"I love all that exists, for you are the soul of all existence."
Photo by P.Rasti
Painting by: Taraneh Rasti
Some superficial people have supposed that by
dancing one can become Divinely enraptured and reach God. While it is
true that all dancing can undoubtedly give one a feeling of
intoxication, this kind of dancing is willful. However, Sufis in love
have no will of their own, and therefore dance involuntarily. Their
feet dance upon both worlds, and their hands let go all the beauty of
paradise. They have given up all thought of existence.
Thus, the Sufi comes to ‘dance’ only when taken from himself or herself.
Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh, Excerpt from The Path, p.57
Imaginary Existence
The fog slowly Prowling over the high hills. Finding a place to sleep over night, among the trees. In the morning, when the Sun rises, they rise too, evaporate.
Parviz Rasti, published in Issue 72 of Sufi Journal
picture by parviz Rasti
The Dance of the Sufi
The enrapturing of the Sufis by God, or rather the ‘pull’ of God, keeps the Sufi continually in spiritual inner dance and movement. Whenever a wave of such Divine rapture strikes the heart of the Sufi, it creates turbulence in his or her inner being. This, in turn, causes the body to move. Upon seeing such movement, non-Sufis have often supposed that the Sufi is dancing. In reality, however, it is the waves of the Ocean of the Truth that are tossing and turning the anchorless vessel that is the heart of the Sufi.
A Wave in the Ocean
I will journey to the court of the Tavern of Ruin.
Happily, happily I will take my place in the district
of the Holy Fire.
I will travel from the Tavern of Annihilation
to subsistence in God.
I will abandon myself and become traceless
and nameless.
Although I grew old in the Tavern of the Master
of the Holy Fire,
By the grace of that Master, I will be young again.
No other picture but His image is engraved
on my eyes.
Whatever I see reflects Him, making my heart ache.
Wherever I found a goblet of wine, I cherished it,
As if I’d become the cupbearer in the world
of rendan.1
I am like a wave that appeared on the surface
of the sea.
Become my companion for a moment, for soon
I’ll disappear.
Nimatullah is like a dream that you see in your sleep.
If it is not yet so, within a week I will become one.
Shah Nimatullah Wali,
great Sufi Master
(Translated from original Persian text to English by Parviz Rasti)
1- Rend (pl., rendan): a spiritually evolved, yet humble person who does not reveal his or her true state.
When you love your work, you are beyond competition.
Night of Garden Oasis
Banbury, Oxfordshire. Photo: Parviz Rasti
Banbury, Oxfordshire. Photo: Parviz Rasti
Center of Khaniqahi Nimatullahi Sufi Order's Publications in greater San Jose (Los Gatos, Saratoga, Campbell, Santa Clara, San Martin, Sunnyvale, Mountain view and Palo Alto) area.
