Die Before You Die
Ironic, but one of the most intimate acts
of our body is
death.
So beautiful appeared my death - knowing who then I would kiss,
I died a thousand times before I died.
"Die before you die," said the Prophet
Muhammad.
Have wings that feared ever
touched the Sun?
I was born when all I once
feared - I could
love.
(From Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West, translated by Daniel Ladinsky)
Serving-girl:
"It's Spring, Rabi'a-Why not come outside,
And look at all the beauty God has made!"
Rabi'a:
"Why not come inside instead, serving-girl
And see the One who made it all-Naked, without veil."
(from Doorkeeper of the Heart: Versions of Rabi'a, translated by Charles Upton)
[O my Lord]
O my Lord,
if I worship you
from fear of hell, burn me in hell.
If I worship you
from hope of Paradise, bar me from its gates.
But if I worship you
for yourself alone, grant me then the beauty of your Face.
(from Women in Praise of the Sacred, translated by Jane Hirshfield)
Where did you come from?
From There.
Where are you going to?
To There!
What are you doing Here?
I am grieving.
How so?
I am eating This bread
While doing That work!
(from Doorkeeper of the Heart: Versions of Rabi'a, translated by Charles Upton)