Serenity Prayer

I'm reading an amazing book by one of my favourite authors

Jubran Khalil Jubran

The Prophet

What I find amazing about his writings is that he writes verses as if it's poetry..& I assure you that each time you return to his words you will find new meanings

You can find the English version of the book HERE

Another full version with Arabic translation done by Therwat Okasha can be found HERE

Now to my favourite peice in the book

When Al Moustafa talks of LOVE

Enjoy my friends

Then said Almitra, "Speak to us of LOVE."

And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them.

And with a great voice he said:

When love beckons to you follow him,

Though his ways are hard and steep.

And when his wings enfold you yield to him,

Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.

And when he speaks to you believe in him,

Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.

Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.

Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,

So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.

He threshes you to make you naked.

He sifts you to free you from your husks.

He grinds you to whiteness.

He kneads you until you are pliant;

And then he assigns you to his sacred fire,

that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart,

and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,

Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,

Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter,

and weep, but not all of your tears.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.

Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;

For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart,"

but rather, I am in the heart of God."

And think not you can direct the course of love,

if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.

But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.

To know the pain of too much tenderness.

To be wounded by your own understanding of love;

And to bleed willingly and joyfully.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;

To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;

To return home at eventide with gratitude;

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

المحبة

حينئذ قالت له ألمطرا : حدثنا عن المحبة

فرفع رأسه و نظر إلى الشعب نظرة محبة وحنان فصمتوا جميعهم خاشعين

فقال لهم بصوت عظيم :

إذا أشارت المحبة إليكم فاتبعوها

, و إن كانت مسالكها صعبة متحدرة

و إذا ضمتكم بجناحيها فأطيعوها ,

و إن جرحكم السيف المستور بين ريشها

و إذا خاطبتكم المحبة فصدقوها ,

و إن عطل صوتها أحلامكم و بددها كما تعصف الريح الشماليةبالبستان

لآنه كما أن المحبة تكللكم فهي أيضا تشدكم على الصليب ,

وكما تعمل على نموكم هكذا تعلمكم و تستأصل الفاسد منكم

و كما ترتفع إلى أعلى شجرة حياتكم فتعانق أغصانها اللطيفة المرتعشة أمام وجه الشمس ,

هكذا تنحدر إلى جذورها الملتصقة بالتراب و تهزها في سكينة الليل المحبة

تضمكم إلى قلبها كأغمار الحنطة

و تدرسكم على بيادرها لكي تظهر عريكم

و تغربلكم لكي تحرركم من قشوركم

و تطحنكم لكي تجعلكم أنقياء كالثلج

و تعجنكم بدموعها حتى تلينوا

ثم تعدكم لنارها المقدسة لكي تصيروا جبزاً مقدساً يقرب على مائدة الرب المقدسة

كل هذا تصنعه المحبة بكم

لكي تدركوا أسرار قلوبكم فتصبحوا بهذا الادراك جزءاً من قلب الحياة

غير أنكم إذا خفتم و قصرتم سعيكم على الطمأنينة و اللذة في المحبة

فلأجدر بكم أن تستروا عريكم و تخرجوا من بيدر المحبة إلى عالم لا تتعاقب فيه فصول

حيث تضحكون ولكن دون استغراق

و تبكون ولا تنهمر كل الدموع

المحبة لا تعطي إلا نفسها , ولا تأخذ إلا من نفسها

المحبة لا تملك شيئا و لا تريد أن يملكها أحد

لأن المحبة مكتفية بالمحبة

أما أنت إذا أحبتت فلا تقل : " إن الله في قلبي "

بل قل بالأحرى : " أنا في قلب الله "

و لا تظن أنك تستطيع أن تتسلط على مسالك المحبة

لأن المحبة تقودك إن وجدتك خليقا بها

و المحبة لا تنشد الا تحقيق ذاتها

فإذا أحببت و كان لا بد من أن تساورك رغبات ، فلتكن هذه رغباتك

أن تذوب و تكون كجدول متدفق يشدو لليل بألحانه

وأن تحس الألم النابع من فيض حنان دافق

وأن تتقبل الجرح ينتابك من احاطة ذاتك لمعنى الحب

و أن تنزف دماؤك و أنت راض مغتبط

أن تنهض عند الفجر بقلب مجنح خفوق ،لتستقبل شاكرا يوما في المحبة جديدا

أن تستريح عند الظهيرة مستغرقا في نشوة المحبة

أن تعود إلى منزلك عند المساء شاكراً

فتنام حينئذ و الصلاة لأجل من أحببت تتردد في قلبك و أنشودة الحمد و الثناء تتمتمها شفتاك

Open to trust

I was flipping through some old emails...& I found this very enlightened post that I wanna share with all of you...

I felt like the words were speaking to me at this specific moment of my life....

Things have been very difficult & confusing for some time now....buttttt

I have a deep feeling that I will emerge from all this pain stronger & with a beter understanding of the world...in sha Allah

But it still hurts to carry this burden......

“When I grip the wheel too tight, I find I lose control.”
-- Steve Rapson

WE SEEK TO CONTROL OUR LIVES WHEN WE DO NOT TRUST, WHEN WE DO NOT LOVE. Our ego, perceiving itself to be vulnerable and insecure, uses control in an effort to protect itself.

At the root of our need to control, we find FEAR. It may be fear of the unknown. Fear of not coping. Fear of loss. Or possibly even fear of looking stupid. And as our efforts to control other people and events invariably fail, our fear increases.

Trust, on the other hand, is a quality of the soul. While control is a tool of the mind, TRUST AND FAITH ARE ASPECTS OF THE HEART. Trust comes with the deep knowing that we are spiritual beings in physical bodies. When we trust enough in life to give up our need to control, we can relax and open to the flow of energy in our lives. This brings peace of mind.

"The only real security in life lies in relishing life's insecurity."
-- M. Scott Peck

Love possesses nothing and does not want to be possessed,

because it is enough in itself.

It will make you grow, and then throw you on the ground.

It will whip you so that you feel your impotence,

it will shake you to rid you of all your impurities.

It will crush you to leave you flexible.

And then it will toss you in the fire

so that you can become the blessed bread

to be served at God’s sacred feast


(The Prophet, by Khalil Gibran [1883-1931])

Everyone baked by the divine Sun

will become rock solid:

without dread or shame,

his features fiery and veil-rending,

like the face of the peerless Sun.

Every prophet was hard-faced in this world,

and beat single-handed against the army of kings,

and did not turn his face from fear or pain,b

ut single and alone

dashed against a whole world.

The stone is hard-faced and bold-eyed,

unafraid of the bricks thrown by the world.

For the bricks were made strong in the kiln,

but the rock was hardened by a Godly art.

Har keh az khvorshid bâshad posht garm

sakht-ru bâshad nah bim u-râ nah sharm

Hamcho ru-ye âftâb bi hazar

gasht ruyesh khasm suz o pardeh-dar

Har payambar sakht-ru bod dar jahân

yek-sovâreh kuft bar jaysh-e shahân

Ru na-gardânid az tars o ghammi

yek-taneh tanhâ be-zad bar `âlami

Sang bâshad sakht-ru o cheshm-shukh

u na-tarsad az jahân par kolukh

K-ân kolukh az khesht-zan yek lakht shod

sang az son`-e Khodâyi sakht shod

-- Mathnawi III: 4139-4144

Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski

"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"

Threshold Books, 1996

(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra)

Inventory of normality

I got this very interesting post from Paulo Coelho's Warrior of The Light‏ list

You can also read Paulo's blog HERE

The post starts like this....


I decided to conduct a survey among my friends about what society considers to be normal behavior. What follows is a list I have made of some of the absurd situations we face in day-to-day life, just because society sees them as normal:

1] Anything that makes us forget our true identity and our dreams and makes us only work to produce and reproduce.

2] Making rules for a war (the Geneva Convention).

3] Spending years at university and then not being able to find a job.

4] Working from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon at something that does not give us the least pleasure, so that we can retire after 30 years.

5] Retiring only to discover that we have no more energy to enjoy life, and then dying of boredom after a few years.

6] Using Botox.

7] Trying to be financially successful instead of seeking happiness.

8] Ridiculing those who seek happiness instead of money by calling them “people with no ambition”.

9] Comparing objects like cars, houses and clothes, and defining life according to these comparisons instead of really trying to find out the true reason for being alive.

10] Not talking to strangers. Saying nasty things about our neighbors.

11] Thinking that parents are always right.

12] Getting married, having children and staying together even though the love has gone, claiming that it’s for the sake of the children (who do not seem to be listening to the constant arguments).

13] Criticizing everybody who tries to be different.

14] Waking up with a hysterical alarm-clock at the bedside.

15] Believing absolutely everything that is printed.

16] Wearing a piece of colored cloth wrapped around the neck for no apparent reason and known by the pompous name “necktie”.

17] Never asking direct questions, even though the other person understands what you want to know.

18] Keeping a smile on your face when you really want to cry. And feeling sorry for those who show their own feelings.

19] Thinking that art is worth a fortune, or else that it is worth absolutely nothing.

20] Always despising what was easily gained, because the “necessary sacrifice” – and therefore also the required qualities – are missing.

21] Following fashion, even though it all looks ridiculous and uncomfortable.

22] Being convinced that all the famous people have tons of money saved up.

23] Investing a lot in exterior beauty and paying little attention to interior beauty.

24] Using all possible means to show that even though you are a normal person, you are infinitely superior to other human beings.

25] In any kind of public transport, never looking straight into the eyes of the other passengers, as this may be taken for attempting to seduce them.

26] When you enter an elevator, looking straight at the door and pretending you are the only person inside, however crowded it may be.

27] Never laughing out loud in a restaurant, no matter how funny the story is.

28] In the Northern hemisphere, always wearing the clothes that match the season of the year: short sleeves in springtime (however cold it may be) and a woolen jacket in the fall (no matter how warm it is).

29] In the Southern hemisphere, decorating the Christmas tree with cotton wool, even though winter has nothing to do with the birth of Christ.

30] As you grow older, thinking you are the wisest man in the world, even though not always do you have enough life experience to know what is wrong.

31] Going to a charity event and thinking that in this way you have collaborated enough to put an end to all the social inequalities in the world.

32] Eating three times a day, even if you’re not hungry.

33] Believing that the others are always better at everything: they are better-looking, more resourceful, richer and more intelligent. Since it’s very risky to venture beyond your own limits, it’s better to do nothing.

34] Using the car as a way to feel powerful and in control of the world.

35] Using foul language in traffic.

36] Thinking that everything your child does wrong is the fault of the company he or she is keeping.

37] Marrying the first person who offers you a position in society. Love can wait.

38] Always saying “I tried”, even though you haven’t tried at all.

39] Putting off doing the most interesting things in life until you no longer have the strength to do them.

40] Avoiding depression with massive daily doses of television programs.

41] Believing that it is possible to be sure of everything you have won.

42] Thinking that women don’t like football and that men don’t like interior decoration.

43] Blaming the government for everything bad that happens.

44] Being convinced that being a good, decent and respectful person means that the others will find you weak, vulnerable and easy to manipulate.

45] Being convinced that aggressiveness and discourtesy in treating others are signs of a powerful personality.

46] Being afraid of fibroscopy (men) and childbirth (women).

47] And finally, thinking that your religion is the sole proprietor of the absolute truth, the most important, the best, and that the other human beings in this immense planet who believe in any other manifestation of God are condemned to the fires of hell.

Lost LOVE.....

"الحب الذي تغسله العيون بدموعها يظل طاهرًا وجميلاً وخالدًا"

جبران خليل جبران