Saturday, November 06, 2010

Love's Twists and turns

What sort of a person is he who has always held in his hands what his heart has desired?  If he is a king perhaps another Hitler.  Who knows maybe such people devastate the world around them for only one or two things their hearts have desired.  But this is not something which is going to happen in a book like Masnavi.  One of the greatest beauties Masnavi's first story is that our king, although he is a king, is not able to procure the slave woman or rather her love and is conquered.  Please note that in Rumi's mystical view one of the worst calamities that may happen to you is for you to see whatever your heart desires in your hands always.  Indeed, it seems that if the king had managed to buy the slave woman's love the way he bought the woman herself this great masterpiece in the world's literature, this book of Masnavi, would not even have started.

 Yes, it turns out in our story that the slave woman herself is in love with another man, but since she is not a king or a queen and can not buy the one whom she loves she becomes sick.   And what sort of a person is he or she who is not able to fall sick I mean who is not able to fall in love.  Saadi thinks such a person is a beast. 

T on the way to an early morning class

A letter to dear sue

Nights, he tooke food and fruite for poors and hungries.He always covered his face, because he wanted to help secret and only and only for God. That time anybody did not know him.
He always prayed, always on time. In his life he did not late in his prayers.When he prayed,only and only was with God her remember and her thought.
In a day, heprayed in mosque altar, a runty man killed him( in my country culture we say to this death shahadat and to a person die this form we say shahid and we believe that shahadat is the best of death and shahid sure goes to heaven).
When he was killed in prayer, impiouses said: unless he prayed?Poors and children that their parent died said:tonight kind our father did not come ? They cried and they said this sentence but it was late.
After his death, poors and hungries always were hungry and that time all knoew that who brought food.
Yes, ali (alayhessalam=for respecting)tooke food for poors.He really was angel on earth but when he went people knew him
when I write this letter, there are many tearrop in my eyes and in my heart many sorrow.
Ali(alayhessalam) is the first leader for us.
when I want to do a hard work or when I am sorrow, I say, help me ((ya ali)) and he sure will help me in any form. Of course He helps moslems but I think that he helps other relogion, If you like, please try once, he sure helps you.
I like and I hope that when I die, in breaths last,I see him and after die, of course if god willing.
Dear sue, I suggest you that if would you like please, you read his book.Name of his book is Nahjolbalagheh. It is life book after quran.
thank you very very much.
A sentence from ali( alayhessalam):I do not see a thing, unless I see God before it, after it and with it.
BY HAMED

Question from Walden

Thanks Sue for your very helpful comment.  I have another question from another sentence below the previous one.

He says, "Sometimes I heard four or five at once in different parts of the wood, by accident one a bar behind another, and so near me that I distinguished not only the cluck after each note, "

Is he using the word "bar" as a musical term with this definition: "the line marking the division between two measures of music."?  Since I have not heard anything but cars engines around me and am not familiar with the bird Thoreau is talking about here, I would really appreciate it if you could kindly explain in some details about what is happening here in these few lines.

T

Thursday, November 04, 2010

On the wings of Masnavi

Last night we read Masnavi to line 100 with Sabber and Maryam.  The physician from the invisible has now arrived to help our king and who know maybe us.

All aboard please!  Today, Friday the 4th of October, on this beautiful autumn morning we are going to continue the journey with Bahman and Fattemeh.  Fattemeh is a very nice fellow traveller and shows intense enthusiasm for reading this book.

From beginning to the end, I don't think we will ever find anything but love in Masnavi.  Our Masnavi starts with the wailful complaints of separation and then the next thing that happens in order to end or rather begin to end this separation is falling in love.  Unlike almost all other stories, it is not enough to be a king to be happy.  Here in Masnavi, you need to find a woman, a slave woman and sacrifice your crown to her in order to take your first step towards the Friend.  As Rumi says later in his Masnavi: "Love whispered softly into my ears" It is much sweeter to be hunted than to be the hunter."

Yes, let us fall into the trap that Rumi has set up for us with his Masnavi.  Let us all be his prey.  And indeed what a wonderful predator is he. 

T in rapture

A question from Walden

Hi Sue,

At the end of chapter "Sounds" in Walden, paragraph 15, I have read this sentence:  "They would begin to sing almost with as much precision as a clock, within five minutes of a particular time, referred to the setting of the sun, every evening."  My understanding of the sentence is a bit dim and I will appreciate it if you could kindly help me understand it better.  What I do not perfectly understand is the phrase "of a particular time". In fact, I don't find myself able to parse this part of the sentence : "within five minutes of a particular time, referred to the setting of the sun, every evening."  Would it perhaps be possible for you to parse it or even paraphrase it for me?

Thanks in advance for your precious help.

T

Heavenly present

When the weather is dirty in Tehran, my heart is rainy, cloudy and sad and when the weather is clean and without pollution, my heart is sunny and happy.
I think that the weather is very important for working,teaching,living and even for our emotions.Unfortunately, these years the weather getting hot and hotter, bad and worst and it is not well, specially in Iran that it is hot and dry, for these when I see a drope of rain, I am impress and I will be happy.
Rain is a thing from God but sometimes we are sad when rain comes that it is not right.
poets always like rain and they use in their poem it, if you ask me why, I say because they see diffrence and with details.
In some countries, rain is important and they respect to it.
Anyway I think that it is heavenly present from God and I hope to see it again and again in Iran and my city meaning Tehran, of course if God willing.


BY HAMED

My physics teacher

Dear Sue
My physics teacher is my favorite teacher. He is a experienced teacher. When our school opened to now he teaches physics to students in it. He learns us a lot of new things and I like to learn them too fast. Some times what he says is not enough for me and I like to learn another things. And also he is a strict teacher . He takes two quiz in a week.One of them is test quiz and one of them is
description quiz.
Your friend E.N

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Sabber's letter to Sue

Hello Sue
These days I'm too busy because I want to go to a university 9 months later and I should read my school's books alot.
In every day, an average of my studing is about4 hours. I think reading about 4 hours in a day is not enough time for going to a good universityand that is a hard work but, I belive when you love a work, that work is easy for you .I think you belive my opinion too.Is it true?
In the Masnavi, we have read 52 lines. In fact reading the Masnavi is one of the best works that we can do it in my class with T.

Finally, although I am too busy, writing a letter to you makes me happy.
take care.

Sabber

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Dogs

Sue, 

Bahman says that dogs are unclean in Islam.  I really don't know where this verdict has sprung from.  I remember, however, a story from one of the most famous books in our mystical literature.  One day Junaid who is one of our greatest mystics was passing by when he saw a shaggy, hungry dog whose teeth had been broken.  Junaid stopped by the poor dog and began to give him his own food. All the while, he shed tears, caressed the dog and said, "who knows which of us is really better? A dog's name may be ugly, but no dog is destined to go to hell after death. I however am walking on a tight rope tied and stretched over hell and heaven. If I do not slip I will put the crown of God's forgiveness on my head one day, but if I slip and fall into the hell I am many times worse than this dog."

You once said that you did not know Saadi very well.  This is one of the stories I read in Saadi's Boostan.  Golistan is in prose.  Boostan is in verse.

T

Bahman's letter to Sue,

Dear Sue,
Thank you, yes, Iranians have ability to speak poetically. I think it is for our culture. We have many poets. When Iranians are child his family read poem and it is for our rich culture. I love all kind of Iranians poems. I usually read classic poem. Classic literature is so beautiful. I love classic literature more than modern literature. For example Hafez, Sa’adi, Molavi and Ferdosi are classic poems. Modern poet (that it called free verse) is beautiful. I read usually Forogh’s poet in modern poet. It is very interesting that classic literature’s books are until now. We have many wars and captures. Now, we have many books that they wrote about 800 years ago.
God tell:
‘I keep from all things that are godly’.Those books are godly.
I was sleeping when a wise man said:
Why do you choose to imitate the dead?
Since happiness for none unfolds in sleep
Drink now, the dust is your eternal bed.
Khayam…….From T’s book.
Yes, dogs are very much in Iran. I don’t like to keep animals in my home, because they are free. We should not take them. Dogs in Islam are unclean and we shouldn’t take them in our home. If a Muslim touches a dog he became unlike. We use dogs in a flock of goats or sheep for example a sheep dog. Now, people have dogs and keep them in their homes. Peoples play with them. Much kind of dogs live in Iran. Bulldogs are very popular and expensive.

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