EYE POETRY

Cheikh Bamba’s Alchemy of the Heart

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A Muslim visionary and spiritual leader, Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba dedicated his life to writing poetry on meditation, rituals, and Qur’anic study. His teachings emphasized the virtues of pacifism and the importance of hard work. 

He taught his followers that salvation comes through submission to Allah, hard work and being of service to others - a departure from conventional Islamic teaching. 

The life of the Cheikh is a testimony of his commitment to the revival of authentic Islam, the religion of Peace. 

Cheikh Bamba inaugurated a new era in the history of Islam and of the role of black people in what is sometimes called African Islam.

Listen to what an adversary turned admirer had to say about Cheikh Bamba:

By 1919, Antoine J. Henry Lasselves, the Administrator of the District of Diourbel, was assigned to watch the Sheik’s activities. His role was to observe the Sheik at any time of the day and send regular reports to his superiors. Here is what he wrote at the end of his mission:

“This Sheik Bamba is gifted with some innate power whose origin the human mind cannot understand so as to explain his befriending capacity. The way people give up themselves to him is extraordinary and their love of the Sheik is unconditional. He seems to have some divine light and secret similar to what we read in the stories of the great prophets and their people. But this one (the Sheikh Bamba) differs from them by his purity of heart, his generosity and his wishing good to friends and enemies alike. These are qualities his predecessors would have envied him, whatever the virtuousness, their piety or prestige were. The most unjust and ignorant people of human realities are those who accused him on false grounds, alleging that he was interested in temporal power. I am sure that the prophets and saints who waged holy war did it without having half the forces that he has got.”

Boomerang Prayer

On January 25, Egyptians broke down the fear barrier. Now, they’re stomping on that fear barrier as protestors in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and Ismailia continue their standoff with remnants of the Mubarak regime in their bid to tie up loose ends.

“People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of its people,” says Ramy. “That’s what we’re witnessing right now in Egypt.”

What an important statement. 

For some reason and at some point in our civilised existence humans decided that we should worship false idols or gods. Is this not the very thing that all monotheistic religions advocate against? 

However, it seems that our innate desire to be sheep rather than lions seems to ring louder as humans continue to put their trust in false gods or idols known as governments, global leaders and their economies.

The resiliency of the human spirit is not to be reckoned with nor is the spirit that gave birth to us. For nature’s tornados, earthquakes and other uprisings are also seen in the people’s uprisings. 

We’re a generation who are rising up to say Enough! We’re tired of the police brutality, we’re tired of the global hatred and wars and most importantly we’re tired of these false idols. 

We’re tired of having our human dignities insulted. We’re tired of being silenced and we’re tired of your ego parading around this earth trying to play the role of God. 

Beautiful to see the global occupy movements but as the United States (US) heads into it’s Thanksgiving weekend, we should ponder the idea of this Occupy America concept and perhaps give it a new name. 

You see; America is already occupied. Has been since those from Europe came, killed and settled. The native people are still without their rights, forced onto reservations and ignored.

In reality, this yearly ceremonial act is merely a celebration of death, destruction and thievery.  

What an insult to our ancestors to the world’s first people, who remain the most occupied people in the world. 

In fact, the world is occupied. Our minds are occupied. Our hearts are occupied with the lies and hatred of these false gods and idols that continue to try and steal us from the Divine. 

Enough of this colonisation! I hereby declare myself an independent nation. 

“A country is in crisis when there is a raging war between the citizens and the people who are supposed to protect them,” said Reem.

Oh ignorant false gods and idols, there’s blood on your hands the world over but don’t worry our true creator eagerly waits to clean them during this time of rewind. 

May all the faces of these false idols be uncovered and revealed to the people so that they may see. May all those who have been trampled upon finally find justice as the boomerang takes its toll on those who enjoyed that first laugh. 

May the souls of all those that have perished due to war, famine, natural disasters and fighting for what they believe in; transition peacefully into the wind. 

All I can offer in exchange for my prayer to the Divine is my life, which belonged to you in the first place. 

The Beloveds of God

The following is a wonderful excerpt from Sidi Shaykh Muhammad al-Jamal’s ‘Conversations in the Zawiyah’. Although it specifically references our significant other it can also be applied to one’s relationship to the self and one’s relationship to our fellow brothers and sisters in the world, animals and nature itself.

After you have walked in the way and lifted the veils of darkness to see the light of God, He brings you a step higher tosee Him in the face of your beloved. The understanding of God and all that His love means to you is completed by the sharing of the deep secret love with another.

It is putting the essence of all the teachings, all the books, all the sciences, and all that God has given to you into manifestation through the love you share with your beloved. Everything before has been a preparation for seeing the light of God in the eye of your beloved.

You have cut through many stones in your way, for the world is full of darkness and troubles and many things have come before you. But it is necessary to erase everything and to leave your past behind, to come to your beloved with a clean heart in order to live in the heart of God.

He wants to show you the true picture of Himself in the face of your beloved, and it is necessary to be careful with those whom God gives us to care about because they are really the jewel.

Their hearts are pure and clean and through them you can see the true image of God. You share a love whose depths cannot be fathomed because it is the love of God.

His secret is in the love. It is important for you to care for your beloved as if you were caring for God, and to speak to your beloved as if you were speaking to God. At every moment you stand facing God and God is your Beloved.

Made to Journey

Fighting beyond endurance, the pain, fatigue, isolation, humiliation and abandonment.

That’s the magic.

Instead of complaining and running from the pain, you step into it

The path of the seeker is one who is willing to be stripped down to nothing to the point where the only voice they’ll listen to is that of the heart, the spirit, God.

Still…

Some wounds are too deep, to close to the bones

No matter how hard you work on yourself, you just can’t stop the bleeding

-Simba

Quoting Qadiri Sufi Master, Bawa Muhaiyaddeen’s teaching of the real miracle, blogger MysticSaint writes: To become a true human being is a miracle. To become a good person is a miracle. To become a wise person is a miracle. For the flower of the heart to bloom is a miracle. For fragrance and light to come into that flower is a miracle. For a human being to find peace, equality, tranquility - that is a true miracle. That is the work of a true human being. If you can become such a being, that will be a wonder, all lives will bow in awe to that wonder. You will be able to understand everything. That knowing will come from within yourself. To reach this station is the real miracle.

In modern times, making such a journey means battling skeptical forces who question the true nature of your journey, which to their eye’s is without a legal and clearly defined purpose. Personally, the forced journey of the seeker looking for proper guidance in reaching this station means enduring the storm. Stripped of everything and forced once again to make the endless journey.

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