A Cup Overflowing

Love is a cup overflowing
Yet without bottom

How is this possible?
Where does all this joy come from?

Does love have no beginning,
No middle, no end?

Praise God! It must be so!
The cause and course of life

A treasure lent to spirit
His light formed in earthen clay

The true meaning of
Every verse of every Holy Book

And the hidden name of God
On King Solomon’s ring,

That the Jinn, created by the
Fire of that Love, could not disobey

Bless us then with Love, O Lord!
As Thy Name is praised

Make of it our garment
Clothe us in Thy ways

That with each breath may flow
The prayer of all our days

And bless the ink and pen
That writes these words

The eyes that read them
And the heart that knows

– Irving Karchmar, © January 2009

President Barack Hussein Obama!!

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

Alhamdulillah!

Barack Hussein Obama is the 44th President of the United States of America.

May Allah bless him and guide him rightly, so that at last, justice may flow down like water, and rightousness like a mighty stream.  Amin.

Ya Haqq!

Happy 80th Birthday, Dr. King!

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Happy 80th Birthday, Dr. King! May God bless your soul. Amen.

Ya Haqq!

One Breath

From 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!

Foreign Rights Book Agents – A Request

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

Alhamdulillah! Master of the Jinn will soon be translated and published in Croatia, which brought to mind that perhaps some of the readers of this blog may also know of, or have contact with, editors, publishers or foreign rights agents in other countries.

And so, a request:

If you, or someone you know, has any contacts with a Book Editor or Publisher, or Foreign Rights Agent in your country, please email me and, inshallah, Master of the Jinn will be read in many countries in many languages. If you have not read the book yet, I will be happy to email you a copy in ebook format.

My email:  Irvingk1945 at gmail dot com

May God bless you all.

Ya Haqq!

 

Patience, Prayer, and Love – A Resolution for the New Year

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

Seek help in patience and prayer; and truly it is hard save for the humble-minded,
Who know that they will have to meet their Lord, and unto Him they are returning.
(Quran 2:45-46)

Patience and prayer, two attributes that lift the foot in humility to take a step on the path of Love. Prayer by the Sufi zekr, with each inhalation and exhalation of the breath, and patience forged of acceptance of all that happens, in the certain knowledge that to Him we are returning.

In the Mathnawi, Rumi writes that a piece of iron when kept for long in the fire begins not only to look like fire, but to burn like fire. This is the soul purified by patience and prayer, which are each an act of love. Love is the fire that lights the Way.

And this is my resolution for the New Year. God give me the strength to be steadfast, to be resolute, in patience and prayer and love. Amin.

What are your resolutions  for this New Year of 2009/1430?

Ya Haqq!