Maula Ya Salli Wa Sallim..!

O Mawla (Protector, speaking to Allah), send prayers and peace always and forever

Upon Your beloved, the best out of all of Creation.

Muhammad is the Sayyid (Master) of the two worlds and the two groups (men and jinn),

And the Guide of both the Arabs and the non-Arabs.

He is our Prophet, commanding the right and forbidding the wrong, and there is none,

More true in word, saying "Yes" or "No".

He is the Habib (beloved) of the One, from whom we have hopes of intercession (shafa)

In (from) all the woes that have descended upon the humans.

He called us to the path of Allah, and those who cling to Him

Have held the rope of Allah so tight, that it would never break.

He surpasses all the Prophets in khalq (creation/external appearance) and in khuluq (characters/internal apprearance)

None could reach His rank in knowledge (ilm) and in generosity (karam). 

Our utmost knowledge about him says that he is a bashar (human being)

He is the most distinguished and the best, out of all of Creation.

I Saw Her In The Moonlight..

Poetry : Subramanya Bharathi

Rendition : Sanjay Subrahmanyan

I saw her in the moonlight

And took shelter inside her

I have emerged victorious over my senses

And vanquished the desire for possessions

She told me to work without expectation

She told me to live a life of devotion

She extinguished my grief

And wiped away all the sorrows

She created the light of the stars

She created the blowing whirlwind

She created the cosmic space

And lit the passion eternally in my heart

~ Subramanya Bharathi

சந்திரன் ஒளியில் அவளைக் கண்டேன்
சரணம் என்று புகுந்து கொண்டேன் 

இந்திரியங்களை வென்று விட்டேன்
எனதென்றாசையைக் கொன்று விட்டேன் 

பயன் எண்ணாமல் உழைக்க சொன்னாள்
பக்தி செய்து பிழைக்க சொன்னாள்
துயரில்லாதெனை செய்து விட்டாள்
துன்பம் என்பதை கொய்து விட்டாள் 

மீன்கள் செய்யும் ஒளியைச் செய்தாள்
வீசி நிற்கும் வளியைச் செய்தாள்
வான்கணுள்ள வெளியைச் செய்தாள்
வாழி நெஞ்சிற் களியைச் செய்தாள்

~ சுப்பிரமணிய பாரதி

Weary Rings : César Vallejo

Henri Matisse ~ The Joy of Life 

(1869 ~ 1954)

Weary Rings

     There are desires to return, to love, to not disappear,
and there are desires to die, fought by two
opposing waters that have never isthmused.

     There are desires for a great kiss that would shroud Life,
one that ends in the Africa of a fiery agony,
a suicide!

     There are desires to. . .have no desires, Lord;
I point my deicidal finger at you:
there are desires to not have had a heart.

     Spring returns, returns and will depart. And God,
bent in time, repeats himself, and passes, passes
with the spinal column of the Universe on his back.

     When my temples beat their lugubrious drum,
when the dream engraved on a dagger aches me,
there are desires to be left standing in this verse!

~ César Vallejo

(Translated By ~ Clayton Eshleman)

César Vallejo

(1892 ~ 1938)

Dreaming Down Roadways Of Evening : Antonio Machado

Lovers In The Moon Light 

~ Marc Chagall 

( 1887 ~ 1985)

I go dreaming down roadways

of evening. Emerald pine-trees

golden hillsides

dusty oak-leaves…!

Where does this road go?

I go travelling, singing,

into the road’s far distance…

– evening falls slow –

‘I bore in my heart

the thorn of passion:

Drew it out one day

And my heart is numb.’

And suddenly all the land

was silent, mute and sombre,

meditating. Sound of the wind

in the riverside poplars.

Evening’s more shadowy

and the turning road

that faintly whitens

blurs, in vanishing.

Lament, my song turns to:

‘Gold thorn, so sharp

Could I but feel you

lodged in my heart.’

~ ANTONIO MACHADO 

    (1875 ~ 1939)

A Farewell To The Father & A Letter On The White Ashes ..

A Letter On The White Ashes

When I deeply contemplate the transient nature of human life, I realize that, from beginning to end, life is impermanent like an illusion. We have not yet heard of anyone who lived ten thousand years. How fleeting is a lifetime! Who in this world today can maintain a human form for even a hundred years? There is no knowing whether I will die first or others, whether death will occur today or tomorrow. We depart one after another more quickly than the dewdrops on the roots or the tips of the blades of grasses. So it is said. Hence, we may have radiant faces in the morning, but by evening we may turn into white ashes. Once the winds of impermanence have blown, our eyes are instantly closed and our breath stops forever. Then, our radiant face changes its color, and the attractive countenance like peach and plum blossoms is lost. Family and relatives will gather and grieve, but all to no avail? Since there is nothing else that can be done, they carry the deceased out to the fields, and then what is left after the body has been cremated and has turned into the midnight smoke is just white ashes. Words fail to describe the sadness of it all. Thus the ephemeral nature of human existence is such that death comes to young and old alike without discrimination. So we should all quickly take to heart the matter of the greatest importance of the afterlife, entrust ourselves deeply to Amida Buddha, and recite the nembutsu. Humbly and respectfully.

~ Rennyo (15th Century)