Monday, April 7, 2008

Hadra

Rising, falling, rising, falling,
Turn towards a glorious aim.
Close your eyes and use true vision:
See the Living! Say the Name!

Grasp the hand of him beside you,
Seek his aid. He does the same,
Let the Spirit flow between you:
Close the circle! Say the Name!

Cast aside your independence,
Leave behind all thoughts of fame.
Merge into a greater oneness:
Join the body! Say the Name!

Let the shepherd in the centre
Guide you. Be both wild and tame;
Find the freedom in the shackles:
Welcome slavehood! Say the Name!

Breathe. Your life is born of breathing,
And the first breath from Him came.
All the world is breathing with you:
Breathe the Spirit! Say the Name!

Dance the dance that never ceases,
Play the glorious, Godly game.
Allah! Allah! Allah! Allah!
Allah! Allah! Say the Name!
22/03/2008

1 comment:

sulayman said...

ma sha' Allah,
Very beautiful Sidi. You really captured the rhythm and the feel and the intention of the hadra all at once-quite an achievement!

This poem seems almost perfect. My only suggestion would be perhaps to replace "turn" with "turning" because I pronounce "towards" as one syllable, and the "ing" of "turning" gives it a greater continuity with the first line.

Thank you for your wonderful blog and fine poetry!