recent Zahuri poetry page 10 August 2017
for mobile phones
Restless.
A restless, wild, and wanton force within, I know there to be,
Better take control of it and bring it to heel very, very, firmly.
It creates thousands of idols supposed to bring satisfaction,
Then flees the moment with reality it has a confrontation.
Its power is only temporary – it’s the power of self delusion,
There is a greater power bringing us to a better conclusion.
Come my brother, do not labour and then lose all you gain,
Find the secret wrapped up within all that hardship and pain.
The Fire
The fire of desire smolders silently they say,
Until some breeze fans it into life in some way.
The look in your eye as you spoke those words to me,
Sent a shower of sparks flying heavenward, fiercely.
There are those who cannot see in the words I write,
The uniting of brightest day and of the darkest night,
Let them be for they think that they know everything,
Good, meanwhile His praise let my loving heart sing.
The Longing
The longing and desire in me Your love just drains away,
The wine drinker drinks the dregs in much the same way.
In everything and everywhere You make yourself known,
In nature, in art and in human behaviour You are shown.
Your beauty is superficial; it is also from deep inside too,
Everything, including me, is really You and it is only You.
This body is a country full of rivers, fields and mountains,
There are towns and trees and roads and even fountains.
I lay still; slow breathing, to prevent a cyclone appearing.
By what, I can't say, but all this is observed by something.
Maybe I know that this state will not last like this forever,
But for now it dominates my perception, like no other.
Besides there is a sense in which every single thing remains,
Every time and each place and experience eternity sustains.
True to some extent we can bury things in the memory,
But they remain beneath the earth, lingering there quietly.
Do not expect the riddle of the universe to unravel easily.
When it comes your way accept the pure rain of His Mercy,
And with its great flow of life let the flowers of beauty grow.
To His generosity, His kindness and His Love do not say no.
Sleepless
You twist and turn throughout the long night,
But sleep won’t come so you can’t take flight.
The longing for union fills with fire every cell;
Desperation, confusion, and yes, love as well.
The secret is inside, but you cannot know it,
Unless the Divinity kindly decides to show it.
Empty yourself of everything that comes along,
Listen! Try to hear One who sings love’s song.
Love Came
Love came and slept with me today,
I dreamt of you is what I mean to say.
We cannot really tell the way of dreams,
Especially those revealing love’s themes.
It’s enough to tell the expectant one,
That something good has just begun.
Dear Joseph’s story lingers on in the mind,
What struggles till his dream could unwind,
And in the world of deeds and actuality,
Its full meaning he could come to see.
Come love and unite the lover with me,
No more lover and beloved need there be.
And if we need to understand all of this,
Let it be enough to feel real love in a kiss.
There is only One and it has always been so,
The rest is real life drama and a grand show.
Sea Shore
Something came and picked me up, what can I say,
Love came again as it had come, on and off, all day.
It’s easy enough to forget those precious moments,
When in your company, love in speech and in silence,
Opened its arms, finding in this apparent ageing body,
An ever expanding, ever-growing fresh young psyche.
The rhythms of a quiet and calm sea lapped the shore,
Your presence kept on asking for more and yet more.
I could have drowned in the love from that company,
Instead I swam, and not alone, in the sea of harmony.
The Dance
The display of dancing that is for the pleasure of the crowd,
In the strict rules of the cognoscenti this is really not allowed.
The dance that gives pleasure to the dancer - what is that for?
The one to please is the one who gives patronage to the poor.
Only the dance that makes the firm and stable mountain move,
Will the lovers of the Beloved applaud and sincerely approve.
Ishq
I looked inside my head to see the state of my mind,
It should really be no surprise that there you I find.
Your love and mine are inclined to mingle there,
How then should I seek that deep love elsewhere?
On the white pillow of purity your head becomes mine;
Words that sing themselves meet and they intertwine.
Every thought departs and only that ecstasy remains,
Each and every cell to the joy of union finally attains.
This strange state imagination cannot maintain, it flees,
Rationality begs on its knees for just a little more ease.
Vision is discarded; illumination is no longer necessary,
Love has come and invaded the mind, heart and body.
Were I to tell you more you would declare I was lying,
And yet somehow we became one without even trying.
Wordless
That the eloquence of love is wordless, is known,
So many times by the holy ones this is clearly shown.
Those true lovers speak, if at all, of this and that,
Of current events, of history, they will jovially chat.
The love that unites them is spoken of not one whit,
Yet in Love’s domain they remain and continue to sit.
Gold
I awoke today from a dream all about gold,
Yellow metal, new or old, minted or rolled,
It makes the knees of a beauty grow weak,
But it is not for that kind of love that I seek.
The gold I dream of is better than that by far,
Its the golden gleam of the sun, moon or star.
It shines so bright it turns dark night into day,
It makes a cold heart burn hot you could say.
It is the gold that you get when you really pray,
Not the gold that can be had if money you pay.
Sweethearts simply smile at what I am saying,
They think that hard gold is better than praying.
Qarun thought he knew the all the secrets of gold,
But his heart under its weight grew so very cold.
Midas thought that he had acquired the touch,
Till he realised at last it was all just far too much.
Real gold is not fool’s gold it is completely genuine,
Its gold you get when to really love you finally begin.
It does not make you sink far beneath the earth,
It carries you upwards instead to a fine new birth.
Mystic Musing
So much ardent longing, so much sweet love,
A power filled hand in a long white linen glove.
Fingers that tell a subtle story hidden to most,
How few know the tale of the guest and host.
Such control the unseen can so easily exert,
The accumulated wealth of the empty desert.
Mystic references the reader can never unearth,
Unless divinity has given that seeker a new birth.
I could tell tales of the holy Prophet and Hazrat Ali,
Even the wanderings of the ego remain no mystery.
If I held a gun to your head you might think twice,
If a lion I let roar you might find that far from nice.
Enough of scarcely concealed vice and of infidelity,
Surrender heart, mind and even body to this beauty.
Penitence
A long list of their faults the penitent must know,
But to all and sundry this they should not show.
That list is for the beloved alone who already knows,
For to that hidden One the secret of every action goes.
Do not restrain yourself from devastating fidelity,
What I mean is this; be truthful and truth loving be.
Cleanse your heart of every self deception and of pride,
Until you are an empty bag, with nothing else left inside.
The pain is rather like that felt by the would be suicide,
But don’t do that with your body, that’s just more pride.
Instead make that ‘corpse’ serve a purpose that is higher,
The Divine Will watches to see if your behaviour is better.
If it is you will feel the greatest moment of His mercy
And every vile sin will become perfected belatedly.
Femininity
I said my salaams to a young dark-haired beauty,
But that handsome one said nothing at all to me.
Of all the types of the female that a man may see,
One radiates just virile vigour, health and vitality,
Another is above the race of mere men altogether,
And looks at these slaves as if they just don’t matter.
It’s good that the Creator made such marked variety,
To catch the heart and imagination of one like me.
The strength and quality of a man’s masculinity,
Falls hopelessly before God-created femininity.
With Gratitude
With gratitude this heart of mine embraced,
That heart of yours and upon it a word traced.
The pulse raced, blood flooded body and face,
Nothing was hidden, between us was no space.
Our souls danced where only heaven we find;
Where suns and moons and stars are left behind.
I am inclined to romanticise its true, but tell me,
Was it different for you, that flight into ecstasy?
This old world is a cold place for hearts that burn,
To light it up with divine recollection it’s our turn.
My heart ached so much, it was so completely burned
Until the perfection of divine grace towards me turned.
The holy Prophet's love knows no limits, nor his mercy,
This he showed so clearly when he looked towards me.
Dusky Beauty
My dusky beauty has a duty, to stroke my head,
To comb my hair whilst I lay so helpless in bed.
You may wonder how this can be tasawuuf,
But that dusky lady, her whole self she has shed,
Mercy
The Mercy of the Merciful looked my way,
There was nothing of value a sinner could say.
In the silence my heart could only pray
May the Mercy of the Merciful forever stay.
Grave Thoughts
Thoughts of weariness came to my head from my chest,
The thought was, “Take it easy, its best to get some rest”.
With so much to be done before the grave closes over me,
When the cold earth enfolds this lifeless and useless body?
There are words to be spoken that others can linger over,
Secrets to be hinted at that lovers can with care uncover.
There is knowledge to impart and also guidance to give,
When this body is dead, words that will help others live.
Fantasy, fun and fiction is fine in its own restricted place,
But clear footprints in the soft sand are far easier to trace.
Dear ones read, understand, I will be waiting patiently for you,
We’ll meet again if, as I know it is, love is real and love is true.
Thoughts
Thoughts of you hover, linger, lounge about, and stay,
Though other things are inclined on my mind to prey.
At last I decide to shoo the rest away, all except you,
You can doubt it, but in the end its what I always do.
Open
The fields and the towns all lie open to you,
Your deeply loving heart opens you to me too.
The heart of town and country within you beat,
But it’s in your heart and mind I have my seat.
A Singing Bird
A singing bird of paradise came to visit my heart,
She asked if there she could practise her art.
The notes of sweet longing and ardent desire,
Arose from that place and set the world on fire.
The motion of my outer limbs is limited these days,
But the feet of the heart move in circles of praise.
There love’s longing bursts again and again into life,
And dancing with delight replaces the worldly strife.
I will by God’s grace teach that songster to turn,
And the Beloved’s approbation will hope to earn.
Innocence
Innocence ran towards me like a child, laughing gaily,
So many gifts God has given since that child left me.
Child of my heart your love you bestow on me freely,
With you I roam in the garden of delights so joyfully.
There are those who think wisdom they have found,
Let them while away their time and call it ‘profound’.
There are those who follow their own unsweet nature,
Eating up the time between now and their departure.
I cannot harbour any bad feeling towards such children,
They do what they can with what it is that God has given.
My time must be spent in gratitude for His great largess,
That He with love this heart, mind and hand should bless.
Innocence played and danced on green grass before me,
So many gifts came since I became aware of His Divinity.
Sofa Talk
I sat on the sofa saying only words of polite curiosity,
All the while your love and longing reached out to me.
Voice and words appeared to be an angel from the blue,
Love seemed to sing in my heart or was it really all you.
Sep 7th '17
I will empty my locker of every single shot,
Give to you, my love, everything I have got.
Every moment, every particle of love’s pain,
Nothing, nothing at all with me shall remain.
Every moment of union and also of separation,
A hero bequeaths to an anxious waiting nation;
Then why my love should I not give all to you,
Who knows every particular of what is true.
Come my muse, hold nothing back, don’t refuse,
Make every moment a precious jewel I can use.
Lay it all out – all the years of worry and strife,
Moments of joy, the secret of happiness in life;
Lay out in detail all the many hidden selves,
From the dust covered books on the shelves.
Love With You
It is no surprise to me that I should think of you,
Love, with you, He made both tangible and true.
A big heavy trunk in the world unseen is moved,
The Qutub shifts the furniture in a way approved.
Is this the ‘cloud bumping’ as a child I witnessed?
Or beyond the ken of one only by innocence blest.
Allah is not, limited by some Nakhsh inscription,
He is the Unlimited One beyond any description.
And yet He gives many Names that we can use,
Even though the non-believers this gift refuse.
He will not keep me apart for long from you,
His Love will rise and carry us beyond the blue.
Those led by Satan’s inventiveness and style,
Think love is only an emotion, a passing trial.
I know now that this is not so, it is simply a lie,
It is a heaven sent, real, divinely inspired sigh.
You Speak
You speak of love and of the magic of the night,
I hear the sound in your voice of birds in flight.
You speak of love overflowing from a full heart,
I hear springs of delight bubbling up for my part.
You speak of love being sent far across the earth
I hear those words of knowledge bursting forth.
You speak of love turning night into brightest day,
I hear in everything you say the beauty of that way.
The Love
The love that unites joy and utter satisfaction,
The love that brings the latent lover into action,
The love that every flower into a posy will gather.
The love that for every sister and each brother,
Absorbs any negative notion the mind may harbor.
That love transcends thought of anything that’s 'other'.
Where union lives, unity excludes every such division.
It teaches us that our humanity is a gift God has given.
Do not permit your mind to dwell then on exclusion.
Find in love the golden key that will open up the door,
To a room where all are welcome be it rich or poor.
Diamond Mine
The thought of love that comes knocking at my door,
Is a blessing for sure, a kind of sorrowful heart’s cure,
I just let it have its way, if it wishes to come in, its fine,
It is the source of my wealth a veritable diamond mine.
Feast
Love has laid a table, a feast that is spread out to share,
The lovers at the table all surely deserve to be there.
A few words suffice to break the ice as I take a chair,
And with the fair and lovely partake of that fine fare.
In case the whisperer tries to tell you it’s all fantasy,
I only say, it may be illusion for him, for me its reality.
Exchange
Come youth and give me your restless energy,
The wisdom you need can only come from me.
Let there be only love between us, constantly,
Sufficient to each, may the other prove to be.
The Long Night
Long seems the night when you are far from me,
But time flies so fast when you are here with me.
Yes I have heard such romantic phrases before,
No doubt they gather dust in some old book store.
Yet there is something hidden in such platitudes,
A reality that the solid reason-bound mind excludes.
Divinity makes the earnest scholar free to explore,
But that good man just cannot know there is more.
He will bounce often against the ceiling of his mind,
But there the Beloved that one will not, cannot find.
The dimensions of the universe, without or within,
Cannot be measured by a mind still steeped in sin.
It requires an entirely different kind of invitation,
To know of the existence of a hidden dimension.
To see, in the gardener, in his humble garden shed,
One who to the secrets of the universe has been led.
One who complains because the night seems long,
When for a while he hears not the Beloved’s song.
Grey Clouds
The grey cloud blanketed out the sound of your deepening love,
The field lay empty, but open to whatever comes from above;
Ready to be filled with the wonder of your vitality bestowing love;
Ready to receive life, or to grieve, whatever you determine, love.
The sunlight penetrated that mist-filled, dull, dreary, damp day,
Ah love, your love comes to me in just such a marvellous way.
Where There Is
Where there is love there is one, there is not two,
Where there is love there is neither me nor you.
Where there is love there no room for any doubt,
Where there is love there is no reason to shout.
I Never Really Know
I never really know when I start to take your dictation,
Whether the words I am writing will exceed expectation,
Or even whether our assignation you will turn up for!
Your love is sure, holy and pure and so much more,
But I am not secure in my selection of verbal expression;
Will it meet your approval and even give you satisfaction.
Love I know is not technique but neither is it clumsiness,
Beloved forgive me, and these poor words may you bless.
Lit-up
Your love lit something in me and it keeps burning,
In my heart I sense in your heart you are turning.
Love cannot be described nor has it any limitation,
Every kind of situation shapes itself to its dictation.
Don’t think of it as emotion or an intellectual exercise,
Nor is it the bodies excitement, it’s a far greater prize.
It’s been described as a gift of the divinity by the wise,
For the sincere seeker that should come as no surprise.
All I can say is your turning inside turned me your way,
And to that great love it is not possible to utter a “Nay”.
Hajj
The trained divine showed me how to do what’s necessary
That Kaaba carrying card holder proved that he was a Hajji.
It was hard enough, with humanity en-mass to be mixing,
Hard enough that potent wine of obedience to be drinking.
Hard, with the rest of the millions, to circle that building,
And only for a moment His eternal presence to be feeling.
It was as if the dead centre of a circle one managed to reach,
And for only a brief burst has heard the august divine speech.
The purity of the holy Prophet one must hold in complete awe,
And Hazrat Ali and other companions who that divine one saw.
Admiration for saints who heard and saw so much, escalated,
Their love-power has far too often been so much under-rated.
Holy Ghaus Pak, Mevlana, and others who had reached unity,
For great Khwaja Saheb who heard there the speech of divinity.
A lifetime of seeking and asking was answered there and then,
You made it all so clear though I did not realise it all just then.
The nature of man and of Islam and all the ways of the Sufi,
All these You made slowly and surely very clear to poor me.
Rhyme
The power of the rhyme, yes I know it very well,
It can burst even the hard, old, embittered shell.
But in your case can it disclose the hidden pearl,
That is a secret that only the One God can tell.
Your Smile
You smile and my heart bounces even higher,
If I were allowed I would talk of being on fire,
Yes, it is sure a struggle to stay serene and aloof,
When such a lover is dancing wildly on your roof.
Notification of Delivery of "Poetry and Tea".
Impatience and patience battle hard within,
Who knows which of those two will win.
To lay my hands on love’s pristine pages,
It seems to me that I have waited long ages,
Now they hover, ready for the final descent.
Love you made real, of anxiety I will repent.
Come let us open up what you are offering,
In autumn’s mist let’s taste the joy of spring.
Flowers on Pillows
I have been distributing very many sweet smelling flowers,
My heart’s shout didn’t reach those beauties in their bowers,
They were all far too busy dreaming, it sorrows me to say,
So on those pristine white pillows the petals of love I lay.
Clean
Every nook and cranny you made clean in your way,
No particle of dirt found any place to hide or to stay.
You scrubbed every surface till it shone out brightly,
Not just once you purified it all but in a way, nightly.
What can I say when in your abundant heart I stay,
Smelling sweet roses and drinking wine every day.
Bold
Come and give heart, mind, body and soul to me,
If then the Divine Love you do not feel and see,
Know that I am not your true guide, nor your Pir;
Or else that you have just been foxy and insincere.
These words are earth-shattering, plain and bold,
Hear them well before you become grey and old.
Deep in Hafiz I was when inspiration came to me,
Such a forthright lover speaks this way, inevitably.
Scent
There is a degree of dissatisfaction, I detect,
It is blended in with every sense I suspect.
I can’t quite work out its origin, not just yet,
So in lines of rhyme a clue I thought to get,
At least it will show the workings of my mind,
If to read it a longing seeker should be inclined.
Deep within the heart the Saki came to pour,
Asking if it is this love wine I was waiting for.
I cannot deny that it arouses sweet sensations,
The head becomes light with love temptations.
The song that you sing I cannot yet quite hear,
But I know; I know you are near, very near.
Come spin around fast and travel within, far,
“You”,” I”; who or what do we think we are?
Above sun, moon, stars, let non-existences fly,
Leave stuck in the mud every thought of “I”.
Except that “I” that is everywhere and above all,
To that One let us travel riding on love’s sigh.
Words, concepts and allusions lose all sense,
When the beloved releases some of those scents.
Khwaja you are always near and it must be said,
For love you gave your life and in your heart bled.
Let love draw us into the shelter of your might,
Let love give us back that deep, deep insight.
Foxy
The fox fled in alarm wondering had it been seen,
The arrow had hit where it's hiding place had been.
The jungle of the heart needs to be cut right down,
And all the hidden beasts sent packing with a frown.
The soldiers of the monarch must get busy,
And make the heart a place of love and plenty.
A place where the scented petals can unfold,
And the warm sun drives away the bitter cold.
Blue
The blue, blue sky went on and on indefinitely,
My soul became light and floated up serenely,
Beyond the blue veil there is another reality,
And there my beloved waits for me, patiently
Wistful
Wistful, sad, silent, and somewhat sullen maybe,
This state of mind and heart you bequeathed to me.
The feeling of your love encompassing my being,
Has become a memory no longer something living.
The longing in my heart does not depart or go away
Though about it there is nothing that I can really say.
The way of love is for few, yes for very few indeed,
Few the horses that can gallop at that kind of speed.
Come my heart is ready; in need I am only of you,
Take me the way you like and as you used to do.
Come it’s you I want, words will no longer do for me,
Beloved take this sullen lover up at once, instantly.
Poetry's Passion
She was clothed only in poetry’s pure passion,
Though I saw her but in a momentary vision.
Sublimate the desire for outward expression,
An open love-filled heart is the soul’s fashion.
Spring
Yes, this life is short enough that’s for sure,
Yet spring came around again and again;
Every time it was new and fresh and pure,
Every time from decay it could not abstain.
The Eternal spring is in a true lover’s heart,
One who from the Beloved could never part.
Where There is Love
Where there is love there is one, there is not two,
Where there is love there is neither me nor you.
Where there is love there no room for any doubt,
Where there is love there is no reason to shout.
Grey Clouds
The grey cloud blanketed out the sound of your deepening love,
The field lay empty, but open to whatever comes from above;
Ready to be filled with the wonder of your vitality bestowing love;
Ready to receive life, or to grieve, whatever you determine, Love.
The sunlight penetrated that mist-filled, dull, dreary, damp day,
Ah Love, your love comes to me in just such a marvellous way.
Love Stayed
The urge to write fine words and love’s game to play,
Came this morning and it seems that it wants to stay.
What can I say? Love is strange and cares for nothing,
Other than its own interest it leaves alone everything.
I cannot say I am sorry that love feels thus inclined,
When it becomes with heart and mind so intertwined.
Were this body to give up its weighty burden tomorrow,
Love and love alone would give us no cause for sorrow.
Come then love and stay; in fact be with us every day,
Should we really care what others are likely to say?
Love Awoke
Love awoke, turned to me, and silently said,
Into this state of ecstasy you have been led.
With whatever love said I could not disagree,
For a state of silver silence had taken hold of me.
Love filled the very air with a great golden glow,
Submission to its will was all that I could show.
Thought of all else fled and emptied out my head,
A drunken dance lighting up every cell, joy led.
Divinity knows where and when to apply its touch,
For the fine frail human frame it’s almost too much.
It is pointless to protest when that love takes over,
Pray that this longed for moment will last forever.
Nov 2017
The Ocean
The ocean of words that floods in to me daily,
Wave on wave rolls in and retreats continually.
I would ask just how it is Your Majesty does this,
But “how” stands between the believer and bliss.
All I know is that love is involved in some way,
That’s more than enough to make me want to stay.
One day the ocean and I will be one, this I know,
One day you too will sit on the shore ready to go,
Hearing in each wave His Mercy and my calling;
Hearing in those words my love and longing.
Hearing every wave saying “Come do not delay,
Unite with me, unite I say, with my love today”.
Sparks
Yes, like a spark igniting a fire that burns in a furnace,
Your words spread within this heart till they fill every space,
From the longing in your grace filled face, a light shines out,
Is this not the essence of what life and what love is about.
Your longing love hovers never far away,
With pure passion you praise and pray,
I feel your love daily waiting and watching,
ready to offer and to give every single thing.
Fallow and forbidding, February follows on
From a January that seems empty of song.
But your love makes every month a spring,
for into my heart a youthful joy it will bring.
Ishq
I looked inside my head to see the state of my mind,
It should be no surprise that in that place you I find.
Your love and mine are inclined to mingle there,
How then should I seek that deep love elsewhere?
On the white pillow of purity your head becomes mine;
Words that sing themselves meet and they intertwine.
Every thought departs and only that ecstasy remains,
Each and every cell to the joy of union finally attains.
This strange state imagination cannot maintain, it flees,
Rationality begs on its knees for just a little more ease.
Vision is discarded; illumination is no longer necessary,
Love has come and invaded the mind, heart and body.
Were I to tell you more you would declare I was lying,
And yet somehow we became one without even trying.
2018
The Muse Arose
The muse arose and brought the perfumed rose of poetry,
That scent filled the house, so only sunlit rhymes I can see.
Across the furniture patterns from lace curtains played,
Awaking the dormant mind that by sleep had been dazed.
Intense moments of concentrated pure light,
Reference to another kind beyond human sight.
The sluggish body shrugged off slowly it's inclination,
To repeat the endless cycle of dream filled intoxication.
Colours awoke and reached their distinct apogee,
As if my eyes open and through yours begin to see.
Sweet Eyes
Sweet eyes that say wordlessly I love you,
Sweet thoughts that tell us that its true.
Yes I know life can appear hard and unjust,
Seen through the mirror covered with rust,
But when rust is gone and only you appear,
My dear, the beholder to love draws near.
Your Presence
In the shadows luminescence I felt your essence,
In the sunlit brightness, I felt the touch of your hand,
In the coolness of the night I felt your presence,
In the heat of the day your love I could hardly stand.
But in the moment when you sang that song to me,
You and your love - they simply overwhelmed me.
Enveloped
Your love enveloped me, what can I say,
On the couch of your soft warm love I lay.
Desire to be with united, even in love’s fire,
In a would-be lover the beloved must admire.
And what’s more that singular attention,
Puts your sincerity beyond any question.
Into longing’s equation Love has entered,
Now on that alone everything is centred.
Speak to me, I know you can, and have too,
It is time my wandering was forgiven by you.
The home of Love and attention of saints,
Can resolve all those endless complaints.
Come take me up in your arms to that place,
Where there is only love and your embrace.
Drunk
So subtle, so insidious, is the reasoning of the rational mind,
In it an end to poetry, to passion, and yes, even to love I find.
I will not heed its sensible advice that leads the soul to die,
Its reasoned approach to life my lovelorn heart would defy.
I care not for the voice of the sober falling on my ears,
I know a life with love is better than a life of many years.
I know it is far finer to be one drunk on the wine of union,
Than to be a solid citizen of sanctity when you have gone.
Come, wine of love, accept my surrender, my resignation,
Make your pervasive intoxication my enduring situation.
The Sea of Your Love
The sea of your love surged and drowned the isle of my vanity,
I mean the illuminated ocean of Certainty overwhelmed me.
Poetry insisted on having its say, of course it would,
But I lay lingering in the arms of the sleep of selfhood.
The rise and fall of the breath of our so brief existence,
Led my conscious mind to the eternal solace of silence,
Where your loving salaam alone becomes apparent,
And even the bemused muse becomes still and silent.
Silent as the Night
Silent as the night your feet glide towards my door,
Gentle as moonlight you are knocking on my door.
Fiercely, as a lover should, you hold me tight,
Together from this old world we take our flight.
I would say more of the delight we both feel,
But to drunken lovers words do not appeal.
It is enough that we kneel before love’s might,
That like starlight shows us the path to delight;
Until the dawn song makes night gather its clothes,
And into eternal memory subtly and silently it goes.
Poetry Parcels
Parcels of poetry keep passing through my mind,
To the bin of “might have been” much is consigned;
But such fine words would not so easily let me go,
The seeds of love thoughts you continued to sow.
The love lamp that you ignite, whoever you are,
Shines daily like the sun, and nightly like a star.
Love, I am your prisoner, I cannot walk away,
You speak commands and I do what you say.
Yes, it’s crazy of course, you have blown my mind,
Yet somehow it is as if it’s all carefully designed.
I signed my own death certificate I guess,
When the love I had for you, I had to confess.
Love's Way
Love showed the way the lover should be,
Love showed the beloved's way to ecstasy,
Love longed for the inevitable and final day,
When lover and beloved to love give way.
The very essence of the true lover's way,
Is not theology or learning how to pray,
It's putting aside even hard won morality,
Intent only the beloved one alone to see.
Love's fruit is more than passing pleasure,
By another yard stick this we measure,
It's to walk forever in the light of eternity,
To see the wonders of His permanency.
I would say more of love and it's pleasure,
When as one we celebrate each other,
But love says it's enough that you reveal,
The love the submissive heart can feel.
Abandon
O abandon all this love and ‘amour’,
Find the Love that is so much more.
The union that lasts for an eternity,
The union no earthly lover can see.
Even the houris cannot long distract,
The Real lover from this heavenly fact,
That the maze of our longing is futility,
The heart of Being is in Your Divinity.
Sound Words
In the sound of the song, where silence should be,
Words come to me from the dawn of pre-eternity.
Words that speak of love, of lordship and longing,
From the place where my soul has its belonging;
I would say more, but more is beyond all poetry.
In the true believer’s heart flowing from His Mercy,
There is a river descending gently and so silently.
Well almost! For its soft salaams I hear distinctly;
Sonorous sounds that stand sentry for the heart,
So far beyond the scope of a merely human art.
“If you but knew how the Lord has honoured me!”
You would drown your sullen self in that silent sea.
It is not music nor yet the passions of pure poetry,
It is love that carries our very soul into the Divinity.
If the Heart....
If the heart speaks sincerely,
Then a lover it can surely be;
A lover is all noisy declaration,
The beloved, silent speculation.
Unification is the ultimate stage,
Opening up a whole new page.
Not in words nor in imagination,
Is Love found, but in realisation.
Repentance
The eye-dazzling light of His endless mercy,
Is the rising sun on a new day, shining brightly.
The dark bars of a prison change to shadow,
They dissolve; see just how easily they go,
When through compassionate eyes you see,
And His forgiveness answers your entreaty.
I do not say that it's easy to go by that way,
But it's the start for which your soul will pray.
You should not think that you are all alone,
Guidance will change your heart from stone.
Surrender to love means that the day is here!
Those haunting shades? They will disappear.
A Rosary of Verses (Ramadan 2018)
The one who has not done anything wrong,
Whose spiritual attention is pure and strong,
Let that one step forward without hesitation,
Sinners like me must rely on divine invitation.
Let the sleeping one, on the bed of inaction,
Wake to the wonders of Allah’s creation,
Let those wondering and wonderful eyes,
The beauty of His constant creation realise.
Like the river of night flowing fast to the ocean of day,
Let dreams and their hidden themes just pass away.
Let the sun speak of things that will come to be,
To articulate the love that binds both you and me.
Speechless? Dumbfounded? Strangely mute?
Well silence they say is golden (and kinda cute).
But when silver speech springs from those lips,
It seems like the arrival of all the listener’s ships.
Okay I accept your surrender,
Just as long as you remember,
You are mine now and forever,
And remain a true longing lover.
It is enough my dear but I just cannot stop,
Once the muse has opened up that shop.
What to do? Words just keep on flowing!
And rhymes, there is simply no stopping.
Until each particle of love burns brightly,
Untiring the lover’s pleas are sure to be.
Until love carries one to another plane,
The ways of love no teacher can explain.
All that was ever asked was submission,
Everything else is more or less a given.
The heart drowned in love has found,
A life that grows ever more profound.
In the ocean I know you like to swim and play,
But I dive deep to find the pearl not on display,
To find the treasure and hold it as my very own,
The treasure that you have never ever shown.
When heaven and earth meet with satisfaction,
Only then can you find truth in each manifestation,
Or see the nature of love in every single action:
And find in real love the meaning of ‘implication’.
If you will keep pouring out wine in this way,
What sober words can you expect me to say?
Sure, I can try to be full of pious pretension,
But I find the truth only in your intoxication.
A great white light I can see descending,
That light every single mirror is reflecting,
A trillion images, like stars in the night sky,
Shine out and not a single one asks “why?”.
You really are just so demanding,
You want every cell to be singing.
You want to reach the heights,
And to see all those radiant lights.
Like an empty bowl that is filling right up,
With pure wine that’s at the top of the cup,
Your silent words of love and ardent desire,
Are setting every particle of the lover on fire.
The tree reached down to the stream,
And drank deeply from the water’s dream.
That union is the one lovers must desire,
In another sphere they are both on fire.
My dear there are things one could say,
But its best love does not itself betray.
So then dance and sing silently within,
Hearts can celebrate love without sin.
Silent as the Night
Silent as the night, the feet that glide towards my door,
Gentle as the moonlight is the knocking on my door.
Fiercely, as lovers should, we hold each other tight,
And then together from this world we take our flight.
I would say more of the delight that we feel,
But to drunken lovers words do not appeal.
It is enough that we kneel before love’s might,
That, like starlight, lights the path to the height.
Until the dawn song makes night gather up its clothes,
And into the Eternal Memory subtly and silently it goes.
Presence
In the shadows luminescence I felt your essence,
In the sunlit brightness, I felt the touch of your hand,
In the coolness of the night I felt your presence,
In the heat of the day your love I could hardly stand.
But in the moment when you sang that song to me,
You and your love - they simply overwhelmed me.
Drifting
The lover lost all substantiality, and so drifted away,
Now only on the wind I hear words the lover may say.
Perfume drifts from the direction that the lover went;
No, more than merely perfume, but a love filled scent.
I would not have it any other way, the lover must go,
For when the lover passes on, the beloved will show.
Sadness
Sadness sang it's song in my heart and head
It felt as if someone or something was dead.
The tears that I feel are not mine, this I know,
Until now sorrow it's sweet face didn't show.
Beneath the waves the ocean is so serene,
Reflect! The blue sky turns into deep green.
This sadness it hurts us, like love, and yet,
Closer to perfection can the lover ever get?
Who will bear love's pain and thus love gain?
To the palace of beauty whose heart attain?
If words were sufficient they would be said,
But sadness sings it's song in heart and head.
Night Thoughts
So subtle are the arguments that rage in my head,
Thoughts that cause me to toss and turn in my bed.
Clear it up: the wine I drink is from your cup.
The dance with death waits till I drink it all up.
Where you reside is my eternal home, come what may,
I lay my head on the pillow where your love has its say.
The wine of youthful play overcame this ancient clay.
This love came and it would brook no kind of delay.
It's a mystery to me that you took my sight one night.
For I was very sure that it was an appointed delight.
Hey ho you know best and have given something better;
To such love in the night who would prefer a love letter.
Let contentment rule over this grizzly old head,
And aspiration for anything but you let me shed.
Come this night grows old and the bed gets cold,
My worthless little life to you I have profitably sold.
The Game of Love
I suppose I could expose to the light of day,
The love that consumes me in every way.
But rationality and truth are not really one,
What is the good of a bullet without a gun.
Let it all go! Let it depart for greener fields,
This love to nothing its secret ever yields.
I will nurse in hidden caves the wound you gave,
I know from prying eyes this our love will save.
Be resolute, be bold, but shelter from the cold,
The longing that in my heart has taken hold.
I turn my face from comfort's insidious cries,
Its seductive appearance is built only on lies.
So subtly it takes hold it makes one weep to see,
The devastation of this world's passion for luxury.
Whatever material wealth may to me accrue,
Let it be used to make love real and true.
Prophets and saints deliver justice certainly,
May they in this firm resolve ever help me.
Yes I see the road ahead much more clearly now,
I will plant, reap and keep my nose to the plough,
This world will go, it must, it will, pass away
But in your game of love may I forever stay.
Passion
Passion from the pores of the poet pours out,
In ecstasy that joyful word-monger will shout.
But love encompasses both fruit and earth,
It has no measly measure regarding its worth.
I would pass through the portal of the divine mole,
To reach the place where resides the unspoilt soul.
Linger there and learn the real mystic lore,
Discover what all this passion is really for.
You Rose
You rose in my heart and I rose with you,
You spoke beautiful words and I did too.
Your love took my heart and made it new,
And now I live just for you, you know I do.
If I..
If I were to enter into ecstasy with you a thousand times,
If I wrote a thousand poems with thousands of rhymes,
If love took my heart in a hundred thousand new ways,
I would still need you for those endless nights and days.
Prostration
Before the Lord of the heavens and earth I prostrate,
His reality, His truth, His love, is much more than great.
His gift is pure love, a love that descends from on high,
That cannot be learned or earned, however hard you try.
"A Rose by any other name..".
A name can be an empty, even a desolate thing,
But when you say mine my heart begins to sing.
"A rose by any other name as sweet would smell ",
When my lips rose to yours, into love's snare I fell.
You With Your Love
The morning would be a dull and grey affair,
Except that you with your grace are there.
The store of goods for the day would be bare,
Except that you with your grace are there.
This or that would be just another nightmare,
Except that you with your grace are there.
It's extraordinary and yet it's a daily affair,
That you, with your love, are every where.
Namaz
Namaz is done! Though prayer in truth has no end,
Thoughts of your love into my heart you send.
The longing is it from me, or could it be from you,
I don't know if you really want me to speak true.
Life and Death
To be in the company of the living,
Those who are constantly forgiving,
Is to taste the wakefulness of the heart,
And from the dream of death to depart.
Let it All Go
Let it all go, whatever He may nightly show,
Thoughts and dreams you had no longer know.
He is the Living One, eternally present,
In His presence be patient and silent.
Sometimes
Sometimes the words you say are a prayer,
Sometimes you are really like a truth sayer,
Sometimes I hear all you say with quiet awe,
Sometimes I see your trace on the sea-shore.
Beauty and Love: Short Verses
Your beauty is not in the lovely form you are lent,
It is in the spirit within you that is still and silent.
You manifest that beauty in all you say and do,
That beauty is in the love that pours out from you.
Beyond the images of the spirit frozen in time,
A beauty lingers from another kind of clime,
If it moves your heart to a much higher calling,
You will find its message more than enthralling.
Once the door is open wisdom pours in,
And then my dearest we can really begin;
Begin to see the subtle mysteries revealed,
Like the rose that in the bud was concealed.
When you say the small word love this way,
Something happens to me is all that I can say,
I wake from the world of dreams and fantasy,
And remember how it is in our world's reality.
I go around the house but it seems you are here,
Maybe in the next room or somewhere very near,
Your face, your smile, your touch, lives in my mind,
But in my heart it's your essence I constantly find.
Long seems the day and the night without you,
Short indeed was the time when love we knew.
Blessed are hours that with your love are spent
Of every distraction now the lover must repent.
In you I find both desire and satisfaction,
Love with words but also love in action.
You light a fire that drives me to ecstasy,
Until I am you, and there is no longer me.
Cannot Pretend
I cannot pretend that unbidden words don't reach part of my mind,
Nor that somewhere inside, like a dance-partner, a rhyme they find.
I cannot pretend that in writing, rhythm does not tap out a hidden beat,
Nor that the desire to move ecstatically is not displayed by my feet.
I can only say when words melt into each other in this mystic way,
That something immaterial, yes even spiritual, is put out on display.
Like the pleasure felt by the body, welcoming sweet sleep's entry,
Or the delight of the lover walking so silently past a drowsy sentry.
I cannot define or contain love in any reasoned manner or fashion;
It is, defying convention, both a divine and yet also a human passion.
A light - illuminating light itself, from within: this it shows itself to be,
To those who have found at last they have eyes that truth can see.
This carpet, or is it a tapestry, is woven with skill of such a degree,
It can only be the work of the Master Weaver we address as "Thee".
If I Can..
If I can break your heart the way Mevlana speaks about
It would make me so happy, Allah Hu Akbar I might shout.
If you were to reach the pool of real love for a long swim,
I just might jump in too, for it certainly belongs to only Him.
Praise of the Holy Prophet
The kindness of the holy prophet is surely without end,
When despair encompassed me such a relief did he send.
I cannot speak out the secrets he has so deeply hidden,
But his generosity has bound me by the great gift he has given.
Bonds
Anger and anxiety, lust and greed, bind us to this dark place,
If, from its misery, you wish to be freed, remove every trace.
The heart attracted to this or that desire makes its own prison,
With its own hands it eats the world's offering of slow poison.
Let it go from your mind, this longing for fey fortune and fame,
Find a much higher calling, find a much better kind of game.
Find in your own heart a love that is more than mere passion;
A love that does not change with every new exciting fashion;
A love that does not cling to form either ancient or modern;
A love that only by a great divine intervention to us is given;
A love transcending every passing or borrowed inclination;
A love replete with both need and yet complete satisfaction.
Deserve first, and only then desire, the sage has rightly written,
One whom by God has been both cleansed and also forgiven.
In the Rain
Eventually it just ran off, all that fine romantic rain,
Soaked the delirious lover, then found the drain.
Still, for all that, who would have it any other way,
Who forgoes intoxication an erudite drunkard might say?
Who would not surrender to the divine beloved's charms,
Or find such solace and ecstasy in that one's arms?
Who would not give up life to sing life's soulful song?
Whoever it is, I can only say that cautious sober one is wrong.
It does not last long, this little life, it passes like a dream,
Melts away if you don't eat it, like a summer ice cream.
Don't get me wrong I am not speaking of hedonistic pleasure,
But of the eternal joys that tell of love without measure.
If these come your way do not show reserve or disdain,
Ah but to a true lover this no one will need to explain.
So dance if you will in the sleeting soaking rain,
If the love that inspires it is in your heart as well as brain.
Love is You
What to do? Love is everywhere, and so are you
Love lingers on the stairs, it colours the sky blue,
It makes the cloud into a moving picture, of you.
It sings in every raindrop and in every wave too.
It moves silently not wake guests, just as you do.
What to do? Love's wealth is not just for the few.
From every mirror it just reflects the glory of you
It seems there is no limit love cannot break through,
It knows all the ways and the means to be true
In reality it seems that love is you. Is you, is you.
Prophet Yusuf (Joseph)
In Mevlana's mind at the bottom of the well,
Something else brave Yusuf found, truth to tell.
For though his outward situation seemed dire,
His heart with true love for Allah was on fire.
Peace of mind and heart is a gift from the one,
In every situation under the bright, bright sun.
The story of this life is a nightmare or a dream,
Choose well my dear and let love be it's theme.
Diagnosis
It crept up so slowly and with such stealth,
Yet it is the key to every kind of wealth,
I cannot tell you how it makes the dead to live,
But to your heart the diagnosis of love I give.