Awakening the Soul

Friday, June 24, 2005

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Sunday, June 19, 2005

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم



Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

-W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Though distance has broken hope's own back,
Though cruelty has tied desire's hands,
The drunken lover's heart will not give up.
The goal's in reach if you try hard enough.



Rumi's Rubaiyat Translated by Zara Houshmand

Thursday, June 16, 2005

بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم



Tears for my Love

A tear falls in the stillness of the night
Intended for only one, meant for the One
Within the slow melting tear the reflection of love is witnessed
One by one they emerge and lose their way, never to return to their birth place.
Increasing in fluctuation; becoming disorientated
Each tear a tribute to the Beloved
Each one testifying the sacrament of love
Each one a symbol solely for Him
Each one not forgotten, stored in Holy Scriptures
The yearnings of each tear in anticipation to reach their Love
Competing and striving, battling and enraging to be the first to annihilate
To be the first to obtain proximity
To be the first to be welcomed
To be the first to taste the initial joy
The madness of the still night; how ironic?
The stillness brings out the insanity of lovers
These tears, shed alone in love, shed alone for love

tempest ©

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم

"Join the Ranks of
the Broken Hearted"

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم



Talking

And then a scholar said, "Speak of Talking."

And he answered, saying:

You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts;

And when you can no longer dwell in the solitude of your heart you live in your lips, and sound is a diversion and a pastime.

And in much of your talking, thinking is half murdered.

For thought is a bird of space, that in a cage of words many indeed unfold its wings but cannot fly.

There are those among you who seek the talkative through fear of being alone.

The silence of aloneness reveals to their eyes their naked selves and they would escape.

And there are those who talk, and without knowledge or forethought reveal a truth which they themselves do not understand.

And there are those who have the truth within them, but they tell it not in words.

In the bosom of such as these the spirit dwells in rhythmic silence.

When you meet your friend on the roadside or in the market place, let the spirit in you move your lips and direct your tongue.

Let the voice within your voice speak to the ear of his ear;

For his soul will keep the truth of your heart as the taste of the wine is remembered

When the colour is forgotten and the vessel is no more.



The Prophet - Khalil Gibran

بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم



Why is it that I can sense a sorrow in your heart?
Grief enough to undress the delicate rose
Pain to shatter your soul into pieces
Let me carry your burden, to let your heart be at peace.

tempest ©

Sunday, June 05, 2005

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Regret

The sins of my self have thickened the veils over my eyes
The evil vices of hatred have hardened the walls of my heart
The voluntary faults have tainted my speech
Where shall I flee?
Whom shall I flee to?
In which direction should I face?
I am too ashamed of the evil committed by my hands alone
My face hidden in the darkness which has become I
Remorse and regret is all that is left
Of the years of oppression caused by my senses

How shall the curtain fall?
How shall the wall break?
How shall the spoil cleanse?

Who is there to forgive a sin?
To shower mercy
To guide the lost
Who owns the power to make imperfect perfect

Not a soul on this earth can possess such power and might
I was a sinful creature; I still am a sinful creature
But there is light to those who seek it;
Who yearn to be free from all evil
Whether committed directly or indirectly

For those who want to be guided there is a way
All things have a purpose, nothing is created in vain.

tempest ©

Saturday, June 04, 2005

بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم



O God, I put my trust in You in every tribulation.
You are my hope in every distress.

You are my trust and provider in Every affair that falls upon me
Regardless of how much the heart may weaken, strategies fail,
Friends abandon and the enemy joyfully celebrate.

I have desired it under Your kingdom; I complain to You out of my desire from You alone and none else. Give me relief and dispel the calamity for You are the Master of all bounties, the Owner of all benevolence and the Ultimate Destination of all desires.

Dua of Imam Hussein (as) on the Morning of Ashura’ (Kitab Maqtal Al-Husayn – Abu Mikhnaf)

بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم

اللهم أنت ثقتي في كل كربٍ، ورجائي في كل شدةٍ وأنت لي في كل أمر نزل بي ثقةٌ وعدةُ.
كم من همٍ يضعفُ فيه الفؤاد، وتقل فيه الحيلة، ويخذل فيه الصديق، ويشمت فيه العدو،
أنزلته بك وشكوته إليك رغبةً مني إليك عمن سواك،
ففرجته وكشفته، وأنت ولي كل نعمة، وصاحب كل حسنة، ومنتهى كل رغبة
إمام حسين (ع