The Dragons of Paradise and the Meditating Snakes

Taufiq's Dragon

I was away and the World fell asleep

The Light rose between the two hills

Like unto a Divine Lamp raised heavenwards,

Yet it was not the Sun rising,

But in truth the Earth turning and circling

Around the Mercy of the Worlds.

The World was alive between my eyes

When I awoke from slumber,

Yet it was not me waking up,

But in truth the World that was rising from

Its unconscious sleep,

As my soul left her to visit

Some hidden and faraway places,

To bask in the glow of some

Ancient familiar faces.

Day and night we travel, from light to darkness then back to light again. It is unfortunate that some of us wake up feeling more weary than when we fell asleep. You cannot have too many mornings like that, because it is a downer. If you have such restless sleep, find out what's wrong. We need our sleep.

Who knows where we go when we sleep. Our souls clambering out of our window, heading to meet who knows who and talk about who knows what. Maybe I have been meeting dragons in my sleep, but I like the idea of dragons. Not the vicious greedy types like J.R.R. Tolkien's Smaug the Magnificent, but kindly dragons. The sort who won't burn down a village to save its own scales. The sort full of dragon wisdom and kindness.

Tolkien's Dragon

I think dragons have been getting a bad rap in the West. According to an old story (origin uncertain) I have heard around here, dragons are heavenly creatures but was persuaded by the Devil to assist in his conspiracy against Adam and Eve. As a punishment by God the dragon was turned into a snake. Indeed beoming THE snake, the father of all snakes. In our tale, we are informed that some snakes are not satisfied remaining as snakes, and they would often find empty mountain peaks and desolate caves to hide themselves, praising and praying to God to be returned to their original shapes, as Dragons of Paradise. The Malays of old used to call these snakes "Ular bertapa", which basically means meditating snakes.

I guess we have a lot in common with these snakes. We too want to find our true selves. We too want to make acquaintances with our heavenly souls. The sad thing is we can also resemble a nest of angry rattle snakes! Grumpy and poisonous! May God grant us the patience to overcome our ill-tempers. Amen. 

Have a wonderful Tuesday, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq