To be a Sufi means to despair of your self while having utter hope of Allah
To be a Sufi means to seek communion with the Beloved, secretly and outwardly, here, there and everywhere
To be a Sufi means to see with the eye of tawhid – to see the One behind multiplicity
To be a Sufi means to be utterly humble on the carpet of worship and strive for perfect adab in transactions
To be a Sufi means to know you possess nothing material – you’re merely a guardian
To be a Sufi means to claim no ownership of the immaterial qualities of noble character, but to see them as reflections of Divinity
To be a Sufi means that one cannot live without bathing in Allah’s pleasure and can only live by floating along the river of His baraka
To be a Sufi means to be in this world but not be owned by it
To be a Sufi means to celebrate calamities as opportunities
To be a Sufi means to accept windfalls cautiously
To be a Sufi means to love others on the same path for they are brothers in aspiration – who knows upon whom Allah bestows arrival?
To be a Sufi is to tolerate and love all others – Allah’s creation, not yours!
To be a Sufi means never to judge by outward appearance alone, or even at all
To be a Sufi means to automatically reach for Allah in constriction or expansion
To be a Sufi means to feel the overflow of Allah’s love in ease or difficulty
To be a Sufi means to know - and seek - that meaning is expressed in form and has its due courtesy
To be a Sufi means to see through appearances – things are often not what they seem
To be a Sufi is to strive for the best in conduct, speech and transaction
To be a Sufi means to take of this world its gifts and fruits without succumbing to its temptations
To be a Sufi is to adore Beauty and to see the beautiful in what others think ugly
To be a Sufi is to leave things better than when you found them
To be a Sufi is to have a heart constantly overflowing with glorification and praise of Allah
To be a Sufi is not to see oneself but to know the self in its fujur and taqwa
To be a Sufi is to tread lightly on this earth without taking more than your allotted share
To be a Sufi is to have a whirling heart in constant contact with its Creator
To be a Sufi is to prefer others over yourself
To be a Sufi is to honour your true self
To be a Sufi is to never let the weed of idols take root in the garden of your heart
To be a Sufi is to role-play without typecasting yourself
To be a Sufi is to always make du’a your first port of call for change
To be a Sufi is to be dynamic, not static
To be a Sufi is to distinguish impulses of Divine inspiration from impulses of one’s own illusion
To be a Sufi is to be free and abandoned in heart while sober and firm in the outer
To be a Sufi is to suffer moments of forgetfulness as one suffers from the consequences of major sins
To be a Sufi is to pierce the veils of existence with the sword of insight
To be a Sufi is to overflow with compassion for creation without attachment to results or expectations
To be a Sufi is to be oblivious of one’s high qualities and achievements while painfully aware of one’s defects and failures
To be a Sufi is to know that ‘being’ a Sufi is a lie
To be a Sufi is to welcome censure and correction
To be a Sufi is to be committed in the service of Allah
To be a Sufi means to recognize your shaykh as the mirror of your higher self, your potential and not to resist his reflection
To be a Sufi is to joyfully accept your outer limitations while inwardly bathing in limitlessness
To be a Sufi is to know and accept that the world of the Unseen is vaster, broader and greater than the seen
To be a Sufi is to keep the company of Angels
To be a Sufi is to live a life of love
To be a Sufi is to live and die in grace
©Muna H. Bilgrami 2007
Sufism has just found me.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very exquisite piece.
Thank you.