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One Name Is Better Than Two

The name Beloved is a shell, and buried deep within the Beloved is the face of the Lover.  The Beloved is only the veil.  That is why one name is better than two, Beloved.

The Story of Sapphire and Arion: Arion's Madness

Heaps of shame was Arion's baggage.  Sapphire's image played as a mirage in the desert of his roamings.  No one understood his madness.  He was mocked and ridiculed by his peers.  Their voices fell deaf on his ear.  He sketched her image in the likeness of a jewel out of his heart's longings.  Arion heard the wind whisper her name and saw her reflection in the glow of the moon.  What was their destiny?  Where would fate lead the Lovers? He found himself drowning in a world only he could understand.  She was his world; the stars, the sun, and the moon were adorned for the two Lovers.

Die Your Own Death

He who remains a stranger in this world and wanders, restless as the moon at night, will find peace.  Man is as lightning, born to die, not to seek permanence in the house of suffering.  Do not settle down to rest here, where everything perishes; you will only regret it later.  But if you die your own death in this life, tearing yourself away from the world which is a demon with the face of an angel, you will share eternal life.  You are your fate; your death, your life.  Good will be joined to good, evil to evil.  The echo shouts your secret from the mountain-tops, revealing only what you confided yourself. Reference~ The Story of Layla and Majnun by Nizami

Balm for My Heart

My heart aches.  Soothe my heart God with your balm.  Man's bitterness towards me exhausts me.  I need rest.  My heart can't bare man's harsh words against you.  They are like beasts foaming at the mouth.  They delight in my anguish.  My days are long.  The night offers some relief when I am free from this body.

Kahlil Gibran and May Ziadah in Love

May Ziadah was a regular contributor to leading newspapers and periodicals of her age.   Her work as a reviewer of new literary work introduced her to Kahlil Gibran, whose influence on her thought and style can be seen everywhere in her works.   Although the two had only known each other through correspondence, a fascinating literary and love relationship came to exist between them:   they seemed to have achieved a harmony and understanding rare even among people who are more intimately connected. Her home was in Cairo , her interest and passion was in the Woman’s Emancipation Movement.   Her real achievement has been in the art of the essay.   She is the most significant woman essayist in the Arabic literature of the first half of the 20 th century. Kahlil and May were both Lebanese writers living in different parts of the world.   They knew one another solely from the letters they exchanged and from each other’s work; they never met except in ...

Bawa Muhaiyaddeen- Crazy Man

I am a crazy man who has come here.  Very few people have the real obsession I have.  This total craziness of a fool is developing in a few people.  God has provided this explanation.  He has said, "One who perceives Me with complete trust will be a fool in this world.  He will appear to be completely crazy.  Such a person has only one obsession.  He is crazy for divine wisdom, he is crazy for Me."  Such a person gives up the experiences of the world and falls into this craziness. Only if one becomes such a fool will God become the physician who supports and assists him.  Only God can take care of a person with this obsession.  The world, hell, and Satan can take care of intellectual craziness. Bawa lived that of which he spoke.  He treated all lives as his own life and his own life proved the reality that a human being can be annihilated in God.  He served the wisdom that arises from intimacy with the Divine, to people of...

Detachment

Detachment serves the birth of God in the soul.  True detachment is nothing other than for the spirit to stand as immovable against whatever may chance to it of joy and sorrow, honor, shame, and disgrace, as a mountain of lead stands before a breath of wind.  This capacity to bring God to birth invests individuality with huge creativity; it is the deepest longing of the human heart. Reference~ Meister Eckhart, Selections from His Essential Writings

The Story of Sapphire and Arion:Sapphire's Demons

Sapphire's demons pressed sorely on her.  They terrorized and tortured her at night.  She would twist about in her bed but Sapphire was powerless over them.  They wanted to steal her Light.  Sapphire was in such anguish she would cry out to God.  The demons mocked her and laughed cruelly at her attempts to free herself.  Sapphire's faith in God angered the beasts even more.  They pressed upon her harder.  She sang praises to the Lord and glorified His name until the demons darkness dimmed to a point of light.  Exhausted from the battle- she knew this was one victory but many more demons would come for her Light.  Her battle wasn't over. It had just begun.