I was at a wonderful spiritual retreat this weekend with about 30 other people and four speakers. The theme included joy, an aspect of Islam that is too rarely spoken of. Shaykh Kabir Helminski addressed the topic directly in our last session of the day, with his wife Camille reciting the beautiful poem below.
God is beautiful & loves beauty, and the Prophet was always laughing, smiling and full of love. We need to remember and cultivate those aspects more deeply within ourselves and in service to all.
You are Joy!
Oh my God, our intoxicated eyes
Have blurred our vision
Our burdens have been made heavy,
Forgive us.
You are hidden and yet
From east to west you have filled the world with Your radiance
Your Light is more magnificent
Than sunrise or sunset
And you are the inmost ground of consciousness
Revealing the secrets we hold.
You are an explosive force
causing our dammed up rivers to burst forth.
You whose essence is hidden
While Your gifts are manifest
You are like water
and we are like millstones
You are like wind and we are like dust;
The wind is hidden while the dust is plainly seen.
You are the invisible spring
and we are your lush garden
You are the spirit of life,
And we are like hand and foot;
Spirit causes the hand to close and open.
You are intelligence,
And we are your voice
Your intelligence causes this tongue to speak.
You are joy and we are laughter,
For we are the result
of the blessing of Your joy
All our movement is really
A continual profession of faith
Bearing witness to Your eternal power
Just as the powerful turning of the millstone
professes faith in the river’s existence.
Dust settles upon my head and upon my metaphors
For You are beyond anything we could ever think or say
And yet this servant cannot stop trying
to express Your beauty.
In every moment,
let my soul be Your carpet.
- Mevlana Jalal-ud-Din Rumi, Mathnawi V:3307-3319
Translated by Kabir and Camille Helminski
8 comments
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August 30, 2009 at 11:57 pm
hopikey
The retreat sounds like bliss! I wish we had something similar here in the UK. Glad to have you back after what seems like an age, but really isn’t. I was just used to having more posts to read when I was making my way through your blog and not having to wait for a new one! Thanks for sharing the lovely poem.
August 31, 2009 at 5:15 pm
rebeccasara
Joy. What a lovely topic and a lovely poem. Thank you for sharing.
August 31, 2009 at 7:26 pm
sara60
It really does sound amazing…i’ve been struggling so much with the spiritual side of our religion….i would love to hear more about what you heard and felt. miss your regular posts as well!
September 3, 2009 at 9:55 am
Margari Aziza Hill
What?!! We Muslims are supposed to be all dour, angry, or despondent all the time. Sigh….. This happiness thing can be contagious and that is very dangerous these days.
September 3, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Wishing4One
That is an amazing poem! Sounds like a wonderful, spiritual reatreat. I miss attending events like that.
September 3, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Baraka
Salaams dear friends,
Hopikey: The retreat started out small 18 years ago and has grown and deepened over the years though it is still kept under 30 people to maintain intimacy.
People are considering starting similar retreats around the US – perhaps you & your friends might consider doing one in the UK? If you’re interested, we’re compiling a manual on the retreat so could send that to you.
So glad you liked the poem!
Rebecca Sara: Welcome & yes, it is a wonderful topic!
I want to plunge into joy and come up soaked, laughing and grateful.
Sara: I hear you. I find I struggle with co-religionists more than anything else. I suppose every religion has its killjoys, but the sheer number kept me away from the religion & the mosque for years.
What brought me back was taking the responsibility of finding out who God is on my own, instead of taking others’ words for who He was, which often depicted Him as awfully stern and unforgiving. And I found Him to be so beautiful and kind, that I wanted to form a community of those who saw Him as such. It’s taken 7 years of slow building but we have a handful of people who are beautiful reflections of those qualities in Him.
It takes time and the group may never be large, but it is possible to find spiritual nourishment if you try. Wishing like-minded and beautiful individuals to surround you, ameen!
Margari: Lol at “dour, angry, & despondent” Muslims! So true, babe!
I love the idea of happiness as a contagion. Once you let go of anger and get used to smiling you wonder why you waited so long.
May more of our Ummah be so infected, insh’Allah and AMEEN!
Wishing4One: Welcome and so glad it spoke to you, my dear!
Warmly,
Baraka
September 10, 2009 at 9:55 pm
non-Muslim Wandering Past
Happiness as a contagion … WHO would declare it a pandemic, everyone would be running around like headless chickens demanding vaccines, the media would be all over every remote appearance of it with all kinds of talking heads coming up with dire predictions for the future …
For some reason the entire scenario has me laughing. Oh dear, it’s spreading
September 11, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Baraka
Lol
Good to see you again and may your happiness contagion spread to all those whom you meet!