A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi ( q.s. ) said, “During Majnun’s time, there were girls much more beautiful than Layla, but they were not loved by him.  When told, ‘There are girls more beautiful than Layla.  Let us show them to you,’ he would always reply, ‘I do not love Layla for her external form.  She is of external form; she is like a goblet which I hold and from I drink wine.  I am in love with the wine I drink therefrom.  You see only the goblet, and are not aware of the wine.  Of what use would a golden goblet be to me, if it were filled with vinegar or something other than wine?  For me, a broken old gourd filled with wine would be better than a hundred such goblets.’”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Qays ibn al-Mulawwah, better known as “Majnun”, wrote of Layla bint Mahdi, a thousand lines and more of love achingly beautiful.  Wandering the desert in a daze of despair, separation ate him to death.  O virgin love, he never forgot her.  But she married another.  Had he chosen the Beloved instead, never would he have known despair since there is no separation from the Immanent.  Are we not all Majnun seeking our Layla?   In truth, people are looking for a glimpse of a reality that the heart knows, but the mind cannot yet conceive.  They assuage this unconscious yearning in relationships, in vices, in distractions, in fleeting pleasure.  And yet, it is found when one has been utterly broken such that the soul has no pretensions, no veils, no illusions of accomplishments.  When we stop looking at the reflection in the waters of the material world, we are able to look up, and see the Real that was alway...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ When they were separated, Majnun was walking in the desert, lost, and madly in love.  He approached a man who was in sujud , and walked past him.  When the man finished praying, he got up, and angrily said, “The desert is open and vast, and you decided to walk straight in front of me in my prayer?”   Majnun was lost in love and asked him, “Who were you worshipping?”   The man replied even more angrily, “Allah!”   Majnun then asked, “Do you love Allah?”   “Of course!”   Majnun said, “If you were really lost in your love, you would not have even noticed me.”