recent Zahuri poetry page 7
Jan 2016
for mobile phones
A Heart Full (dedicated Khwaja Uthman Harooni)
A heart full of longing? Let it over flow,
Without this we are dead.
A love so strong it just wont let you go?
Without this we are dead.
Sensing the beloved's presence?
Without this we are dead,
Hearing the beloved in silence?
Without this we are dead.
To the music of the spheres, turning?
Without this we are dead,
For union with you, constant grieving?
Without this we are dead.
O to us the sweet ruby wine of love, give,
Without this we are dead.
O Khawaja Uthman teach us how to live,
Without this we are dead.
Sober Reflections
The realm of sobriety I entered with trepidation,
For my inclination has long been to intoxication.
The question on my mind was about love’s nature,
How does love respond to the one who is sober.
Is it not better to drink rather than to try to think?
The answer came in a moment, quicker than a blink.
Drunkenness and sobriety are not a contradiction,
Rightly understood both are something divinely given.
The sober man holds liquor rather better, it’s true,
But my friend he is just as drunk on me as are you.
Drunkenness rescues you from worldly considerations,
Sobriety rescues the drunk from heavenly fascinations.
Drunk or sober the only sin is not be with me right now,
Drunk or sober get here as best you can – somehow.
That Look
That look in your eyes, it came as a surprise,
A vast ocean, yes, but also a ruby red sunrise,
Turned into liquid fire were the seven oceans;
A fiery grave for thought and all those notions.
Narcissus
Sweet words are not enough to convey,
The delight I feel when I hear you say,
The narcissus is blooming there today.
Though outer beauty soon goes away,
And flowers blossom, but don’t live long.
When with love the heart is made strong,
True beauty to you will always belong,
A joy forever, beyond right and wrong.
Take Us
Beloved take us from the land of ignorance and bluster,
To a fair island filled with light, glowing with holy lustre.
Where all that shines is turned to gold, by Your alchemy.
Where You are present in all we do or hear or see.
Where the pain and suffering and injustices of the past,
Turn into light and love, and we say – ‘Alast at last!’
A place where what we eat is what we most delight in,
A place where there is neither misdemeanour nor sin.
Where good manners require only that we let love in;
A place where to truly live, within You, we can begin.
And if that destination is not to be reached by us today,
Give us patience to keep walking towards it, we pray.
‘Alast’ – is outside of time and place where the souls made a covenant with God, answering to His
question, “Am I not your Lord?” with a resounding “Yes”. The memory of this is said to be the origin of the
state of Sama experienced by the Sufis.
Turning Point
From selfish desires and from self satisfaction,
You turned away with a great determination,
To seek a better way to live, another mode of being.
This starts when you realise giving is the real getting.
Then you find your appetite for passing pleasures,
Gives way to an insatiable need for love’s pure treasure.
This is a bliss you can’t measure or count in any way,
But you can pray, “O Lord, like this forever let me stay.”
More Wine
More and more wine you keep sending my way,
Are you trying to get me drunk, yet again, today,
Just when I think I have surely reached my limit,
You take my glass and pour yet more wine in it.
*
Moments of joy come along – praise be,
One such moment came happily to me,
A walk in the rain that made me delirious,
Moments pass but some joys stay with us.
*
Time and space try to hide your ever present reality,
Form and shape try to conceal your shining beauty;
They do their best you must give them credit for that,
But it’s as vain as the sun trying to put on a straw hat.
*
With the song you sang so softly in my ear, that day,
You parted the veil of my heart in your sweet shy way.
So many idols everywhere may be beautiful like you,
They are sweet faced its true, but this they cannot do.
*
Are you ready to be a lover as you seem to desire,
Ready to have your heart, brain and liver set on fire?
This is only possible if it is written in your destiny,
If so, my dear, approach your fortune, but go gently.
The whirlpool is for those who are completely pure,
Scrub that heart clean again and be completely sure.
Then, when you are ready, enter the sea of certainty,
And be free from pernicious doubt and insincerity.
*
You need relief, I know, from this unsatisfied longing,
You need to feel love, I know, like it’s a homecoming.
But at home wanderlust soon returns to the traveller,
Better, perhaps, to set up camp where desire is living.
*
A supermarket does not strike one as a place that is holy,
Yet when You are present everywhere why should it not be?
The aisles are full of busy people hunting some new delicacy,
The way You are seeking some sweet soul to save constantly.
*
Words without love are shells without pearls,
Thoughts without passion are boys without girls,
Time without you is a missed opportunity,
Mevlana without Shems, an impossibility.
Sweet Narcissus (for Nargis)
Sweet words are not enough to convey,
The delight I feel when I hear you say,
The narcissus is blooming there today.
Though outer beauty soon fades away,
And flowers don’t blossom for very long,
When by love your heart is made strong,
True beauty to you will always belong,
A joy forever, beyond right and wrong.
Patience!
“Patience dear, patience!” “Yes, but what am I waiting for?”
"To hear love saying loud and clear, we are really here!
Yes, our bodies arrived some time ago, that’s for sure,
But hearts and minds are getting a lift from a lovelorn tear".
Around this moon a thousand stars or many, many, more,
Have gathered in the heavens, veiled, but clear to the seer.
A moon that has absorbed from the sun such a light to pour,
Like mother’s milk into eager mouths that say “Finally, I’m here.”
Feb16
Hafiz's Beauties.
O those greedy-eyed, sad old men are constantly trying,
To remove what conceals the beauties of Hafiz’s writing.
They are not man enough to rip off that jewelled attire,
Thank God! It would set both the heart and liver on fire.
Repentance
Run as fast as you like, O poor, guilt-ridden, sorry man,
Others can’t keep up with you, but the past certainly can.
Turn a corner and you will find it there ready to chat.
Though you’re wily as a fox with more lives than a cat,
Come, you can’t avoid it, it simply will not go away,
You may try to burn or bury it but with you it will stay.
One day if Mercy takes pity on your dreadful situation,
The next corner you go round you’ll find a door open.
Go in and face up at last to that constant companion,
You have been running from so fast, so far and so skilfully.
See in the mirror he holds up an image of your own reality.
Sincerity approaches with a glass of ale – “Drink deep friend,
And look ever deeper into the life you have lived and its end.
Plumb the depths of misery and guilt, don’t try to avoid it,
Know you stand on the very edge of a deep and dark pit.”
Deep in that blackness you will find a small unblinking light,
From it comes a powerful messenger, but don’t take fright.
Gifts there are for you, one is deep repentance in the night,
The other is determination to start again and to put it right.
Followed by true humility and a desire to serve all humanity.
You will be tested to see if you follow your purpose actually,
And the path to a new way of living will be revealed gradually.
Succeed in this and you will hear those blessed words clearly,
“I have forgiven you for everything!” “Everything!” you reply!
“Everything” comes the confirmation! Deep indeed is your sigh.
Now the past becomes your friend whose company is pure joy,
Those horrors now appear as lovely servants in your employ.
Only now are you ready to start life’s truly great adventure,
Only now in the heart’s mirror can you see the true picture.
Flowing
Flowing from on high comes many a golden blessing,
Rich red rubies and perfect pearls, like stars shining.
Oceans of love that with every wave are bringing,
Moonlight, joy, a new beauty and heavenly singing.
Your bounties you have displayed to me today,
Flung open your doors in such an inviting way,
So that the entry to the gifts you have to offer,
Cannot be missed by a seeker or an ardent lover.
What a temperament you have – one may wait long,
Suffer much, or little, but no hint, no sign, comes along.
Then of a sudden, with no apparent reason, there’s this!
A wide open door to union with you, and perfect bliss.
“What traveller’s gift could I possibly offer? What to say,
To a host who turns darkest night into bright sunny day?
You give spiritual splendour, all I can deliver is mere clay”.
“If that’s all you have, then that is everything”, you say.
“So naturally a host must behave in a more generous way?
No need to go to university to know what it is they say,
About the most generous of those who have generosity.
You offer a house so I must surely give you a great city.”
O Man
O Man, the heaven-sent scent of heaven is a woman who is true,
Sister, wife, mother; if the Lord puts love between her and you,
A woman will bring eternal love as a gift, and freely give it too,
The essence of father Adam’s desire is made manifest in her,
This is no small thing, in fact in all creation it is a great wonder.
That for all her divine femininity she is human, like you, O brother.
Inspiring Music
Inspiration maestro, please! Don’t just tease us with a tune,
This work we do is the way, we hope, to a greater fortune.
If the Lord has inspired you and made your voice so sweet,
Let your music carry our head as far as the beloved’s feet.
*
The love in your eyes carried me many a mile,
I journeyed further with the joy in your smile,
But it was with the song you sang in my ear,
That finally I arrived and found myself - here.
*
Adulation is a potent poison I think,
That one full of self should not drink;
But for he who knows Your secret ways,
It is nothing more than a fizzy drink.
*
Love is a state of mind and heart, be aware,
When we have love we can be anywhere,
Whosoever we are with, wherever we are,
Love is there, love is there, love is there.
*
Fireworks first fizzle, flare up then fade,
To ignite and excite sight they are made.
In the heart all the seeker wants to see,
Is a single candle shining, unblinkingly.
*
Love sooths the wrinkled brow, full of worry,
Love calms footsteps far too full of hurry,
Conflict in the heart it eliminates quietly,
It gives the patience that ensures a victory.
*
Sleep came and wanted to lay with me today,
There was no way that I could send it away.
So I took it as a lover; it would allow no delay.
Will it prove faithful? Who on earth can say?
*
Love came my way today,
That is to say,
Though it had never gone away,
Love showed itself today.
In the same way,
Clouds make the day seem grey,
But the sun does not go away,
*
Here, on the ground, the wind comes rough and ready,
Keen as a soldier’s blade cutting through the enemy.
But for clouds in wintry grey skies overhead, it moves
The way a gentle lover does, with a tender urgency.
*
The beauty I see in you is the beauty of You,
If you don’t get this yet what can I say or do?
When you disappear and there remains only You,
It’s like the blue sky vanishing - into the blue.
Turning Point
Spheres revolve around their axis whilst each other they go round,
The axis of the beloved and lover each and all are turning around;
But though the existence of the universe on this love tale depends,
What is this axis that’s everywhere apparent, nowhere to be found?