The cottage

I lived in a placid cottage
Next to a still river

When I stood facing the sun
I could see myself in the river

Until you appeared on the horizon
Like dark clouds, precursor to a storm

Thoughts about you blew like a mighty gale
And destroyed the beautiful trees in my garden

You damaged my cottage and made it uninhabitable
The river became so turbulent next to it

That I could not see myself any more in it
The storm of your thoughts stayed right there

It would wax and wane in intensity
But never leave the precincts of my cottage

I then noticed a Neem tree nearby
Seated beneath was a fakir resplendent

I went to him and sat by his side
And told him my tale of woe

He told me let go of the storm
Think only of his Sarkar (Master)

My Sarkar has everything to offer
If you want to cling, cling onto him

I agreed to do what the fakir told me
And asked him to show me his Sarkar

The fakir became my Murshid immediately
And he turned out to be his own Sarkar

Now he became my Sarkar too
Then the Murshid turned towards the gale

With his Satka (Stick) he chased away your thoughts
He then made me sing his name incessantly

Away went the storm without leaving a trace
The cottage became habitable again

Now when I looked in the river
I saw only the fakir in the water

I took him into the cottage
And served his feet with eagerness

At his feet I found all the happiness
There was everything I wanted in there

Gates of paradise

One night in my dream
I reached the gates of paradise

On entering the garden
I found all pleasures one could think of

And on walking further
I ran into the gardener

The gardener made me forget
About the paradise around me

The gardener's presence alone
Could make any place a paradise

I woke up from the dream
And went in search of the paradise

I went to the very ends of the earth
Nowhere could this paradise be found

Then I went in search of the gardener
I went to all the pilgrim centres

Finally I went to a fakir
Who was seated under a neem tree

The fakir asked me to give him
My bundle of worries and in return

He said he would show me
The gardener whom I seek

I gladly gave him the heavy bundle
I had carried all along with me

He then asked me to close my eyes
And look deep within my heart

And there was the paradise in there
And the gardener I sought

On opening the eyes, I saw
The fakir was also the gardener

I planted the same neem tree in the paradise
And I went home with the murshid in my heart

Thirsty

One night, fast asleep I saw you in my mind's eye
And made me feel the world around is a dream

Thirsty was I for your presence
I went in search everywhere

I went through tomes of knowledge
From many libraries in the world

I tried to learn how to sate this thirst
Went on learning  how to gain the water of knowledge

Proud of this knowledge I sat on a high wall
And tried to gauge where the water was

But water has this tendency
To flow to a lower level

Hence I found that from the high wall
The water of knowledge was inaccessible

Hence I got down from the wall
And quenched my thirst

He who comes down to the least level
He has his thirst quenched

And he who remains on the high wall
He will remain thirsty forever

It is enough if one knows this
In the quest for one's beloved

Mere bookish knowledge will do no good
Humility of going to the lowest level is everything

calling out to you

I tried calling out to you
Until I cried myself hoarse

I lit up a big fire and
Tried sending smoke signals

The fire burned steadily sending the signals
Until it was put off by the heavy rains

I tried to send my pigeon with the message
He flew until he was gobbled up by your hawk

I then walked across hill and dale to reach you
Until I collapsed from fatigue and could move no more

I still lie there in wait looking for a way
To behold your beautiful form night and day

Your impregnable fortress

The weather  was quite tranquil and placid
Until you went by, causing a terrible storm

Therefore I went in search of you
To many a distant lands

Finally I came across your impregnable fortress
Unable to find an entrance, I was under much duress

I tied a message to my pigeon and sent it to you
However the hawk guarding your fortress gobbled her up

I then tried to talk to your gatekeepers
Fortunate are they for they are your companions

However they refuse to talk to me
Or allow me to enter your realm

And yet I wait outside your fortress
Seeking a secret tunnel somewhere

Seeking an entrance inside your fortress
To be forever in your beautiful realm

Just as Hallaj

Just as Hallaj declared his oneness with his beloved
I declared that thoughts about you have swallowed my self

However speaking the truth, one has to pay the price
Society and authority begins to despise

For the people in the city call me a drunkard
Intoxicated by the wine of your beauty

And yet like the Abbasid Caliph you punish me
By ignoring me altogether and going away

Separation from you is like the gibbet
From which hung the  body of Hallaj

How painful do you think this can be?
Thoughts about you have swallowed me

Without my self where be the pain?
There are only your thoughts come rain or shine

The beauty of my beloved

I travelled to a distant land
And camped in the forest at night

The fox came up to me and said
"Look yonder at the moon in the sky"

"Look at her incomparable beauty" said he
"See how bright she appears tonight"

"She is pretty and a delight to look at" said I
"But she pales in comparison to the beauty of my beloved"

"For see there are craters on the moon " Said I
"But my beloved is blemish free"

Then came the Antelope near the river
"Look at the beauty of the river" said she

"See How cool and soothing are her waters"
"Can there be anything more beautiful than this?"

"She sates the thirst for sure"  Said I
"But the sight of my beloved is more pleasing"

"My beloved's sight makes me forget hunger and thirst"
"So soothing and cool is her presence to me"

"The river with all her beauty still contains impurities"
"Where as my beloved's beauty is the most pristine thing in the world"

Then came the great black bear
"Look at the fireflies in the night" said he

"How beautifully they light up the forest"
"Bringing light and destroying darkness"

"They are bright indeed" Said I
"But my beloved is like the sun to me"

"Her presence lights up the entire sky for me"
"There is nothing in this universe brighter than she"


In the morning I met the bee
"Look at the beauty of the rose" said he

"Look at her in full bloom"
"Her beauty and color are vivid and picturesque"

"She is a  divine beauty no doubt" said I
"But my beloved is god's finest creation"

"For there are thorns in the rose too"
"But my beloved is softer than the softest petals"

Without abandon!

Loved you have I, without abandon
And yet you seem as distant as the stars in the heavens

I thought you were the oasis
But you turned out to be a mirage

I looked to your lighthouse for guidance in the rough seas
Yet your intense rays incarcerated my ship

I sought shade under your tree
And yet that very tree collapsed on me

The cow ran from the tiger
Only to run into a butcher

I ran into the house seeking shelter from the storm
Only to have it collapse on me


The sparrow came out to catch a worm
Only to be snatched and ripped apart by the hawk

I came looking for your healing balm
Only to get searing pain in return

 I came looking for heaven in your midst
Only to reach the gates of hell instead

And yet I continue treading on the bloody path of thorns
For greater than all this pain and suffering is my love for you