Ummnadia's Journals

rumi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i was dead
i came alive
i was tears
i became laughter

all because of love
when it arrived
my temporal life
from then on
changed to eternal

love said to me
you are not
crazy enough
you don't
fit this house

i went and
became crazy
crazy enough
to be in chains

love said
you are not
intoxicated enough
you don't
fit the group

i went and
got drunk
drunk enough
to overflow
with light-headedness

love said
you are still
too clever
filled with
imagination and skepticism

i went and
became gullible
and in fright
pulled away
from it all

love said
you are a candle
attracting everyone
gathering every one
around you

i am no more
a candle spreading light
i gather no more crowds
and like smoke
i am all scattered now

love said
you are a teacher
you are a head
and for everyone
you are a leader

i am no more
not a teacher
not a leader
just a servant
to your wishes

love said
you already have
your own wings
i will not give you
more feathers

and then my heart
pulled itself apart
and filled to the brim
with a new light
overflowed with fresh life

now when the heavens
are thankful that
because of love
i have become
the giver of light

-- Ghazal 1393
Translation by Nader Khalili,
"Rumi, Fountain of Fire"
Cal-Earth Press, 1994

Free Will

Deliver me from this imprisonment of free will,
O gracious and long-suffering Sustainer!
The one-way pull on the Straight Path*
is better than the two-way pull of perplexity.
Though You are the only goal of these two ways,
still this duality is agnonizing to the spirit.
Though the destination of these two ways is You alone,
still the battle is never like the banquet.
Listen to the explanation God gave in the Qur'Ã¢n:
they shrank from bearing it.**
This perplexity in the heart is like war:
when a man is perplexed he says,
"I wonder whether this is better for my situation or that."
In perplexity the fear of failure and the hope of success
always are in conflict with each other, now advancing, now retreating.
From You came this ebb and flow within me;
otherwise, O glorious One, this sea of mine was still.
From that source from which You gave me this perplexity,
likewise now, graciously give me clarity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ay KhodÃ¢vand-e Karim o bordbÃ¢r
deh amÃ¢nam zin doshÃ¢kheh-ye ekhtiyÃ¢r
Jazb-e yekrÃ¢heh-ye SirÃ¢t al-mustaqim*
beh ze do rah-e taraddod ay Karim
Zin do rah garcheh hameh maqsad Toyi
lik khvod jÃ¢n kandan Ã¢mad in doyi
Zin do rah garcheh be-joz-e To `azm nist
lik hargez razm hamchon bazm nist
Dar Nabi be-shenaw bayÃ¢nesh az KhodÃ¢
Ã¢yat-e ashfaqna an yahmilnahÃ¢*
In taraddod hast dar del chon vaghÃ¢
"kin bovad beh yÃ¢ keh Ã¢n hÃ¢l-e merÃ¢"
Dar taraddod mi zanad bar hamdegar
khawf o omid behi dar karr o farr
Avvalam in jazr o madd az To resid
var nah sÃ¢ken bovad in bahr ay Majid
Ham az Ã¢njÃ¢ kin taraddod dÃ¢diyam
bi taraddod kon merÃ¢ ham az karam

*al-FÃ¢tihah, 6
**al-AhzÃ¢b, 72

liberty

Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people.
John Adams, August 1765

I think a big problem in America is the mass consumption and instant gratification and the need for entertainment and distraction that our media has over us. This keeps people stupid, and that makes it easier to control us and to get away with injustice. We need to be more inspired and motivated to learn for ourselves and use that knowledge for our benefit. Ameen!

knowledge

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
"Whoever takes a path seeking therein knowledge, Allah will make easy for him a path to Paradise. And Verily the Angels lower their wings to the student of knowledge due to their being pleased to what they do. Verily everything in the heavens and earth even the fish in the water ask that the scholar be forgiven (for their sins). The superiority of the scholar over the worshiper is like that of the moon over the rest of the stars. Verily the scholars are the inheritors of the Prophets. Surely the Prophets do not leave behind to be inherited dinaar nor dirham (money). Verily they only leave behind knowledge to be inherited, so whoever takes it has taken hold of a great prosperity." [Abu Dawud and At Tirmidhee.]

diversity

Diversity raises the intelligence of groups. Homogeneity is a form of denial.

Nancy Kline

I see the wisdom in what she is saying, that yes we can learn from everyone, but at the same time, I think those differences are mostly an illusion and that we are really all the same underneath.

tawhid

In order to worship God, you must know God. In order to know God, you must recognize his unity. In order to recognize his unity, you must deny any possibility of describing how God is present, where he is present, and when he is present.

Junayd

wisdom

The wisdom of this world brings doubt. The wisdom of religion soars above the skies. Reflection on Truth opens the way to the kingdom. Treasures and armies do not make a king. A true king is a king within himself.

-Rumi, "Mathnawi"