Selections from the Hikam
9 September 2006
4 Comments
Selections from The Hikam of Ibn Ata’Allah al-Iskandari:
If you want the door of hope opened
For you, then consider what comes
to you from your Lord, but if you want
The door of sadness opened for you,
Then consider what goes to Him
from you.
||
One of the signs of relying on one’s
own deeds is the loss of hope
when a downfall occurs.
||
Sometimes He gives
while depriving you, and sometimes
He deprives you in giving.
||
He who wishes that at a given moment
There appear other than what God
has manifested in it, has not left
ignorance behind at all!
Excerpted from the presentation by Sister Aisha Gray, Journey to Ihsan 2nd Internation Conference on Islamic Spirituality, Sept. 2, 2006.
[...] Sister Aisha Gray, the founder of Fons Vitae, is an American convert to Islam who performed the Hajj before I was even born. If that isn’t enough reason to sit quietly and pay attention, I don’t know what is. She showed an excerpt from a new documentary on sacred art and architecture in Cairo. It was stunning, but then at the end, there were some selections from the Hikam of Ibn Ata Allah that, after gazing at all the sacred imagery preceeding it, moved me to tears. Looking back at the selections that night from my hotel room, they were beautiful, but they didn’t touch me the same way as they had that afternoon. It proved her point to me, that being surrounded by sacred art softens the heart and makes one more receptive to sacred knowledge. [...]
Sorry about those questions…
Salaam: A lovely poem
Thank you, and thanks to Warriorette for recommeding your blog. I am adding it to my blogroll at Darvish. http://darvish.wordpress.com
Ya Haqq!
very cool blog
and inspiring – mashaAllah.
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