Saturday, September 1, 2012

BEAUTY IN ART AND MUSIC - no one made this, the One (God) made this...

An artist at the door of his famous studio in Lefke, Cyprus.
I am Owned, so No Ownership Here
In my courtship of Muhammad, Prophet of God
I wish I could claim authorship of all this prose,
But truth be told, how can I claim to write
Something that is already written ... 
In his beautiful grace,
In his benevolent demeanour,
In his loving gaze,
In his patience,
In his devotion to duty,
In his tender ministration,
In his generous mercy,
And in his enduring mission
To heal our heart and raise us
From the ignominy
Of our sins and folly,
By asking, again and again…
“Look at me! Follow me!”

So how can I claim ownership?
Owned as I am already
By the Prophet Muhammad
Who is unto the worlds ordained
As God’s Sweetness of Mercy.
……………………….

The Blue Mosque, Istanbul.
God the Artist. Poets who write prose, writers who write books, architects who raise mighty minaret-ed mosques in glory of the Lord and the Lord's Beloved (pbuh), artists who carve or draw ornate pictures and designs, dervish dancers and singers for the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) all must ultimately resign themselves to this state of confession that verily, they cannot claim authorship of what they do in their chosen fields. For it would be akin to a traveler walking through a meadow of unsurpassed beauty and purity and then declaring, "I made this!"

No, no one made this. Only the One (God) made this and the artists and builders are simply bearing witness unto His heart-breaking Love and Beauty, and mind-breaking Creativity and Power. It is this intimacy that all artists and builders desire to provoke in the hearts of those who may read, listen, watch or contemplate over their labours of love.


And foremost in their labour of love is their untiring courtship of Muhammad Habibullah (pbuh), yearning above all else to be guided by the Most Beloved to the All-Loving. For it is the lore that when God first created the NurMuhammad (Light of Muhammad), He was Most Pleased by what He saw, and thereupon issued forth all of creation, from the Pen and the Tablet and the Throne, to the Angels and the Heavens and Hells, to the Djinns of the smokeless fire and to Man of clay and water, and all creatures and spirits both seen and unseen of all the world(s).

Love makes the world go round? Without love, sunshine, no world would have ever existed.

Life in the Artists' Commune: A bunch of artists and their Mentor and Grand Muse. Alas, one of the artists (al-marhum Shaykh Raja Ashman) has passed on, and like many artists before him, his work is now greatly prized and sought. They are hanging in the antechamber of his mureed's hearts. But I don' t think any of his mureed would part with his work for all the jewel and gold of this world.
al fatiha


wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam
Love will show the Way

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