“We have reduced love, this cosmic divine force, to a small sliver of its full potency. Nowadays when we speak about love, we almost exclusively refer to romantic love. But for the mystics, love is light. Love comes unabashedly, radiantly, in a thousand different shades and colors that still blend into One. There is love of the friend, the neighbour, the child, of the parent, the lover, the stranger, of God and the prophets, of saints and sinners, love of the self, love of the enemy, of nature, of realms seen and unseen. And more. For these mystics, love is fire. It is a purifying fire that burns away selfishness, greed, anger, ego and leaves behind nothing but God.” (Excerpt from the book ‘Radical Love: Teachings from the Islamic Mystical Tradition’)
Love, to me, is submission to the earth and its Creator.
Love, to me, is respect for every living thing on planet earth.
Love, to me, is compassion, modesty and honesty.
Love, to me, is being just and ensuring justice even if it is against your own self.
But substantially, love, to me, is sweetness with a hint of bitterness.
The basis of love is one’s heart and soul. A corrupt heart and soul are not able to experience and give love – hence the importance of nurturing these two fundamental and vulnerable components, for a body walking this earth without a heart and soul beating for and by love, is redundant.
I have experienced love and hate, two mutually exclusive but still interconnected concepts, and found myself loving that which was bad for me. This quickly turned into hate and then love again for the Creator and the trials He blessed me with to overcome.
We all at some point in our lives will find ourselves pursuing things, people, a job, status etc. which is not bad per se. However, the key in this is to regularly check the status of your heart. And by this I mean being mindful of the fact that chasing goals of this dunya will never leave you satisfied or happy as true happiness comes from the contentment of the heart. What are your goals and what is your endgame? Do you know yourself? What are you trying to achieve and is it for the sake of your neighbour? Are you making sure not to hurt anybody or anything in the process? Happiness and contentment of the heart can possibly only be achieved by conscious submission, spirituality and love for the Creation, all of it. To not blindly follow your senses and love for this world as this definition of love is merely superficial attachment. After all, we should not become soulless beings on earth much like The Walking Dead, consuming people, animals and objects, right?!
Love and hate are divine and mystic concepts. Hate kills love, love survives by love and love fosters happiness and growth. Love is simple, yet the human race has made it so complicated.
Love, to me, is greeting a stranger with a smile.
Love, to me, is helping and sharing.
Love, to me, is praying for someone’s well being and happiness – no matter who they are or what they might have done unto you.
Love, to me, is staring at the moon and it giving me contentment.
Love, to me, is lighting my scented candle and feeling privileged to enjoy it in the privacy of my own home.
And so, Love, to me, is finding happiness in small things, which are in fact the grande things in this crazy beautiful existence.
Essentially, I wish you love in all its glory and diversity.
