Feel Pain to Know Pain

...And beneath the sky's oppressive dome
Wounds scar you, you draw nearer to your home;
Don't flinch from pain or search here for its cure.
Uncauterized your wounds must bleed; endure!

~Farid-Ud Din Attar
The Conference of the Birds

As i was taught suffering is blessing,
realistically, it was too hard believing
As i feel the pain, and see the wound,
i realise how much i've been through.
It's a trophy for all the strife
to remind me how i survived.

A trophy not for triumph per se
but a lesson that must be relayed
After the pain, so where's the blessing?
Is it just the discovery of my wound and crying?
Retribution? Revenge?Forgiveness?
Its enough to reflect that Allah remembers
Recall His love note for all of us
in verse two-eight-six of the female ox
He promises us, a balanced strengths and tests
to Him, are we to doubt and detest ?

What we learn is the colours
of pain, which differs
not only black, not only white
as a coin, that has two sides
Despite the form, we need to brave
the value pain brings for us as slaves
the pain of Joseph, Jonah and the rest
are too huge to compare to us brats

Allah... guide me well in my journey of pain and suffering.
Guide me well in my LACK of pain and suffering...
as tests are more rigourous
in those forms that are less obvious

Allah.. please help.

~ humaira
Pale Reflection of Pain
12th June 2007

A Reflection A Day... Makes a Hamba Awake

A bird asks how long the journey is, and the hoopoe describes the seven valleys of the Way

Another bird said:'Hoopoe, you can find
the way from here, but we are almost blind -
the path seems full of terrors and despair.
Dear Hoopoe, how much further till we're there?'

'Before we reach our goal,' the hoopoe said,
'The journey's seven valleys lie ahead;
How far this is the world has never learned.
for no one who has gone there has returned -
Impatient bird, who would retrace this trail?

There is no messenger to tell the tale,
And they are lost to our concerns below -
How can men tell you what they do not know?

The first stage is the Valley of the Quest;
Then Love's wide valley is our second test;
the third is Insight into Mystery,
the fourth Detachment and Serenity -
the fifth is Unity; the sixth is Awe,
A deep Bewilderment unknown before,
the seventh Poverty and Nothingness -
and there you are suspended, motionless,
till you are drawn - the impulse is not yours -
a drop absorbed in seas that have no shores.

~ The Conference of the Birds,
Farid Ud Din Attar

I have yet to read further
the detailed explanation of hoopoe the traveller.
Come explore these places with me,
and together discover the wisdom of these valleys.

He is a sea; He asks of you one drop

Shah Mahmoud, full of sorrow, went one night
To one who keeps the baths' huge fires alight;
The man made room among the ash and the grime
(Feeding the furnace-mouth from time to time),
Then brought the king some stale, unwholesome bread.
"When he knows who i am," Shah Mahmoud said,
"He'll beg to be allowed to keep his head!"

When, finally, the king prepared to go,
The poor man said: "i havent much to show-
You've seen my home and food (i brought the best;
You were rather unexpected guest);
But if in future you feel sorrow's pain
I hope you'll come and be my guest again.

If you weren't king you could be happy, sire;
I'm happy shovelling wood on this great fire -
So i'm not less than you or more, you see...
I'm nothing next to you, your majesty."

The king was so impressed that he returned,
And seven times saw how that furnace burned -
at last he said: "Stop stoking this great fire
And ask from me whatever you require"

"I am a beggar, lord," the man replied;
"And with a king all needs are satisfied"

Shah Mahmoud said: "Speak up, ask anything -
You can forget the furnace and be king!"

He said: "My hope is this, now and then
My king will visit me in this dark den -
The dust he treads on is a crown to me;
His presence here will be my monarchy.
Yours is the kingdom and the hand that gives,
but that's not how a bath attendant lives.
Better to sit with you in this foul place
Than reign in state and never see your face.
This spot has brought me luck, and i'd be wrong
To leave the furnace-mouth where i belong -
Besides, it's here i made friends with my king,
I wouldn't give this up for anything -
When you are here the bath-house shines anew;
What more could i desire from you than you?
May my perverse heart die if it should crave
Another fate than to remain your slave!
What's sovereignty to me? All i request
Is that from time to time you'll be my guest."

The bath attendant's love should teach you yours;
Learn from him all the loving heart endures -
And if this love has stirred in you, then cling
With passion to the garments of your king;
He too is moved; hold fast and do not stop -
He is a sea; He asks of you one drop

~ Farid Ud-Din Attar, Conference of the Birds