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The Date Stones That Became Light

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 بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ أَلَمْ يَجِدْكَ يَتِيمًا فَآوَىٰ فَأَمَّا الْيَتِيمَ فَلَا تَقْهَرْ وَأَمَّا السَّائِلَ فَلَا تَنْهَرْ Alam yajidka yatīman fa-āwā. Fa-ammā al-yatīma fa-lā taqhar. Wa-ammā as-sāʾila fa-lā tanhar. “Did He not find you an orphan and give you shelter? So as for the orphan, do not oppress him. And as for the petitioner, do not repel him.” Sūrat aḍ-Ḍuḥā 93:6, 9–10 There are deeds that look small because the world measures with a broken scale. And there are deeds that look small only because the veil has not yet been lifted. ʿAṭṭār tells one such story. It was a festival day. A day of new clothes. A day of sweets. A day of children running through the streets with the innocent arrogance of joy. This is one of the tender cruelties of childhood. Children do not always know how to hide what they have. And children who have nothing cannot always hide what they feel. On that day, Sarī al-Saqaṭī saw Maʿrūf al-Karkhī doing something st...
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When “I” Was Left Outside

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 بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ مَّا جَعَلَ ٱللَّهُ لِرَجُلٍۢ مِّن قَلْبَيْنِ فِى جَوْفِهِۦ Mā jaʿala Allāhu li-rajulin min qalbayni fī jawfih. “Allah does not place two hearts in any person’s chest.”  Sūrat al-Aḥzāb 33:4 There are stories small enough to remember. And large enough to spend a life inside. Rūmī tells one such story in the Mathnawī . A lover came to the door of the beloved. He knocked. From inside, the beloved asked: “Who is there?” The lover answered: “It is I.” The door did not open. Not because the beloved had not heard. Not because the lover had not travelled. Not because longing was absent. The door remained closed because the answer was still full of the self. “It is I.” That small sentence carried a whole kingdom. I have come. I have suffered. I have loved. I deserve entrance. I am waiting. I. Sometimes the most dangerous idols are grammatically small. The lover had reached the door, but not the state by which the door op...
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The Cage

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  بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّاهَا وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّاهَا Qad aflaḥa man zakkāhā; wa qad khāba man dassāhā. “Successful indeed is the one who purifies their soul, and doomed is the one who corrupts it.” Sūrat ash-Shams 91:9–10 ( Quran.com ) There are stories that entertain us. And there are stories that remove the veil from the face of our own condition. Rūmī tells one such story in the Mathnawī . A merchant had a parrot. A speaking parrot. A parrot whose voice brought pleasure into the house. But the parrot was inside a cage. This is how strange human life can become. A thing may be loved and imprisoned at the same time. A thing may be admired and deprived at the same time. A thing may be praised for its song while its wings are forgotten. The merchant did not necessarily think of himself as cruel. Perhaps he thought he was caring for the bird. Perhaps he thought the cage was protection. Perhaps he thought beauty belonged nearer to him than to ...
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