Sufi Poetry Carnival

Sadiq Alam, a cyberfriend and fellow Sufi, has invited me to participate in the Sufi Poetry Carnival he is organizing on the web. I invite you to read his post (April 21st) about the Carnival at his inspiring blog, Inspirations and Creative Thoughts.

Speaking of Sufi poetry, I recently read an exciting and inspirational novel that read like an extended work of poetry: Master of the Jinn, by Irving Karchmar. I intend to post a review of the book here soon. In the meantime, I encourage you to visit the author’s blog, Darvish, where you can order the novel or download it as an e-book.

Here are my contributions to the Sufi Poetry Carnival, both written by me a while back – but hopefully they haven’t reached their expiration date yet . . .

~ Hamza

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WWRD? (What Would Rumi Do?)

Find the silent stillpoint

center

where Lover meets Beloved –

where Desire and Detachment merge –

where Self disappears into Divinity –

and using this center as pivot,

twirl.

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Welcome

Welcome to the ranks of those who feel
deeply. This is not an easy path.
You will be subject to both anxiety attacks
and random attacks of grace.
You will have days when everything is crystal clear
and days when everything is murky grey.
You will have days when you will feel such joy
you'll think you might explode.
And you will have days when you will feel despair
so deeply you'll long to be shallow again
and wonder if you can ever return to normal.
The answer is no.
Your capacity for love – the depths of your compassion –
your ability to experience the emotions that make life worth living –
these are directly proportionate to your ability to feel pain.
This is your blessing and this is your curse.
Welcome.