Sufi mystics say the secret of the Qur’an lies in the verse Al-Fatiha.
And the secret of Al-Fatiha lies in Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
And the quintessence of Bismillah is the letter Ba,
And there is a dot below that letter…
The dot underneath the B embodies the entire universe…
ب
From the book – Forty Rules of Love
– Kilimanjaro View
Where ever you are, in what ever circumstances you find your self, always strive to be a lover, a passionate lover. When love becomes your possession, you will will always be a lover – in the grave, at the resurrection, in paradise, forever. When you plant wheat, it will surely be wheat that grows; wheat will be in the storehouse, and wheat will be in the oven. “Rumi”
Beirut is dipped in Rose water, because their people are passionately in love with it. It is dipped in rose water, because where ever you go, you see people speaking passionately about it. Beirut speaks love in every corner, it is furnished with Rose water. It has witnessed miracles, surviving its continuous agonies; the people of Beirut know exactly how to keep healing it. They are lovers to it. And once you decide to visit Beirut, look into its history, but let its history power you with hope. It is joyous, no matter how upset it is, it maintains its joy, because of the love, the people of Beirut, pour into it. Because they are aware of every little wound, and they are aware that love is the answer, and with love, Beirut can survive all of it.
I stumbled upon an article few weeks ago, only to finally read it today. And one part of the article; I never want to forget, so I decided to write about it, save it and share it.
From the BBC Culture Article: Why is Rumi the best poet in the US ?
“His combination of mystical richness and bold adaptation of poetic forms is the key to his popularity today.” Rumi uses 4 main innovations in his direct address to readers, that defined my understandings and connection to his ancient writings…
And what I enjoyed the most about all this, is relating myself to it. I have the tendency to write in the form of a second person. I believe in giving, learning and teaching, I use my inspiration from my everyday life and as an optimist myself, I am in search of Unity. And through my Rumi Readings, I find my answers and motivation.
So here is to Rumi… You have taught me so much about my own spiritual beliefs, the richness of my very own culture, you have inspired me, inspired many others before me, and you will keep inspiring many more like me. I truly hope I can help spread some of your wisdom through my writings.
This world is like a snowy mountain that echoes your voice. Whatever you speak, good or evil, will somehow come back to you. Therefore, if there is someone who harbors ill thoughts about you, saying similarly bad things about him, will only make matters worse. You will be locked in a vicious circle of malevolent energy. Instead for forty days and nights say and think nice things about that person. Everything will be different at the end of the forty days, because you will be different inside. The Sufi mystic & Islamic scholar Jalal ad-Din Rumi – Rule#27 from the book 40 Rules of love by Elif Shafak
There is nothing more beautiful than being cheerful. Nothing more beautiful than being positive. And nothing more beautiful than following the examples of those who have only done good in this world. We live in a day-to-day battle, but that battle can use few people who encourage us to quit fighting and start chanting. Chant our way through this short life. Surround ourselves with good memories, and good times. Life is too short to hold back, and it is too short to sit still. It is a life lived to dance, lived to joy, lived to live. What are you doing being bothered by the bothering’s of someone else? If you can’t help cheer them, then cheer yourself and maybe they will be cheered along. Don’t mistaken your life with theirs, and don’t make their misery, yours. A sad man, will eventually dance, when he sees both the people he loves and hates are dancing. So dance, even to those who are wicked, dance… and keep on dancing.
“Destiny doesn’t mean that your life has been strictly predetermined. Therefore, to leave everything to fate and to not actively contribute to the music of the universe is a sign of sheer ignorance. The music of the universe is all-pervading and it is composed on forty different levels. Your destiny is the level where you will play your tune. You might not change your instrument but how well to play is entirely in your hands.” Another great one by The Sufi mystic & Islamic scholar Jalal ad-Din Rumi – Rule#29 from the book 40 Rules of love by Elif Shafak – Read more below.
Two years ago, the following question occurred to me:
What is the difference between Destiny and Fate?
Why does everyone keep saying, this is your destiny, or this is just fate? what is the difference anyway? And if things are meant to be then what are we fighting for?
I kept searching for answers, asking people I love, people I felt are wise, people who I was interested to hear their input. I started to evaluate life, incidents, accidents, and concluding. After few month of living the question, answers starting coming to me. How? Serendipity filled my life. Coincidence, luck or call it Destiny or Fate started to take place. Things that were a little bit fortunate or unfortunate but at that specific time it all seemed to have a language of its own. Bumping into loved ones, bumping into long time acquaintance, getting into the most unimaginable accidents, and even meeting new people who end up changing my life.
Yes, all of the above happened to me within literally less than a month, I felt I can predict reasons, but then with time, it showed me different reasons, and so I realized that reasons either change according to time or they are simply always unpredictable even when they are predictable.
So i came down to the following conclusion: Fate; is what you have no control over; your parents, your siblings, your class mates, your kids, acquaintances, accidents, gifts, location etc… Destiny; is how you deal with them, where you take your relationship to, how you establish or sustain, how you act; positive or negative, how you feel; lucky or unlucky.
And Like Rumi puts it in the above quote: Fate is your instrument, it can not be changed for it is given to you, but how you play this instrument is your destiny, your choice, to use it or not to use it, to become a musician or to just frame it for display. To make beautiful memorable piece, or to make noisy and harsh piece. Your fate is what you have no choice over, your destiny is how you decide to act upon it.
Nothing should stand between yourself and God. Not Imams, Priests, Rabis, or any other custodians of moral or religious leadership. Not spiritual masters, not even your faith. Believe in your values, and your rules, but never lord them over others. If you keep breaking other people’s hearts, whatever religious duty you perform is no good. Stay away from all sorts of idolatry, for they will blur your vision. Let God and only God be your guide. Learn the truth, my friend, but be careful not to make a fetish out of your truths.
The Sufi mystic & Islamic scholar Jalal ad-Din Rumi – Rule#32 from the book 40 Rules of love by Elif Shafak
If you are in tune with yourself, if you are so well self-connected and self-contained with pure serenity and happiness, filling yourself with love and admiration, feeling spiritually connected in a rhythm, this is when nothing can distract you or take away your essence of tuning.
Last night before going to bed, i stumbled upon a great writing that all i wanted to do is read it again and remember this morning. I also wanted to share it with everyone that cross my path because a lot of us have terribly become knotted in our own thoughts. Our feelings are distracted and divided into what have happened in our past and what we think will happen in the future… That we have become so drifted from our own being and our present moment:
“In these times of devastating ecological and social collapse, there are those of us who feel an urgency to attend to the world ‘before it’s too late.’ But the great paradox is that this very tendency to rush anxiously ahead is what got us into trouble in the first place.
In the Aboriginal way of dreaming, the past and future are embedded in the present. One’s embodiment is the ground into which all continuity flows, so the past can be just as influenced as the future by one’s way of going in the here and now.
Let the way that you walk be slow. Let us listen to the pleas of our surrounding thirsts. Let us acknowledge the forgetting which drifted us onto this terrifying precipice. Let the grief of it all make its encounter through your remembering. And may beauty come alive then, under our feet.”
I got this from the Facebook page Spiritual Ecology and their source is Toko-pa
It also reminded me of the saying by Rumi that goes: “if you feel distress within yourself while your eyes are unclosed, know that you have shut the eye of your heart. So open it. Recognize the craving of your heart, seeking the immeasurable light.”
So today, I will slow down, I will believe that in my heart there is a clear vision, I will believe that with the right amount of time, my life will take me to where I am meant to go to and what I mean to be doing. Meanwhile I will focus on today, I will cherish the gift of today with those who surround me. I will appreciate everything and count my blessings, I will listen to my callings as they come to me and I will walk closer everyday to what my heart longs for.
Razan Masri 