There is Only One River

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

“Sufism is not different from the mysticism of all religions. Mysticism comes from Adam, of monks, of hermits, and of Muhammad (God’s peace be upon him). A river passes through many countries and each claims it for its own. But there is only one river. Truth does not change. People change. People try to possess truth and keep it for themselves, keep it from others. But you cannot own the truth.”  – Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak

Ya Haqq!

English Book and Ebook of Master of the Jinn in Germany

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

The English paperback and Ebook of Master of the Jinn is now being sold in Germany on the Amazon.de website.

To buy the English Master of the Jinn Paperback in Germany click HERE.

To buy the English Master of the Jinn Ebook in Germany, click HERE.

And of course, for the German translation, Meister der Jinn, click HERE.

Ya Haqq!

Rumi’s Easter Poem – Happy Easter!

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

Everyone has eaten and fallen asleep. The house is empty. We walk out to the garden to let the apple meet the peach, to carry messages between rose and jasmine.

Spring is Christ,
Raising martyred plants from their shrouds.
Their mouths open in gratitude, wanting to be kissed.
The glow of the rose and the tulip means a lamp is inside.
A leaf trembles. I tremble in the wind-beauty like silk from Turkestan.
The censer fans into flame.

This wind is the Holy Spirit.
The trees are Mary.
Watch how husband and wife play subtle games with their hands.
Cloudy pearls from Aden are thrown across the lovers,
as is the marriage custom.

The scent of Joseph’s shirt comes to Jacob.
A red carnelian of Yemeni laughter is heard
by Muhammad in Mecca.

We talk about this and that. There’s no rest except on these branching moments.

– Jalaluddin Rumi (from The Essential Rumi, by Coleman Barks)

Ya Haqq!

The Buddhist Master’s Question

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

A Buddhist Master asks, “How do you know when the night has ended and the dawn has come?”  A student replies, “When I can tell a donkey apart from the hay.” Another says, “When I can see my hands clearly.” The master responds, “The night is over and the dawn has come when you look into a stranger’s eyes and instead of seeing something to judge, you see your brother or sister.”

 

Ya Haqq!

Mystic Heart – The 3rd Sufi Poetry Carnival!!!

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

God hath treasures beneath the Throne,
the keys whereof are the tongues of poets.
– a saying of the Prophet (pbuh)

Alhamdulillah!

Welcome to the 3rd Annual Sufi Poetry Carnival, co-hosted by our brother Sadiq of the highly acclaimed Technology of the Heart blog.

The Carnival will run from April 7th to April 30th, during National Poetry Month in the US, and will be posted on our blogs on May 7th, inshallah.  The Sufi theme this year is:

The Mystic Heart

If you have a blog or website, you can submit a direct link of your poem. If you don’t have a blog or website, you can email your submission to the address below, with the subject line:  Sufi Poetry Carnival

All May Enter: We are all spiritual beings having a human experience,  so may submit their poetry, whether a Sufi or not, as long as the poetry is in English and the Mystic Heart theme is followed.

Send your links and entries to me at: Irvingk1945@gmail.com

And please send a duplicate copy to Sadiq at mysticsaint@gmail.com

We will then each post a selection of the poems chosen :)

In your light I learn how to love,
in your beauty, how to make poems.
You dance inside my chest where no-one sees you,
but sometimes I do, and that sight becomes this art.
– Rumi

 

Ya Haqq!

IWA 7th Annual Islamic Poetry Contest!

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

Announcing the Islamic Writers Alliance 7th Annual Islamic Poetry Contest.
April 1st – 30th, 2011.

Submissions may be sent beginning today, April 1, 2011, and will be accepted until 11:59 on April 30, 2011 EST.

The theme for this year is open and contest guidelines can be viewed below:

Rules
• Poetry must be Islamic in theme and in nature
• Poetry must be from at least 2 lines long, but no more than 100 lines
• Entries may be of any ‘type’ of poetry, including but not limited to ballad, couplet, iambic pentameter, quatrain, cinquain, sonnet, haiku, epic, free verse, and even light verse, limerick and spoken word.

The Poetry contest has 3 categories of submission:
1. IWA Members –
2. Adults – authors 18 and over who are not members of IWA
3. Youth – authors under the age of 18 who are not members of IWA

• Maximum of 1 (one) submission per individual.
• Entries that have won previously cannot be resubmitted.
• Poems will only be accepted as plain text (ASCII) format in the body of email , as an attachment in Microsoft Word, or as a pdf.
• Poems must be submitted via email.
• Poems must be submitted to

poetrycontest@islamicwritersalliance.net

• Poems must include authors name, category, email address, mailing address, phone number, and title of poem.
• Poems that are submitted by youth under the age of 18 must also include a statement from a parent or legal guardian authorizing the IWA’s public use of poem on the website or for a possible anthology in the future.
• Teachers may submit ‘class’ poetry only as individual submissions from one school with parental permission.
• Poems are the legal property of the author.
• IWA retains the right to disqualify and reject submissions deemed inappropriate.

This is a great venue in which to hone poetic skills, so please pass this notice along to any poets you know, young or old, and help spread the word on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or other social networks :)

Ya Haqq!