For the Mawlid 1441/2019 Chorus: صلاة ربّي مع السلام على الحبيب سيّد الكيان Ṣalaatu rabbi ma‘ as-salaami ‘alā’l-ḥabeebi seyyidil-Kiyaani حمداً لربّي لمن يربّ كلّ الانام و قد كافان ḥamdan li rabbi li man yurabbi kullal-anaami wa qad kafaani Praise be to my Lord for the one who cares for All creatures, and has sufficed…
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Glances of Love
Two of my favorite Nusrat classics, Tumhein Dillagi Bhool and Mast Naszron Say illuminate each other nicely: Tumhein dillagi bhool Translation (modified from Sur Street) and transliteration: Chorus: Tumhein dillagi bhool jani pare gi Tumhein dillagi bhool jani pare gi Muhabbat ki raahon mein aa kar to dekho You will have to forget about playing…
This Love is not a River…
Two of my favorite Fado songs, by two of my favorite singers, Cristina Branco and Carminho: Translation: This love is not a river It has the vastness of the sea The green dance of the waves Sobbing in my eyes. I tried to forget the words Unspoken between us But hanging over the silence On…
O you present in my heart…
Translation: O you present in my heart, thinking of you makes me sweet If no one ever visits my eye, then my heart will take its place for me I am not gone, but my body is vanishing from wasting away So no blamer found me, and no chaperone/rival saw me Had the era known about me, people would…
Sulayman and Sheba’s Queen
The following verse of the Qur’an has inspired Islamic architecture and literature, illustrating the prominent symbols of the mirror and the perspective shift. Qur’an 27:44 Pickthall translation: It was said unto her : Enter the hall. And when she saw it she deemed it a pool and bared her legs. (Solomon) said: Lo! it is a…
The Guitar
Rumi We are pain and what cures pain, both. We are the sweet cold water and the jar that pours. I want to hold you close like a lute, so that we can cry out with loving. Would you rather throw stones at a mirror? I am your mirror and here are the stones. In…
The wine was so fine…
The following was one of Ibn ‘Arabi’s favorite verses of poetry, oft-quoted by Sufi authors ranging from al-Ghazzali to Fakhr ad-din ‘Iraqi to Emir ‘abd al-Qadir to explain the mysterious relationship between God and the heart. The glass was so clear, and so was the wine they became so similar, that it became…
Lovers never die
Hafez: هرگز نمیرد آن که دلش زنده شد به عشق ثبت است بر جریده عالم دوام ما He whose heart has been revived by love will never die Our eternity has been written in the record of the world Me: Lips scalded by love’s tongues of…