In the dead of night, a Sufi began to weep.
He said, "This world is like a closed coffin, in which
We are shut and in which, through our ignorance,
We spend our lives in folly and desolation.
When Death comes to open the lid of the coffin,
Each one who has wings will fly off to Eternity,
With gentle art and charm, You claimed my heart, gradually, gradually
And hollowed me out of my self, gradually, gradually.
You draw the soul to Yourself, kindling a flame within the heart
Much akin to a rope being pulled, gradually, gradually.
Your aim it seems, is for me to be a sacrifice on Your path
Pulling the heart to take my soul, gradually, gradually.
Hmmm not sure why I have to keep approving, will check it out.
Okay fixed it, I thought you were already a moderator, all good now.
WSD:9:1 Avoid all places and people, which conduce to evil. Keep away from hypocrites, for, having a common feeling of degradation, they will congregate together, and it would be unwise to be numbered among them. Hypocrites tend towards evil because they serve its purpose and, therefore having an affinity with it, they turn away from what is good and just. They are hard fisted when the poor come discretely seeking for alms, but are open-handed when approached in a public place. Surely the hypocrite must be the lowest form of man or woman!
WSD:9:2 If you meet a stranger who appears to be filled with extraordinary virtues, or who conducts himself with grace and good manners, do not hastily conclude that this is his true character. Go to the place where he lives and is known. Note his attitude towards his family and behaviour among friends, and listen to what…
Hope is the heart's comfort when it anticipates something it loves. If most of the criteria for the realisation of that longing are put in place, then that waiting can rightly be called hope - like when someone plants seeds in fertile, well-irrigated soil and then hopes for a good harvest. If, however, the necessary conditions are missing, then waiting is but self-delusion and idiocy - as with someone who plants seeds in barren soil and does not water them. If, however, the person doubts whether the seeds will sprout or not, then that is called wish - as when the soil is fertile but water scarce.
This world is the planting ground for the Hereafter. The heart is like the soil, and faith is like the seeds that are planted in it. Good deeds plough, dredge, and irrigate the soil. The heart becomes negligent, however, and immerses itself…
Thank you Sarah ❤️ This was a lovely read and found myself weeping through certain segments which often happens when profound truths in scriptures and other ancient texts go straight to my heart. Found a copy online and have downloaded it...thank you again sister 🤗
Beautiful poems, thank you for sharing. However I want to address the spinning dervish is no different to the Christian who kneels at the feet of a statue praying into their rosary beads and singing their hymns, or the Muslim getting out his mat four times a day to pray towards a particular geographic area they call Mecca. These external practices do not bring us closer to God, to find God is to journey within, it is not something expressed in physical movements or reciting prayers, the journey back to our Creator and our divine nature is an inner journey of the heart.
The spinning dervishes were founded by Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (1207-1273), known to his followers as Mevlana, ‘our master’. Farid al-Din Attar (the writer of this poem) does not seem to have been part of this movement. The spinning dervish movement became popularized in the 1950s as part of the annual celebration at Konya in Anatolia.
14:7: I am asked how this Far Away Formless One, awesome in changelessness, whose Spirit fills the whole universe, can be worshipped. My friends, how can He be influenced by the lower depths of His creation? Can rain wet the sky or rivers fill the ocean? Concerning the form of worship which is praise and prayer. Do you think that doleful chants, mournful music and mumbled prayer add to His glory or fill His heart with joy? These are gifts gathered from the woodland. Far more acceptable would be a freely dedicated heart purged of evil, the offering of a body wherein lust and unhealthy desires have been uprooted, the display of a mouth untainted by lewdness and falsehood, and the showing of integrity, honesty and purity. - The Kolbrin Bible: Chapter 14 – Book of Lucius
14:20: Those who say they can find The Great Spirit through means outside of themselves will seek in vain; what they will find will be worthless pebbles, the real jewel lies within. Only when the unreal is revealed for what it is and penetrated in consciousness, can the real come into sight. This can be proved beyond any dispute by personal experience, but few care to pay the price of such knowledge. The waters of illumination cannot be gathered on the heights of arrogant self-assurance, or on the hilltop of prejudice. Neither can they be drawn from the valley of apathy or the dale of agnosia. - The Kolbrin Bible: Chapter 14 – Book of Lucius
15:45: I am not influenced by the mere formal actions of men, or by empty sacrifice. Lighted lamps and candles, days of fasting and self-mortification by man cannot sway Me in his favour. I am not to be bribed, for I am God. He who handles fire carelessly and gets burnt cannot blame the fire; neither can he who goes into swift waters and drowns blame the waters. There are laws, the violation of which brings retribution in its train. They who by their own deeds bring pain and suffering upon themselves cannot blame Me for what ensues. These are the effects of the lesser laws which are easily understood, but above these is the Great Law, which is not so incomprehensible. Under this, the link between the deed and its effect is not so apparent; men bring down calamity and suffering upon their own heads and blame Me, when the fault lies with them and the cause is their own misconduct or misconception. Men reap as they sow and I am the Fertile Field, which takes no part in the sowing or the reaping. Man is his own master and the lord of his own destiny. He cannot expect help from any great power, unless he expend effort to contact such power or be deserving of help. Everything a man is or becomes is the result of his own striving and efforts, or his lack of them. I made man to be a man, not a mere puppet or nursling. I am the God of the Law. I am the God of the Stalwart." - The Kolbrin Bible - Egyptian Texts of the Bronze Books: Book of Gleanings: Chapter Fifteen - The Voice of God