Poem: “Life Journey,” a Collaboration with Zara

Jul12
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My Seagull Soul by Aisha Abdelhamid ©

Life Journey

No baggage allowed; no extra weight permitted
No provisions required by the soul embarking on that journey
How shall I survive, what shall I sacrifice?
I suddenly feel so heavy!

Come empty handed! Heavenly gifts await you beloved 
Throw away needs of body; seduce the heart to submission
A miraculous strength of truth unveils her presence
How lovers welcome your arrival! Adorned with intentions of righteousness

I am shy as a child in the light of truth’s lightness
Tremulously stepping forward in search of submission
Hands outstretched to cast off bad habits
My toes disappear with the release of each burden!

Sink into His Ocean of love; drown away each sorrow
Swim deeper for what tears hearts is its distance from home
A child fears of not such a journey my friend
Ignite the wings of love and return to His Court once again

© 2014 by Zara Hussain & Aisha Abdelhamid

What a pleasure to collaborate on a poem with my new blogging sister, Zara! If you already know her, you will surely not mind me expressing my deep appreciation for Zara’s incredible poetic eloquence, because I’m sure you feel it too!

And if you don’t yet know Zara, please allow me to introduce you to someone whose poetry will light your heart with a very special glow. In my quest to learn more about Rumi, I came across Zara’s website and fell in love, perhaps enchanted is an equally appropriate word, with her soul and with her poetry. I swear she writes with the Pen of Rumi, I am so impressed with her loving eloquence! You can imagine my great pleasure when Zara asked me to collaborate on a poem with her, what a deep honor! I am totally out of my league just standing beside her, barely able to untie my tongue, let alone compose a poem on her level. So, admitting this truth and asking her to guide me was the best approach I could imagine for our collaboration, and this forms the basis for our poem. Her guidance is brilliant, pointing me to the Brightest Star, in search of the Greatest Truth, by following the Best Way.

Please take a few extra moments to visit Zara and allow her poetic expression to caress you lovingly, her poetry is a virtual spa for the soul!


Life Journey (2014)
(via http://zar4h.wordpress.com)

No baggage allowed; no extra weight permitted
No provisions required by the soul embarking on that journey
How shall I survive, what shall I sacrifice?
I suddenly feel so heavy!

Come empty-handed! Heavenly gifts await you beloved
Throw away needs of body; seduce the heart to submission…
Please click here to read more of this poem on Zara’s website!

;^)

37 thoughts on “Poem: “Life Journey,” a Collaboration with Zara”

  2. Dear Aisha
    I hope you are in the best of health and iman!
    It was an absolute pleasure to collaborate with a wonderful soul..perhaps that is where our souls truly met…as the ink of love flowed for His sake..
    With much much love and gratitude
    Zara

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  3. My favourite lines “I am shy as a child in the light of truth’s lightness
    Tremulously stepping forward in search of submission”

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    • Thanks so much, Lor! It’s so wonderful of you to mention that, I had fun editing my seagull photo to make it look the way I thought would enhance the poem’s symbolism, thanks again! ♥♥♥ ;^)

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  7. I love this poem because it reminded me of the other I was speaking with Sue Dreamwalker about the possibility of having to back to the “old ways” if a natural disaster came, whether it would be possible to to do it after being pampered for so long with high technology and electric appliances. When you both say:
    “No baggage allowed; no extra weight permitted
    No provisions required by the soul embarking on that journey
    How shall I survive, what shall I sacrifice?
    I suddenly feel so heavy!”
    It reminds me how we must face the world in a spiritual sense. We’re born naked and defenceless, and suddenly, as we grow, we acquire “the baggage”.

    What a beautiful poem Aisha and Zara.
    Then:
    “Sink into His Ocean of love; drown away each sorrow
    Swim deeper for what tears hearts is its distance from home
    A child fears of not such a journey my friend…
    Ignite the wings of love and return to His Court once again”

    This is why I think there is hope, to be able to go back to the “old ways” if needed. This “baggage” that we carry throughout our lives is simply temporary (or an illusion if you ask me), as this “Ocean of Love” is always there available to us.

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    • How beautifully perceptive, Maria! I hadn’t thought of your point of view, but it does apply very well, doesn’t it?! What an interesting point, too, because before when I was a teenager, I used to imagine about this same thing very much. I never imagined it would happen to me in my lifetime, but afterall, it was God probably guiding me in the direction of my coming “life journey” (God is so amazing!) – since I went from being a child of southern california suburbia (lol aka valley girl) to rural egyptian farmer’s wife. It happened in my own life, this strange reduction from everything materialistic to only the basic essentials, and yet I don’t miss a thing!
      I believe you understand, since you love to learn new things, don’t you! Fortunately we didnt do it overnight, like God forbid, in the case of a huge catastrophe, but it is very reassuring to learn that it can be done, and it’s not all that difficult. Lol, my father might not be able to handle any of it, but thank God, his daughter was able to “adapt, improvise and overcome!”
      Maybe the toughest thing I had to learn was to curb my wanderlust, because animals dont eat if you’re not there to feed them! And lol, you don’t eat if you dont “grow your own” – of course butchering a chicken to be able to eat spicy wings is another challenge, but hey, if you love spicy wings, you’ll learn, if you know what I mean!
      It comes with a huge sense of satisfaction when you learn to truly survive by your own humble striving, it’s something lots of people identify with and makes us interested to learn more. As you said, it’s wonderful to learn something new everyday.
      About the poem, I feel I’m reaching the next step – freed of the materialistic, now I feel I’m being guided to leave off the personal – it’s a strange new journey, I don’t know if it’s approaching my feet so much as it’s approaching my soul… it’s quite fascinating, to be honest, and these are the things we need poetry for, or at any rate poetry is wonderful for helping us describe in words what our souls have no need of words to express, and which our hearts and minds haven’t yet quite reconciled!
      Dear Maria, thank you so much for your friendship, what a beautiful blessing are friends who allow us to communicate our feelings and express our thoughts on a more profound level than the typical day to day experiences usually allow! My thanks and love are with you, dearheart! ♥♥♥ ;^)))

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    • Barak Allah fiki, dear sis! Allah has blessed us with this beautiful inspiration that Zara shares with us, masha’Allah and alhamdulillah! Thanks so much for visiting, so happy to see you! ♥♥♥ ;^)

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  11. Aisha, the poem was outstanding and a great union of souls in its creation… I especially enjoyed the lines of this verse… “Come empty handed! Heavenly gifts await you beloved “……….. Wonderful.. and now I am off to take a look at Zara’s blog.. 🙂 xx
    Many thanks dear Aisha for your visit.. and for being you 🙂

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    • Hi Amy – thanks so much! I’m sure I did that when I first started my blog, but I checked and found the links missing, so I added it back in. I really appreciate that! ♥♥♥ ;^)

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