Jahane Rumi

a typo in my comment, I apologise profusly.

Syed

nice site brother rumi and nice words used do visit my site http://www.aulia-e-hind.com and let me know if u can give a link to the site from your space

Indeed a blog so nice, hard to belive it exist. Congratlations. Iam proud of you RR. Thanks for blog you have created,many many thanks, Jakallah may God bless you for eternity.

Syed

if you are a man of this life
then march on this path like a man
or retire and take refuge in your house
since you’re not ready for this battle

real men drank a thousand seas and
still died of thirst
you only had a cup
yet boasted of overflowing

you claimed to reach your quest
you’ll raise all the dust
yet you’ve travelled no distance
you’ve left no mark

now humbly turn to dust
under the gallop of real men
then you’ll rise and
become a part of their journey

if you crawl for years
on the path of your quest
do not yield to grief
do not submit to distress

Rumi 

Translated by Nader Khalili

Courtesy Sunlight Ruminations

My dear brother Syed Salman Chisty from Ajmer has uploaded some great links here . He has sent video clips of Sufi Zikr (spiritual gathering) in which he participated while he was in Jeddah, Al Hijaz (of all the places, yes..); and from an international conference in Singapore on Islamic spirituality. Sufism practiced in Saudia was most intriguing for me. Such Sufi congregations with music in the puritanical Saudi Arabia where Sufi practices, entrenched elsewhere in the Muslim world, are not endorsed by the state ideology of pure Islam.

Carrying God

No one can keep us from carrying God

Wherever we go.

No one can rob His Name

From our heart as we try to relinquish our fears

And at last stand — Victorious.

We do not have to leave him in the mosque

Or church alone at night;

We do not have to be jealous of tales of saints

Or glorious masts, those intoxicated souls

Who can make outrageous love with the Friend.

We do not have to be envious of our spirits’ ability

Which can sometimes touch God in a dream.

Our yearning eyes, our warm-needing bodies,

Can all be drenched in contentment

And Light.

No one anywhere can keep us

From carrying the Beloved wherever we go.

No one can rob His precious Name

From the rhythm of my heart –

Steps and breath.
 

Translated by Daniel Ladinsky from The Subject Tonight is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems of Hafiz

From Imagining Ourselves project of the International Museum of Women:

Ajmer continues to enchant me…these lines from the last discourse of Khwaja Mu’inuddin Chishti  manifest the poignancy of Sufi ways (tareeqat).

“Love all and hate none.
Mere talk of peace will avail you naught.
Mere talk of God and religion will not take you far.
Bring out all the latent powers of your being
and reveal the full magnificence of your immortal self.

Be overflowing with peace and joy,
and scatter them wherever you are
and wherever you go.

Be a blazing fire of truth,
be a beauteous blossom of love
and be a soothing balm of peace.

With your spiritual light,
dispel the darkness of ignorance;
dissolve the clouds of discord and war
and spread goodwill, peace, and harmony among the people.

This is your mission, to serve the people…..”

Full text can be accessed  here.

The image above depicts Mughal Emperor Akbar at the shrine - credit here.

The saint of saints (Khawaje Khawaji-gaan) buried in Ajmer is a centre-point of Sufi thought and practice in the Indian subcontinent even today…

Pilgrims of all faiths, tribes and castes still pay homage on a daily basis seeking the Divine grace.

Ajmer is a true symbol of inter-faith harmony and the ocean where all streams mingle and merge..This is one of the places where wild roses are collected as an offering…

You can sense the warmth and magnetism that pulls one towards the door..

“The Shape of My Tongue”

This mirror inside me shows . . .
I can’t say what, but I can’t not know!

I run from body. I run from spirit.
I do not belong anywhere.

I’m not alive!
You smell the decay?

You talk about my craziness.
Listen rather to the honed-blade sanity I say.

This gourd head on top of a dervish robe,
do I look like someone you know?

This dipper gourd full of liquid,
upsidedown and not spilling a drop!

Or if it spills, it drops into God
and rounds into pearls.

I form a cloud over that ocean
and gather spillings.

When Shams is here,
I rain.

After a day or two, lilies sprout,
the shape of my tongue.

– Version by Coleman Barks from the “The Essential Rumi”

Courtesy Sunlight Ruminations

AssalamAlykum

dear bro Raza ,Mashallah your choice of sufi poetry is so fine . Love is the need of the hour for the whole of humanity .Unconditional love for the best of creations i.e. Human beings will surely take us all close to the Almighty Creator .

“Love towards all ,Malice towards none” - Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chishty (RA)

May you be blessed n May Allah always smile upon you ,Ameen.

Peace ,Love ,Blessings

Syed Salman Chishty

Ajmer Sharif ,India

Tumhe inn mausamon kee kaya khabar miltee aggar hum bhee

Ghuttan kay khauf say aab-o-Hawa tabdeel kar laitay

Tumahari tarhay jeenay kaa hunnar aataa aggar hum ko

Makaan apnaa wohee rakhtay pataa tabdeel kar laitay

I am extremely sorry for the incomplete post on Hijab -o, yes not again -yesterday. I have fixed the previous post now. This was an article that Sadia Dehlvi wrote for the Hindustan Times, India.

I liked what she wrote and wanted to share it with my friends in the blogosphere. Please do read it.

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Hindustan Times published this piece by Sadia Dehlvi yesterday.

Two weeks ago, an Afghan woman carrying a baby in her arms and wearing a headscarf was shot in the head by an American Latino while walking on a street in Fremont, California. She died leaving six small children behind. Next week, the women of Fremont, irrespective of religious faiths, will observe a ‘Wear a Hijab to Work Day’ as a mark of protest against the shooting.

The incident illustrates what the hijab has come to mean today. In a world where Muslims are associated with terrorism and are the victims of hate crimes, more and more young Muslim women are adopting the hijab as an expression of defiance and an assertion of Islamic identity.

Hijab is usually discussed in the context of women. However, the Quran clearly states in Surah Noor: “Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that we will make for greater purity for them: and Allah is well acquainted with all that they do.” (Quran 24:30)

The next verse says: “…and say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband’s fathers, their sons…” (Quran 24:31)

The Quran also clearly states: “Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from error.” (Quran 22:56)

There is a tradition of the Prophet where he asked the men to tell their women to cover their heads. Islam is based on the love of God and the Prophet Mohammad. Clearly, there can be no compulsion in love. Everything in Islam is based on intent. If one starves all day and does not intend to fast, the starvation does not give you the reward of a fast observed in the name of God.

Similarly, if a woman is forced into hijab or one wears a designer turban and coat to make a fashion statement, that does not mean that she is adopting the hijab.

The Prophet was gentle, polite, and never used force with any man or woman. He was often asked by his companions to define a perfect Muslim and each time he replied, “He amongst you who has the best moral character”. The essence of the Prophet’s teachings is a constant strive for inner perfection.

A woman must have the right to choose her dress code. The banning of headscarves for students in France is as oppressive as the Taliban forcing women into purdah. Last year, seven states in Germany banned the hijab for teachers. In an attempt to be part of the European Union, Turkey has banned hijab for women in public institutions who are on the government payroll. In each case, it is the woman who is being used and has become the symbol of those who want to purify Islam or demonise it.

Some European states have openly called the hijab a symbol of fundamentalism and extremism. Muslims around the world see the attack on hijab as a continuation of the onslaught against the Muslim world.

In Muslim societies — from Egypt to Iran to Indonesia — many skilled professional women wear the hijab as a matter of choice and should not be necessarily viewed as being repressive. The hijab is often a matter of culture and tradition. In rural and traditional India, women, irrespective of their religions, cover their heads. In the Muslim ghettos of India, they have little or no access to education or jobs, their faith is all they have and they cling to its symbols.

The metro mindset now used to seeing almost obscene levels of fashion on film and television confuses modernity with Westernisation. My grandmothers wore the burqa and yet they were very progressive. I have many cousins who are work as architects, doctors and lawyers while donning the headscarf and none of them are remotely oppressed.

What I find rather appalling is Indians accepting the Western notions of modernity while forgetting our own cultural legacy and notions of morality. Skimpily clad women on the ramp seem to prove that India has arrived on the world map. We have begun to view women who wish to cover their bodies as signs of obscurantism.

Sadly, Indian media is importing Western vocabulary, expressions and biases towards the Muslims. It is following the Western media pattern of keeping the Muslims engaged in irrelevant issues. Sound-bite hungry journos rush to procure sensational statements from self-proclaimed heads of the community who present opportunities for dialogues on the primitiveness of Muslim women.

This deflects attention from the educational, structural and economic issues that millions of Indian Muslims face as a whole. The debate that should be taking up media space is where

India has failed its Muslims and why is there gross under-representation of the community in every field. The only place where Muslims are over represented are the jails. We need to focus our energies on corrective measures.

Hullo! Just discovered … and delighted! Will be here regularly. Keep up the great work, on behalf of all members of the School of Eternal Harmony! Best, rama