recent Zahuri poetry page 5 Sep 2015
If it is to keep the pages of the website alive,
That one must constantly struggle and strive,
It is better then not to stop at only four,
So here is another page, let us call it.... five.
Self Deception
Stop lying to yourself you stupid fool,
Did you learn nothing at all at school?
Did no one tell you that the deceiver,
Delights in fooling the poor unbeliever?
It’s not merely a question of honesty,
It’s all about gaining deep sincerity;
That’s the tool you needs must sharpen,
To shape the short life you’ve been given.
Get out from under this world’s delusion,
Find a better way, a more noble vision.
Don’t you know this life passes in a flash?
While it’s near to hand, grab the cash.
Make each moment count, each ‘now’,
For ‘now’ in truth is eternal anyhow.
But not the ‘now’ of a lazy animal sensuality,
Excitement that only leaves one feeling guilty;
The ‘now’ that’s a tiny gap through which,
Flows the gold that makes you forever rich.
Be ready to give all you think you possess,
If the Beloved asks it of you, just say “Yes”.
Really it is all just temporarily rented,
A rose soon dies, however well scented.
If the things you tell yourself are fantasy,
Wake up and smell the coffee, of reality.
Whirling Words
Rational critic you make sense in a way,
But in order for love to come into play,
I must ask you to go away - for tonight.
For your suggestions of how to write,
Though technically no doubt are right,
Tend to make the muse feel nervous.
You are welcome naturally to return to us,
Once she has had her way with me -
And driven the poet far beyond insanity!
In fact I would say be sure you do,
For there is much virtue in you too.
But I must succumb to the Muse's charms,
For words take flight when in her arms.
No longer earthbound, they are floating -
No, more than that, they start soaring,
Leaving the moon and sun far behind,
Leaving no thought or reason in my mind!
Across the galaxy, flying; sighing sweetly,
Longing carrying them all the way - to me!
O Hafiz, pray when will you come and visit,
And into these words pour your poetic spirit?
For the pious I am very happy to pray,
But with the profligates prefer to stay.
In this crazy globe, constant only in its turning,
Is it not the height of constancy to be whirling?
Souls Embrace (Mevlana and Shems)
Two souls embrace in pure love's way,
Is that not the love for which we pray?
Two kernels unite in incandescence,
The union of essence with essence!
A synergy that lights up all of eternity,
Whose emanations tear up conformity.
A moment both outside and, yes, within,
The framework of time and space we're in.
If it doesn’t set the universe on fire, literally,
Its only due to the Essence's great mercy.
Some concealed law laid down in ‘forever’,
Says ripples diminish as they spread further.
But likes attract! Essence to essence is drawn!
Just as night must end and day must dawn,
There is about this love a certain inevitability,
Established maybe in timeless pre-eternity.
Something
Something has fired me up suddenly,
Something blew on love's ember, surely,
For life’s essence has flared up brightly.
Suddenly I found that I could remember -
That this is not just a day in September,
But a day that lasts with me forever;
As does every day, hour, and minute.
It’s a holy day, for You have given it;
A holy hour, for You are integral to it;
A holy moment that I know You record;
(Then how should one ever be bored).
Of course I need the covering, O Lord -
Of your cloak of kindness and mercy,
For my nature is sinful and very lazy,
And the pious rightly call me crazy!
I could write the story of my days,
In a multitude of very different ways,
As the bard did with all those plays;
But however plausible each plot seems,
In a chamber of mirrors so many themes,
Only seem to be the stuff of daydreams -
My very own, very personal, Hollywood!
Who I am in reality, whether bad or good,
This by You alone can be truly understood.
Forever
“Forever” You gave to me today!
Poetry is more than mere word play,
It’s a way of hearing what You say.
An expression of what thought suppresses,
That reaches beyond just casual guesses.
In truth its Your presence that it expresses.
It starts, who knows where it ends?
But images with words it blends,
And these to my pen it sends.
Rends are curious folk that’s for sure,
They travel anywhere for they're pure;
That I guess is what they are for;
The pious can’t go in every door.
What is more, to heart and mind,
Entry Is very hard for them to find,
To certain places they're confined.
‘Forever’ is a place in the mind,
Where lovers go if they're inclined.
There with love they are united,
And cannot any more be divided.
It’s a state of permanent union,
That only to a very few is given;
It feels just as if the sun has risen.
Permanent day that cannot be taken away,
Not even the dark night can cover that day.
Union with union is for forever given,
A tale that is far beyond explanation.
The Tree of Love
Dreams swirled, visions whirled,
In the wind the flag we unfurled!
We raised loves banner over this, our city,
It reads; "Those who know not love, we pity".
The tree that in eternal love is rooted,
Its fruits mostly in heaven are collected;
Though some fall to earth as a mercy,
For those who have the eyes to see.
Rise above those personal vendettas,
And write no more poisonous letters,
Take the refuge that love offers generously,
Shelter beneath the glorious Masnevi tree,
Earthly passions and hatreds wither and die,
On this time bound universe we cannot rely.
Trees of clay can be uprooted very easily,
But the tree of love - that lives on in eternity.
Essence
Each distinct material fact has an essence that is its truth;
Each essence is united; one, in being the essence of truth.
The essence of each and every essence we know as You,
But You are the essence of essences, and of materiality too.
In short all that language can ever aspire to,
Is to declare that there is nothing but You.
Humanity in its essence is therefore one too,
Service to humanity we can say is service to You.
And love of You is love of humanity's essence too,
O man, the message and messenger are not two.
Get up, and Get On
Get up and get on, the past is gone,
The present is here the game is on.
There is everything still to play for,
Things needn't be as they were before.
Come on, there are many possibilities,
Things can improve, if God so pleases.
Despair itself is the enemy to beat,
If you have faith in God don't retreat.
Advance! On every front go forward.
Sincere effort surely has its reward.
However long it seems, night passes,
And on a new day the sun surely rises.
If you believe, you know that God knows,
And on true believers Mercy He bestows.
If you have failed a hundred times or more,
Recall that one who said, “In failure be sure,
God's Will then became to me more clear!*”
God is not far, but near! In truth He is here.
To be patient is to play the long game,
To be in haste is to invite future shame.
Get up and get on, I say again and again,
Cherish in your heart this sweet refrain.
*The quote is from Hz Ali.
From a Murshid to the Murid
The first line is a quotation from Zahur Mian
"Love me little but love me long",
Make your love pure and strong.
Perhaps, God willing, the day will come,
When the desire for unification will come,
Wisdom and well ingrained morality,
That desire will burn up - eventually.
I pray on that day for a higher intervention,
And that He give you a greater satisfaction.
So in the fire of love’s desire your 'self' will burn,
And God's approbation you will then discern.
Meanwhile, love me little but love me long.
Continue to make your love pure and strong.
Mercy
The many no path at all can see,
They are not aware of His Mercy.
For some the path of piety,
Is the sure way to His Mercy.
A very few in the path of profligacy
The Beloved's merciful love see.
Rarer still are those who no path see,
For they are the path to His Mercy.
The Way of Love
The way to Real love through Unreal love is not easy*,
Far more straightforward is the practise of simple piety.
If you need advice on this matter, then choose the latter;
But there is a way to love that you may consider better.
It is to seek love through the desire to serve humanity,
That is the love that is essentially brotherly or sisterly.
But in that love all of mankind you must treat as family.
The great souls know love's each and every aspect,
Human and Divine; if to them you show great respect,
Then know that the gift of Real love they can bestow,
And on the path of love that is all you really need to know.
*It is said that it is possible to find Real (Haqiqi) love
by means of unreal (Majasi) love. This requires that one
uses unreal love as a stepping stone.
Every Act
Every act of neighbourly kindness from someone
Is really the Merciful One's blessed action.
Every expression of distress from a poor one
Is really the kind Lord's testing interaction
Every kind of brusque question from an angry one,
Is really the just Judge's interrogation.
Every look of coquetry from a beautiful one,
Is really the Beloved One's seduction
Respond to man or woman or child humanely,
But in every human action try to see the Divinity.
Some short verses
They say that if you advertised it would pay,
We look at things differently, and so we say,
"God is both hidden and evident, in His way;
We wait here for those whose hearts pray".
*
It is the work of a saint to bring about,
Changes to any selfish, lazy, oafish lout.
It requires one with a lot of spiritual clout,
One in whose mastery there is no doubt.
*
The horse that is full of self and pride,
Is surely a very difficult one to ride.
From the path it so often turns aside;
No surprise then if me you often chide.
*
When words only with tongue and lips we utter,
Spiritually it is little more than a kind of 'mutter';
But it is an altogether different kind of matter,
When it is heartfelt, warm words that we utter.
*
Read from the auto cue that's hidden in the heart,
If you want to practice and to perfect the fine art,
Of saying what is appropriate for your own part,
In the play staged in the theatre of man’s heart.