Karbala and the Imam Husayn in Persian and Indo-Muslim literature – Schimmel
Thanks to a friend on Twitter I rediscovered this essay by the great Annemarie Schimmel which I had read in the pre-internet times. The…
Marta Franceschini: H Nizamuddin Auliya’s devotee
This message cheered me up. Amazing that some of us have never met yet there is a bond we share – the calm space…
Love and the Law: An exerpt from Bulleh Shah (Required reading if you have studied the law)
By Sovmind Bulleh Shah (1680 – 1757) was a Punjabi Sufi poet, a humanist and philosopher from what is now considered Pakistan. As one…
Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.
By Jalal-Uddin Rumi Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form. Friends are enemies sometimes, and enemies friends. I was a tiny…
Confused and distraught — Rumi
Rumi interpreted by Coleman Barks derived from Arberry’s translation You bind me, and I tear away in a rage to open out into air,…
The Beloved you’ve lost
…but you’ve chained me down stolen away my heart leaving yourself behind now i’ve lost my way my soul restless and head twisted all…
Destination of love by Ahmad-i-Jam
Sohaib Qureshi has translated 12th century mystic Ahmad-i Jam’s verse – thanks to his endeavours Manzil-i ishq az makàn-i dìgar ast Mard-i ìn ràh…
My Master has planted jasmine in my heart
Shahidain has sent another Bait from Sultan Bahu for Jahane Rumi “Alif-Allaah chambe dee bootee murshid man wich laee hoo Naffee asbat daa panee…
Priests and scholars parade their learning to please the kings
Abayat from Sultan Bahu on Priests and Scholars (thanks to Shahidain) “Parh parh ilam mulook rijhaavan, kiaa hoiaa is parhiaan hoo Hargiz makkhan mool…
The priest thrives on self promotion
A Bait from Sultan Bahu “Haafiz parh parh karan takabbur, mullaan karan vadaaee hoo Saavan maah de badalaan vaangoon phiran kitaabaan chaaee hoo Jithe…
The teachings of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti
1. The heart of a lover is like a furnace of love. Whatever goes into it is burnt to nothingness because there is no…
Iqbal Bano sings Nizami Ganjavi (Persian Sufi poet, 1141-1209)
Iqbal Bano sings Nizami Ganjavi-Mara ba ghamza… by razarumi1 Mara ba ghamza kusht o qaza ra bahana sakht Khud sooy e ma na deed…
Chal Way Bullehya Chal Othay Chaliyay – Let’s go where everyone is blind
Chal Way Bullehya Chal Othay Chaliyay Jithay Saaray Annay Na Koi Saadee Zaat PichHanay Tay Na Koi Saanu Mannay *** O Bulleh Shah let’s…
URS TODAY-Hazrat Baha-ud-din Zakariya (RA) Multan
Iftikhar Chaudri’s excellent note on the great saint: Hazrat Baha-ud-din Zakariya(RA) was a Sufi of Suhrawardiyya order (tariqa). His full name was Al-Sheikh Al-Kabir…
Shah Hussain, Madhu Lal and the festival of lights
Lighting of lamps is a metaphor for killing the inner darkness that we live with. By invoking spiritual light through love and self-knowledge, we…
A sufi in Budapest
Legend has it that a Bektashi dervish who was also a companion of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent introduced roses to the city…
A special message for Jahane Rumi
Sometimes I am most touched by such messages concerning my blog. I am posting this message not because I want to beat my own…
The sanctuary
Nizamuddin’s shrine and the dergah complex is a source of comfort. Each time I have been there, I have felt uncanny sense of comfort…
Only you, know my pains – Rabba Meray Haal Da Mehrem Tu
“O God, you are my state of being” is what this Kafi of Shah Hussain loosely means. It is about the internal and external…
The world I do not need..Amir Khusrau
Amir Khusrau I am a pagan (worshiper) of love: the creed (of Muslims) I do not need; Every vein of mine has become (taut…