Love, the Great Flood and Who is Hu? Hu is He is Love

5. I did not plan
Wealth took me into his arms,
And I replied, "Peace be upon you",
Poverty shook my hand,
And I replied, "Peace be upon you",
Envy then appeared to greet me,
And I replied, "I want nothing to do with you,"
Jealousy lit a fire under my feet,
And I replied, "It is a hateful thing that you do,"

I look to the Sun but I receive no answer,
I look to the Moon and he is silent to me,
Then I look within, and finally I could see,
The spring of truth, the fountain of peace
The strange yet familiar face that seems
To look like me, but is more than me.

If you find me pleasant, then blessed is me,
If you find me rude, then accursed is me,
But in the shadow of the looming storm,
And in the eye of a rising cyclone,
Never am I alone.

I did not plan my journey
Knowing what awaits
Me around the corner,
Through the valley of life,
With leafs and flowers left
Wet with morning kisses
The path takes me forward
Wherever God pleases.

I did not plan to fall for you
Knowing what awaits me in
Your secret embrace,
Only that love came,
Then love called,
Mysterious and
Masked in her
Many beguiling
Disguises.

.................

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I think Love must be mysterious. Which means that Love can be a little arbitrary. And that is not bad, when you think about it. After all, there is so much in life which is beyond our control. Like our breath for instance. Who's to say that this breath which I exhale is not my last? Who's to say that I won't expire before I finish writing this posting? Sufis love the quirky analogy between the English language "Who" and the Arabic "Hu' (meaning 'He', and in Sufi dictionary, as in He, the One God). They often would reply to the questions thus - "Who? Why Hu of of course!"

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I wrote the above prose, carried by a wave of sentiments that we can call love (From 'The Bride's Dress' - Jan 2010). I fell in love, you see. And at that point in time, really, I knew not where this flood will take me, and ultimately deposit me. Noah's Ark is reputed to have been left on top of Mount Ararat after the Great Flood. Me? Hehehe, to tell you the truth, sunshine, my Great Flood has not ebbed, and I am still adrift in the flood water. If you could see me now, you would see me in my small sampan (a small boat), eyes blinking, nervously staring into the vastness of a sea which appears to have no end.

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There is a common thread about love, about man and woman, the Sea, the arbitratiness of life, and how love can taste so sweet, just about a second before love pushes you overboard.

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Yet, it is a shared belief in most faiths that there are no such thing as coincidences, so really, arbitrariness doesn't actually even exist. And after all my posturing and pretensions, I appear to have been permitted to live long enough to write this posting. And you have been fated to live long enough to read this posting. So who permitted it? Who consented to our meeting? Who?

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As those crazy Sufis would answer... I believe it is Hu, He, Love.

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Pax Taufiqa.