A Secret Kiss

Someone once asked me how old I was,

having seen my advanced age turning to gray at my temples

and in the locks along my forehead.

I answered, "One hour. For verely, I count the time I have lived for nothing"

He replied, "What do you mean? Explain.

Here is indeed the most moving of things"

I said : "One day, by surprise, I stole a kiss, a secret kiss, 

from her who has my heart. 

However many days may number, I shall count only that brief moment, 

for it was truly my entire life"

Ibn Hazm

Andalusian Writer (994-1064)

Tawq al-Hamama (The Dove's Neck Ring)

The Ant In Love

Walking one day in a Lonely place, King Solomon chanced upon an ant hill. 

All the ant immediately came out by the thousands to hail the King. 

Only one of their number took notice of him, 

for it was busy carrying of grain by grain the enormous pile of sand rising before it. 

King Solomon called the insect before him and said:

" O tiny ant, even with the longevity of Noah and the Patience of Job, 

you will never make this mountain of sand disappear!" 

"O great king," said the ant, "Do not regard my size alone...

but take heed my ardor as well. Behind this mound stands my beloved. 

Nothing shall stop me from leveling it. And if I must lose my life, 

at least I shall die in the hope of reaching her." 

O King, learn from an ant what the power of love is, 

learn from a blind man the secret of vision.

                                                                                           Farid al-Din Attar

                                                                                           Persian mystic poet

                                                                                           (died c. 1230)

Dream Fable

I saw myself in a wide green garden, more beautiful than I could begin to understand. 
In this garden was a young girl. I said to her, "How wonderful this place is!"
"Would you like to see a place even more wonderful than this?" she asked.
"Oh yes," I answered. Then taking me by the hand, 
she led me on until we came to a magnificent palace, 
like nothing that was ever seen by human eyes.

The young girl knocked on the door, and someone opened it. 
Immediately both of us were flooded with light.
Only Allah knows the inner meaning of the maidens we saw living there. 
Each one carried in her hand a serving-tray filled with light. 
The young girl asked the maidens where they were going, 
and they answered her, "We are looking for someone who was drowned in the sea, 
and so became a martyr. She never slept at night, 
not one wink! We are going to rub funeral spices on her body."
"Then rub some on my friend here," the young girl said.
"Once upon a time," said the maidens, "part of this spice and the fragrance of it clung to her body -- but then she shied away."

Quickly the young girl let go of my hand, turned, and said to me:
"Your prayers are your light, Your devotion is your strength, Sleep is the enemy of both.
Your life is the only opportunity that life can give you.
If you ignore it, if you waste it, You will only turn to dust."
Then the young girl disappeared.

                                                                                            Rabi'ah al-Adawiyya, 
                                                                                                              Born around the year 717 C.E. Iraq