Category: The Jewelled Garden

Here is a brief passage from one of Sharafuddin Maneri’s ‘Hundred Letters’ to the Governor Shamsuddin.  For more about Maneri and the letters, please see this earlier post.  When he Continue Reading →

In this lyric, the poet declares that he has found the Beloved in all names and forms.  ‘Tegh Bahadur’ was the ninth Sikh guru, named for his valour in battle Continue Reading →

Hazrat Inayat Khan stressed the importance of a seeker’s attitude in the recent posts found here and here.  The 13th C. Sufi Sharafuddin Maneri also taught that spiritual attainment depends Continue Reading →

Thinking of the recent post in which Hazrat Inayat Khan spoke of the spiritual nature of poetry, here is a small taste of a renowned poet of the Chinese tradition. Continue Reading →

For more about the mystical weaver and poet Kabir or Kabir Das, see this earlier post.  This translation is by the literary Nobel prize laureate Rabindranath Tagore; the language is Continue Reading →

In The Hundred Letters of Sharafuddin Maneri, which we first visited here, there are many parallels with the teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan.  Readers might want to compare, for example, Continue Reading →

Sheikh Sharafuddin Ahmed Maneri, from Bihar in north-east India, was the son of a widely respected Sufi, Yahya Maneri,  and became himself known as Makhdoom-ul-Mulk or the Spiritual Teacher of Continue Reading →

Hakim Sanai (1080-1131? CE) was a Persian poet and mystic, but very little is known of his life.  It is said that he lived as a poet in the court Continue Reading →

For more about the mystic and poet Khwaja Shamsuddin Muhammed Hafiz of Shiraz, see this post. I’ve Said It Before and I’ll Say It Again I’ve said it before and I’ll Continue Reading →

There are times when a person’s body may remain completely still while the soul serves God in silent prayer. In such moments your prayer may be filled with a burning Continue Reading →