breath, cage, doubt, earth, faith, fear, forest, gratitude, heart, illusion, Kneeling Before the Rose, lover, mother, people, poem, poetry, poetry blog, prison, seeds, skin, spiritual, star, truth, universe, wind, world of illusion, Ya Haqq | Permalink
Posted by darvish
The breath of zekr inhales love
and exhales kindness
The heartbeat keeps time
to the rhythm of intention
Steady the breath with silence
and good works
Listen to the heart beat
La illa ha ill Allah!
O seeker, the traveler on this path
takes no provisions but love
- Irving Karchmar, 2006
29 Comments | Books & writing, Commentary, Current Affairs, Islam, My Poetry, Religion, Spirituality & Religion, Sufi, Sufism | Tagged: breath, intention, Irving Karchmar, kindness, La illa ha ill Allah, love, poem, poetry, seeker, Sufi poetry, zekr | Permalink
Posted by darvish
One Breath
January 11, 2009From pre-eternity to post-eternity
is but a single breath,
A breath free of all these melodies
high and low.
Treasure this breath,
this moment you now enjoy.
Spend it in happiness: there is
no time for sorrow.
Once this moment has passed,
it is gone forever.
Your time is less
than the very least you can imagine.
If you spend this moment laughing,
the world will be all laughter.
But if you fall into depression,
the world will be all sorrow.
Don’t give your heart to this unstable
transitory world
With all its ups and downs,
its twists and turns.
Lighten another’s heart;
be light of heart yourself,
For the highest gain in the world
is this.
Take care, Nurbakhsh,
not to hurt any heart,
For this is more valuable
than any crown or throne.
- Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh (1926 – 2008), from Vol. 46, Sufi Journal.
Ya Haqq!