Sufi Poetry Carnival: Second edition

Now up at Inspirations and Creative Thoughts. Some entries are hosted at The Corner Reloaded, and Court of Lions. Check out the roundup Sadiq has assembled.

Collection available! Knocking from Inside

The Sufi Poetry Blog Carnival is back!

This year's Sufi Poetry Blog Carnival will be hosted at Inspirations and Creative Thoughts, the Court of Lions, and Abdur-Rahman's Corner.

Sadiq at Inspirations and Creative Thoughts has very kindly themed this edition of the carnival "Knocking from Inside", to celebrate the appearance of the first collection of poems from this blog.

Go here for details
Go here to submit by Aug 7th

Update: A week (or so) left! Get those submissions in!

Collection available! Knocking from Inside

Sufi Poetry Carnival: The Growing Garden of Love

Bismillah ir-rahman ir-rahim. Welcome to the Sufi Poetry Carnival, hosted by me and Sadiq Alam at Mystic Saint.

Thanks to all our contributors, and thanks to Allah and all the prophets and pirs, may peace be upon them, whom we remember today and all days.

The poem below is a collage assembled from the first lines of poems contributed by friends from around the world and from classical sources. Click on each line to read the original poem.

Last night mysteries unfolded.
Long after roses shed their blushing bloom
the sun set as a fiery jewel
like the absence in the heart of the flame of the candle.
The candle of human love melts.
The sorcerer commanded the snowman, but the snowman kept on melting.

The heart knows not what it needs--
I was invited to drink from the cup of pain.
My love is fugitive!

When clarity makes my heart dance
He is there, there in front of me.
I fell in love with you immediately,
I have died a thousand times this day
to write verses on you.
You are the pain and the cure of the suffering heart.
You are my first thought: Bismillah,
I am at my best when I lay at your feet.
How can enough praise be ever offered to the ONE?

Contributors below:

Sadiq Alam: Expanding Heart, Expanding Cosmos
Asifa Sheikh: Sonnet to Love
Abdur Rahman: A Sama' of Quiet Longing
David Carter: Morning Star Lament
Jerrahiyya: Ya Wadud Ya Ahad
Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore: What Resists Illusion
Sheela Haider: Knows, Knows Not
Janice Thomson: An Invitation
Barbara Simpson-Lichtenstein (Barsili): Restrain This Love
Paddy Noble: For You
Whisper: He is There
Bharati: Never Sober Again
Catherine Seress: Alive With Love
Ava: Hasten, O Lover, write those verses now
Hazin Lahiji (trans. David and Sabrineh Fideler): The Circle
Irving Karchmar: You
Aida Toure: Upon the Spheres' Lips
sf: The One and Only One

Don't forget to visit the other half of the carnival at Mystic Saint

Resources and Additional Collections

On Sufi Poetry, Poetry in Islamic tradition and on the theme of Divine Love

What is Divine Love? | Mystics understanding of Love | part1

Divine Love | Sufi Essence: Stages of Love

Sufi Love | understanding from master

Divine Love for strangers in crowd

Understanding relationship between Sufism and poetry

Prophet Muhammad and Poetry appreciation

Poetry & Islam | Concept & Context


Some Poems from the Masters-- Aaminah Hernández

Call for submissions: Sufi Poetry

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Bismillah ir-rahman ir-rahim. Sadiq Alam and myself will be hosting the Sufi Poetry Blog Carnival May 28th. We'd like you to submit by May 15th.

If you don't have a blog or website but would like to be included, you can email me your submission at tielansari at gmail dot com.

If you do have a blog or website, you can submit a link at Sufi Poetry Carnival. (We ask that you use this link rather than leaving comments, as it will make it easier for us to keep track of submissions.)

Open to all. If you are not a poet, feel free to submit pieces by others (with proper attribution and with the author's permission only, please).

Help us spread the word: you can copy the widget above (designed by Sadiq) and add it to your blog or website.

 

The Circle

You are the pain
and the cure
of the suffering heart.

You are the lover, love,
and the Beloved.

You are the center,
the circle,
the compass that unites.

You are standing apart
from any veil.


Hazin Lahiji (d. 1766)
trans. David and Sabrineh Fideler, from "Love's Alchemy"

Don't Utter a Sound

O nightingale--
Learn love's way
from the moth.

That burnt one
passed away,
but didn't
utter a sound.

These pretenders
are deluded
in seeking him.

Those who came
to know the Friend
never sent back
any news.


Sa'di, Muslih al-Din (d. 1292)
trans. David and Sabrineh Fideler, from "Love's Alchemy"

The Missing Sun

You are like the sun--

Come!

Without your face, the garden is yellow and pale--

Come!

Without you, the world is like dust--

Come!

Without you, the circle of love turns cold.

Come!


Rumi, Jalal al-Din (d. 1273)
trans. David and Sabrineh Fideler, from "Love's Alchemy"

A Desert

The heart never races--
except along love's path.

The soul never really begs to speka--
except the words of love.

Thank God--

You ravaged my heart
and made it a desert
so no other love
could flower there.


Abu Sa'id Abi 'l-Khayr (d. 1049)
trans. David and Sabrineh Fideler, from "Love's Alchemy"

The Glow of Your Presence

Where have you taken your sweet song?
Come back and play me a tune.

I never really cared for the things of this world.
It was the glow of your presence
that filled it with beauty.


Hafiz, Muhammad Shams al-Din (d. 1389)
trans. David and Sabrineh Fideler, from "Love's Alchemy"

Invisible Caravans

Love's concert is calling,
but the flute can't be seen.

The drunks are in sight,
but the wine can't be seen.

Hundreds
of caravans
have passed
this very way--

Don't be surprised
if their trace can't be seen.

Muhammad Shirin Maghribi (d. 1408)
trans. David and Sabrineh Fideler, from "Love's Alchemy"

The One and Only One

Author: sf


The One and Only One

How can enough praise be ever offered to the ONE,

Whose Praise is undefinable
Whose Love is unsurpassable
Whose Mercy is immeasurable
Whose Hope is unquantifiable
Whose Forgiveness is incalculable
Whose Power is undiminishable
Whose Might is unchallengeable
Whose Knowledge is unimaginable
Whose Glory is unthinkable
Whose Majesty is indecipherable
Whose Guidance is invisible
Whose Light is inconceivable
Whose Wisdom is unfathomable
Whose Exaltedness is inexplicable
Whose Justice is inestimable
Whose Decree is unalterable
Whose Trust is incomprehensible
Whose Beauty is ungraspable
Whose Truth is incomparable

He is the One, the Only One
La ilaha illAllah.

Sonnet to Love

Author: Asifa Sheikh

SONNET TO LOVE

Long after roses shed their blushing bloom,
Long after jasmine, pressed, loses perfume,
Long after sunsets leave the sky forlorn,
Long after countless moonless nights are born -
Ceaseless the litany for Love will be;
Timeless, the universe’s praise for Thee.

When waves of grief do cause the soul to quake,
When every false hope does the heart forsake,
When from weary spirits the colours fade,
When hands tremble at heartaches they have made -
When Truth unveils ephemerality,
Then will my heart mirror you, Love, to be

Infinite even to Infinity,
Eternal even to Eternity.

Asifa is a 30 year old Canadian born Pakistani, and also an English major at York University (Toronto, Canada). She enjoys exploring themes of spirituality, Divine Love and Beauty through experiments in poetry, some short fiction and essays.

For You

Author: Paddy Noble

For You

1.

When clarity makes my heart dance
I know it is you
pulling at the hem of my mind
unravel me quickly.

2.

I am getting smaller
while you are getting larger
I want to thank you for your gifts
before I disappear
Every day I'll sit here
so that if you should come by
I might see you
and joyfully whisper my love.

3.

I shall wrap my tears of joy
in words describing your beauty
so as not to let my love disturb
your constancy.

Paddy Noble, a published Poet from Bridgehampton, N.Y., has won awards for her work in San Francisco and from the Live Poets Society, Westhampton Poetry Festival, and the Lake Ronkonkoma Historical Society on Long Island, New York. Her work can be found in the recent poetry anthologies, “Songs of Seasoned women”, ”The Light of City and Sea” and “Long Island Sounds”.

Ya Wadud Ya Ahad

Author: Jerrahiyya

Ya Wadud Ya Ahad

The candle of human love melts
with veils floating on a breeze.

Dripping from the heat of passion,
learn to "die before you die".

For when Love appears at the threshold;
there can only be room for One.

He is there...

Author: Whisper

He is there, there in front of me,
He holds my hand, He lifts my spirits,
He is in my heart, he is in my poems,
He is all around me, like the scents from Jasmin!

*

Inspiration comes from Him to me,
It comes from within me,
He is within me, deep within me,
He is not within me, He is really me.

*

He is pure love, He is a powerful magnet,
We mortals are created to be attracted to Him,
We desire to stay close to Him,
To fulfill our destiny.

*

All those songs in His praise,
Don't add up to a single word with Him,
All our imaginations can't taste,
The sweetness of a word from Him!

*

Talking to Him is heavenly,
But seeing Him is divine;
The smile whose emanations,
Create all the wonders of life!

*

Seeing Him fulfills the heart,
Being with Him empties the desires,
His gentle touch and embrace,
Leaves nothing in the World to desire.

*

Thinking of Him fills the cup of my life,
Having Him is like over-reaching my destiny!
My imagination lets me down,
What comes after I rewrite my destiny!

Morning Star Lament

Author: David Carter

Morning Star Lament

Like the absence in the heart of the flame of the candle
my love is to me.
Whereby wick is transformed into dust and light
inexorably.
And this separation is consummation
of our intimacy.

It is the invisible symbol of lost days
when light and the lightbearer were as one.
Possessing what I bore I fell from grace-
And now I burn for you under a dead sun.

Alive With Love

Author: Catherine Seress (Bharati)

Alive With Love

I have died a thousand times this day,
A million since I first saw your face;
Paralyzed
Frozen
Overwhelmed
to the point where tears no longer flow.

I am so alive with love
I can no longer live like a normal person.

Restrain This Love

Author: Barbara Simpson-Lichtenstein (Barsili)

Restrain This Love

My love is fugitive!

It escaped its harness!

It’s out of control!

It’s going about in every direction,
Drinking wine at every corner!

It can’t be contained!

Darling, You started this, now what
are You going to do about it?

This crazy love is Yours, go and
restrain it before it bites someone else!

The Oud Player in the Garden

The man with the oud played a lullaby tune
the man on the hill was blowing a horn
outside of the garden, the wind combed the dunes.
I sought my Beloved from darkness to morn.
Beloved was dancing amid fire and thorn
the cold-water moon pool reflected the blaze
that burned on my eyelids before I was born.
The oud player lulled me, oh hark how he plays...
the roses all whispered and gossiped for days:
“He passed. He was here. You missed Him.” I wept.
My Love had passed by; I was lost in the haze!
I missed Him. How is it He passed while I slept?
I blame the musicians; I tremble in tears.
The oud player said. “Now, be still. He is here.”

Visit the Sufi Poetry Carnival here on May 28th 2007.

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