Category Archives: Love of God

Poem: Touchstone

Posted on June 10, 2013 by

The touchstone hereis any who hears theName of Allahturns to goldor in the case of the hearta river A sapling becomes atree in an instantthe eyea seer centuries oldor in the case of the greedya giver He suffices for all … Continue reading →

Posted in ABDAL-HAYY'S POETRY, amazement, ISLAM/SUFISM, Light, Love of God, Muslim Poetry, POEMS, POETRY, signs of allah, Sufi Poetry | 1 Comment

Poem: Returning from a Marvelous Journey

Posted on June 5, 2013 by

I’ve got a window up my sleeve    and a door in my shirtI can open any time to walk    out into the blue. Arch my      arm and seemeadows, sunbursts, vistas.Pantaloons of mileage, shoes of market silver,windy hair from lunar rocky … Continue reading →

Posted in ABDAL-HAYY'S POETRY, amazement, heaven and earth, ISLAM/SUFISM, Light, Love, Love of God, Miracles, Muslim Poetry, POEMS, POETRY, signs of allah, Space, Sufi Poetry | 1 Comment

Habibiyya Diwan Song / Poem

Posted on May 23, 2013 by

The song, Nahnu fee Rawdati, from the Diwan of Shaykh ibn al-Habib, raheemullah, sung at a conference in Chicago in the year 2000. This is followed by the poem (full text below) written the night before, here read but incompletely … Continue reading →

Posted in ABDAL-HAYY'S POETRY, Diwan Song, Habibiyya, ISLAM/SUFISM, Light, Love, Love of God, Mawlid Poem, Nahnu fee rawdati, POEMS, POETRY, Sufi Poetry | 2 Comments

Poem: When I Pray

Posted on May 16, 2013 by

When I pray the whole world becomes a pair of huge insect wings behind me, and I am a standing green insect with metallic thorax, inhaling distant zephyrs of intoxicating gas only a rare breed of insect can survive, and … Continue reading →

Posted in ABDAL-HAYY'S POETRY, amazement, ISLAM/SUFISM, Love of God, Muslim Prayer, POEMS, POETRY, Prayer, Sufi Poetry, The Path | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Poems: Reflection / The White Deer

Posted on May 13, 2013 by

(Note: I’ve been invited to present a series of eight sessions on poetry, I’m calling The Ecstatic Exchange Seminars on Poetry: Intuitions & Enthusiasms. As a foundational text, I’m using this song from the Diwan of Shaykh ibn al-Habib (raheemullah), … Continue reading →

Posted in ABDAL-HAYY'S POETRY, amazement, ISLAM/SUFISM, Light, Love of God, Muslim Poetry, POEMS, POETRY, signs of allah, stars and the moon, Sufi Poetry, The Path | 3 Comments

Poem: The Perfect Moon-Faced One

Posted on February 14, 2013 by

The perfect moon-faced one appears with perfect lips and bow-like eyebrows. His hair is braided behind his ears and this pure appearance of his arouses our trust that unity will thrive and we’ll be taken to One Presence now that … Continue reading →

Posted in ABDAL-HAYY'S POETRY, amazement, ISLAM/SUFISM, Love of God, Mawlid Poem, Muslim Poetry, POEMS, POETRY, Praise of Prophet, Prophet Muhammad, signs of allah, Sufi Poetry, The Prophet | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Poem: These Faces of Ours

Posted on December 22, 2012 by

(Note: Just back from neck surgery, to zip out the last remnant of lymphatic cancer cells if they lurked, and we prayed, the surgeons and me, before — and the head surgeon, well beloved and an expert, reported to my … Continue reading →

Posted in ABDAL-HAYY'S POETRY, amazement, faces, Light, Love, Love of God, Muslim Poetry, people, POEMS, POETRY, saints, signs of allah, Sufi Poetry, The Soul | Tagged | 1 Comment

Poem: Compassionate Zone

Posted on December 12, 2012 by

Streaks of color in the sky — can it be the blood of angels? The sky itself — can it be the breath of God? In the underbrush a noise — a something’s there cleaning house? The four or five … Continue reading →

Posted in ABDAL-HAYY'S POETRY, amazement, gratitude, ISLAM/SUFISM, Light, Love, Love of God, POEMS, POETRY, signs of allah, Sufi Poetry | 3 Comments

Poem: 43 / His Most Precious Concern

Posted on October 25, 2012 by

(Note: This poem from my “Treatment” series, in honor of the ‘Eid al-Kabir, celebrated soon all over the world, and the salat-an-Nabi billion-believer recitation after Maghreb Prayer on Sunday, November 4, insha’Allah, and personally, it seems, the emergence from cancer … Continue reading →

Posted in ABDAL-HAYY'S POETRY, cancer treatment, ISLAM/SUFISM, Love of God, Muslim Poetry, POEMS, POETRY, Sufi Poetry, The Prophet, The Soul | 5 Comments

Poem: 45 / All Our Attempts at Healing

Posted on September 10, 2012 by

“There’s a cure for everything but death” — Hadith of the Prophet (salla ‘llahu alayhi wa sallam) All our attempts at healing are to elude the long loving arms of death coming around us The doorway filling with a sulfurous … Continue reading →

Posted in ABDAL-HAYY'S POETRY, cancer treatment, Death, gratitude, ISLAM/SUFISM, Light, Love, Love of God, POEMS, POETRY, signs of allah, Sufi Poetry | 1 Comment

A wali’s passing and poem

Posted on September 2, 2012 by

(photo:copyright © Peter Sanders) A couple of days ago a great wali (saint) of the Moroccan desert died, at a very advanced age, I believe well over 100 years old, a faqir of Sayyedina Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib, rahimahu ‘llah, … Continue reading →

Posted in ABDAL-HAYY'S POETRY, ISLAM/SUFISM, Light, Love, Love of God, Muslim Poetry, POEMS, POETRY, saints, Sufi Poetry | 7 Comments

Note and Soul Questions

Posted on August 21, 2012 by

Note to Readers: Alhamdulillah, God be praised, that during this blessed month of Ramadan (and ‘Eid Mubarak!), I’ve completed my treatment and spent the time, while most Muslims have been not eating, trying and sometimes forcing myself to eat! The … Continue reading →

Posted in ABDAL-HAYY'S POETRY, cancer treatment, ISLAM/SUFISM, Light, Love of God, POEMS, POETRY, Sufi Poetry, The Soul | 3 Comments

Poem: 26 / The Soul

Posted on July 13, 2012 by

The soul is a flowering peach tree blooming on a bright green hill The scale of a dragon fallen into the Princess’ goblet turning water into the most effluvious Paradisiacal wine one sniff of which up our nostrils turns our … Continue reading →

Posted in ABDAL-HAYY'S POETRY, amazement, cancer treatment, gratitude, ISLAM/SUFISM, Light, Love, Love of God, Muslim Poetry, POEMS, POETRY, signs of allah, stars and the moon, Sufi Poetry, The Soul | 4 Comments

Poem: 25 / The Rowers

Posted on July 10, 2012 by

The rowers of the big boats had no letup The trapeze artist has to catch his mate for once in midair it’s too late to be elsewhere A mortal born must go on until there’s no more going on then … Continue reading →

Posted in ABDAL-HAYY'S POETRY, circus, Death, ISLAM/SUFISM, Light, Love of God, Muslim Poetry, POEMS, POETRY, saints, Space, Sufi Poetry | 1 Comment

Poem: 23 / Falling

Posted on July 7, 2012 by

If a body starts to fall and there’s nothing to stop it falling how long will it fall and through how many worlds? The visions of our hearts pass in a whooshing whirl The sounds in our ears of every … Continue reading →

Posted in ABDAL-HAYY'S POETRY, amazement, Death, heaven and earth, ISLAM/SUFISM, Light, Love of God, Muslim Poetry, POEMS, POETRY, Sufi Poetry, The Prophet | 1 Comment

Poem: 16 / I Hear Nearby

Posted on July 4, 2012 by

I hear nearby firing squad bullets meant for me I am elsewhere All my deeds in a little box in my heart There are trees in full leaf and meadows in full bloom Nothing ripples like a horse’s back bounding … Continue reading →

Posted in ABDAL-HAYY'S POETRY, cancer treatment, heaven and earth, ISLAM/SUFISM, Light, Love of God, POEMS, POETRY, Sufi Poetry | 1 Comment

Poem: 14 / The Lion’s Arena

Posted on July 2, 2012 by

The lions’ arena is full of medical equipment The roar of the lions is the great radiation ring whirring The crowd leaning forward with thumbs at the ready wears chemotherapy gowns It’s a hot day and a restless hum is … Continue reading →

Posted in ABDAL-HAYY'S POETRY, cancer treatment, Death, ISLAM/SUFISM, Love of God, Muslim Poetry, POEMS, POETRY | 2 Comments

Poem: 12 / If I Should Die Tonight

Posted on July 1, 2012 by

If I should die tonight it would be like stepping out onto a big pond’s lily pads with all the other frogs combing out my hair and flames falling onto a plate the horse muzzle that follows me finally coming … Continue reading →

Posted in ABDAL-HAYY'S POETRY, Death, ISLAM/SUFISM, Love of God, Music of the Spheres, Muslim Poetry, POEMS, POETRY, Sufi Poetry, waking up | Leave a comment

Poems: 8 & 9 / Venetian Magicians / Prayer

Posted on June 30, 2012 by

Note to readers: These poems are begun by an inspired first line or two, and during this particular development from poem to poem you might find ones of cheerful and imaginative transcendence or darkening recognitions of a more perhaps serious … Continue reading →

Posted in ISLAM/SUFISM, Love of God, Muslim Poetry, POEMS, POETRY, Sufi Poetry | 1 Comment

Poem: 7 / Sweat and Boils

Posted on June 29, 2012 by

We’re all sweat and boils sweat and scabs scraping with potsherds The whole thing comes down while irony and nonchalance abound around us The isolation spotlight hits us hard Rimbaud said “Patience is the key to this savage sideshow” God … Continue reading →

Posted in ABDAL-HAYY'S POETRY, ISLAM/SUFISM, Love of God, Muslim Poetry, POEMS, POETRY, Sufi Poetry | 4 Comments