Subhan Zein's Blog, page 38

Cairo

* * Nasheva arrived in Cairo. She saw it as a densely populated city, a maze of streets bustling with life. Men with their long robes and turbans and women with their long dresses and headscarves consumed much of the space; all were hectic pursuing their own business. Itinerant vendors jammed both the narrow and … Continue reading →

Enlightenment

“I’m fabulous, I’m love”, you say. Stop there. You’re fabulous. True. You’re enlightened. True. For enlightenment begins  when you discover a diamond shines within you when you thought you only had pebbles. * But when you said, ‘I am fabulous, I am love’ is that confidence or vanity? * One who places themselves too high, … Continue reading →

Breath of Eternity

* * He then paid his attention to Lord Hamzah. The Sultanate Treasury had nothing to do with the agreement between Syaikh Fatih and Lord Obaid; neither did he care for Lord Zubair’s view. He had an opinion of his own. Contrary to the response of most members of the Court, Lord Hamzah was not … Continue reading →

Morning Saunter

* * Jalaluddin’s morning saunter had led him to the greenery in the outskirt of Konya. He reached into the river that stretched before him and washed his face until his beard and white robe’s neckline were soaked. He thought that everything must have gone well with his disciple Nasheva. But even when such certainty … Continue reading →

Poet’s Tongue

* * A poet’s tongue is sweet like sugar. But do not be mistaken. The sugarcane is in the heart. * Do you think poetry is difficult? No. The truth is you don’t need a PhD in Linguistics or Literature just to be a poet. All you need is love. A poet is not necessarily … Continue reading →

Real Voice

* * What keeps your body alive, you can hear it with the two ears. But what keeps your soul alive, you can only hear it with the third ear.    Stop listening with the two ears, listen with the third one. * Go to the woods like Thoreau, or gazed at the starry sky like … Continue reading →

The Pearl

* * Then a man came forward. He was a man with a long beard; his long brown hair was swayed by the wind. To Nasheva, the man asked, “O beloved Lady Nasheva, please speak to us of the essence of life.” Nasheva nodded and gave him a blessing from the distance. She did not … Continue reading →

Spiritual Reunion

* * Nasheva heard Mawlana Jalaluddin’s final words reverberating in the horizon of her heart: “O my beloved disciple, I’ve given you the whispers of my soul, What was whispered by my soul in tears will be spoken by eternity in joy Like the earth has trusted the sun and the sun never fails, and … Continue reading →

Toward Eternity

* * It takes only one inhale to take love. It takes only one exhale to give love. One who understands this walks toward eternity. * Inhale and exhale love. That’s how one walks towards eternity. That’s also how one dives into a lover’s heart. * Dive into their heart. Dive deeper until you reach the … Continue reading →

Epicurean Trilemma

* * In the library, Adelpha and Nasheva stood side by side. Adelpha knelt to take a papyrus from the third shelve up and showed it to Nasheva. “It arrived from Athens a week ago, as part of Lactantius’ De Ira Dei[1],” said Adelpha. “Read it.” Nasheva examined the neatly scripted manuscript that was written … Continue reading →