Come closer, and listen

The poem is old, the voice is modern, but the meanings are timeless.
Ibnu ‘l-Farid, a sufi from eight hundred years ago, pens down a poem out of love, and gives life to Rashah Najih, in the recently destroyed city of Halab (Aleppo).
You may be carrying weapons and plant destruction around you, but you are nothing but a ‘living’ dead.
But those with a living heart, even when buried, give life to those heart in waiting.
So

“let the dead bury the dead”

And join the living, those with hearts that hear

“Only those who hear will respond. But the dead – Allah will resurrect them; then to Him they will be returned.”
Quran 6:36

I have yet to find a non-literal English translation of the poem that would reflect faithfully its soul. Please forgive me.

What do you have to say?

You asked about belief.
If you can be fair then I can tell you about belief.
For what is it worth to believe if you cannot be fair.
Moreover, the greatness of a man is not measured by how much he is fair to his friends, but by the way he is fair to his foes.
But to go beyond fairness, that is to step towards mercy, belongs to a true believer.
It is not a claim, but a state of being. “By their fruits, you shall know them” as it is written.
Continue reading “What do you have to say?”