Friend of the Soul

Yedid Nefesh, Friend of the Soul

the work of 16th Century kabbalist Rabbi Elazar Azikri. 

Soul's beloved, source of compassion,
draw Your servant to your desire.
Your servant will run like a gazelle;
he will bow before your splendor.
Your love is sweeter to him
than the dripping of honey, or all tastes.

Splendid, Beautiful, Radiance of the Universe
My soul is sick for Your love .
Please, God, heal her 
by showing her the beauty of your radiance.
Then she will be strengthened and healed
And she will have eternal bliss.
Ancient One, arouse Your mercy,
and please have pity upon Your beloved child.
For how I have yearned
to swiftly see the splendor of Your strength.
These are the desires of my heart
so please have pity and do not hide Yourself.
Please, reveal Yourself.
beloved, spread over me the shelter of your peace.
Illumine the earth with Your glory,
that we may exalt and rejoice in You.
For now comes the time
grace us as in days of old.

Love is from the Infinite

"Love is from the infinite, 

and will remain until eternity.

The seeker of love

 escapes the chains of birth and death.

Tomorrow, when resurrection comes,

The heart that is not in love will fail the test. " Rumi

Love Flows from God

By Mechthild of Magdeburg


Love flows from God to man without effort
As a bird glides through the air
Without moving its wings --
Thus they go whithersoever they will
United in body and soul
Yet in their form separate --
As the Godhead strikes the note
Humanity sings,
The Holy Spirit is the harpist
And all the strings must sound
Which are strung in love.

Kahlil Gibran On Marriage

Let there be spaces in your togetherness,

And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:

Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Fill each others cup but drink not from one cup.

Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.

Sing and dance together and be joyous,

but let each one of you be alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each others keeping.

For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.

And stand together yet not too near together:

For the pillars of the temple stand apart,

And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each others shadow.

Kahlil Gibran

My Heart was Split

Odes of Solomon

King Solomon ( 1^st century)

My heart was split, and a flower appeared:

and grace sprang up;

and it bore fruit for my God.

You split me, tore my heart

open, filled me with love.

You poured your spirit into me;

I knew you as I know myself.

Speaking waters touched me

from your fountain, the source of life.

I swallowed them and was drunk with the water that never dies.

And my drunkenness was insight,

intimacy with your spirit.

And you have made all things new;

you have showed me all things shining.

You have granted me perfect ease;

I have become like Paradise,

a garden whose fruit is joy;

and you are the sun upon me.

My eyes are radiant with your spirit;

my nostrils fill with your fragrance.

My ears delight in your music,

and my face is covered with your dew.

Blessed are the men and women

who are planted on your earth, in your garden,

who grow as your trees and flowers grow,

who transform their darkness to light.

Their roots plunge into darkness;

their faces turn toward the light.

All those who love you are beautiful;

they overflow with your presence

so that they can do nothing but good.

There is infinite space in your garden;

all men, all women are welcome here;

all they need do is enter.

Agony and Ecstacy

I am deeply connected and indebted to the great Sufi masters like Rumi and Hafiz. In watching a documentary on Rumi recently,  he was spoken of as a man who was missed by all religions as he helped Christians understand Jesus, Jews understand Moses and Muslims understand Muhammad. He spoke in the language of the heart and we can all understand the longing of lovers for their beloved.  Rumi's death was called his wedding night, when he finally consummated his heart's deep desire and his soul's journey on earth.

The Agony and Ecstasy of Divine Discontent:
The Moods of Rumi

In the orchard and rose garden

I long to see your face.

In the taste of Sweetness

I long to kiss your lips.

In the shadows of passion

I long for your love.

Oh! Supreme Lover!

Let me leave aside my worries.

The flowers are blooming
with the exultation of your Spirit.

By Allah!

I long to escape the prison of my ego

and lose myself
in the mountains and the desert.

These sad and lonely people tire me.

I long to revel in the drunken frenzy of your love
and feel the strength of Rustam in my hands.

I’m sick of mortal kings.

I long to see your light.

With lamps in hand
the sheiks and mullahs roam
the dark alleys of these towns
not finding what they seek.

You are the Essence of the Essence,

The intoxication of Love.

I long to sing your praises
but stand mute
with the agony of wishing in my heart.

Rabia of Basra

Rabia lived in the 8th century in Basra, Persia. After a life of slavery and and deep suffering, she became a Sufi mystic and poet focusing her life and devotion on serving her true Beloved.


She was once asked how she attained such an enlightened state of being. She explained that she lived and served in the temple of her heart and that she took refuge in God. Here are some of her

beautiful poems filled with longing for Divine Love.

"Brothers, my peace is in my aloneness.
My Beloved is alone with me there, always.
I have found nothing in all the worlds
That could match His love,
This love that harrows the sands of my desert.
If I come to die of desire
And my Beloved is still not satisfied,
I would live in eternal despair.

To abandon all that He has fashioned
And hold in the palm of my hand
Certain proof that He loves me---
That is the name and the goal of my search."

___________________________________

"In love, nothing exists between heart and heart.
Speech is born out of longing,
True description from the real taste.
The one who tastes, knows;
the one who explains, lies.
How can you describe the true form of Something
In whose presence you are blotted out?
And in whose being you still exist?
And who lives as a sign for your journey? "

How Did The Rose

"How
did the rose
ever open its heart
and give to this world all of its beauty?
It felt the encouragement of light against its being,
otherwise we all remain too
frightened." Hafiz



There is much we can see in the rose,  as she reflects our own inner being. She contains all the beauty and grace of our hearts, offering a delight for our soul and all of our senses. She opens her petals with the radiance of the sun's light and is nourished by water and our admiration of her beauty. She is protected from life with her thorns and despite that we handle her delicately and with much tenderness. 
Hafiz reminds us here that the rose is like our souls,  opening with Gods love. If we do the same we can offer the world the highest part of ourselves. We must examine what stands in the way for us to offer our love ? How do we become like a rose ?

My heart is a sea

My heart is filled
with an expansive sea
reflecting the sun's light
in every ripple.

Come in to cleanse yourself
and purify your soul.

Our beloved Friend
has been waiting for
this moment.

Isn't it time that we
remember this sacred
triad ?

The Woman I Love by Hafiz

Because the Woman I love lives
Inside of you,

I lean as close to your body with my words
As I can -

And I think of you all the time, dear pilgrim.

Because the One I love goes with you
Wherever you go,
Hafiz will always be near.

If you sat before me, wayfarer,
With your aura bright from your many
Charms,

My lips could not resist rushing to you and needing
To befriend your blushed cheek,

But my eyes can no longer hide
The wondrous fact of who
You really are.

The Beautiful One whom I adore
Has pitched His royal tent inside of you,

So I will always lean my heart
As close to your soul
As I can.