This morning, I received an email from a mystic, one who learns from Khidr; the Green one. She asked me if I had ever read Women of Sufism by Shaykha Camille Helminski.
This triggered profound memories of the early part of my journey in the Kingdom of Love; Arabia, and brought me to beautiful memories. The following was my reply to this Qalander,
Salaam and Good Morning,
Yes, I did read the book, Women of Sufism by Helminski. I read this perhaps over a decade ago while living in Riyadh. I found it to be supportive as at that time in my journey I was feeling as if men too had totally hijacked the spiritual path. I recall feeling hopelessness and resentful and even wondered if Islam was being unfair. This book did save the day for me and reminded me of the fact that we were always there and will always be lovers of the Divine. Spirituality is inherent in our nature and this is something that can never be taken away, even if we go unrecognised. I was reminded of the stories I heard in my childhood and through people of female mystics and those who performed miracles… Hence, I did find it beneficial. Now, as far as covering all geographical locations and orders, sure, it is lacking yet whatever the author could do, I am sure she did her best. So AH ( Alhamdullilah) for the effort. I had even lent the book out to SELECT ladies, some of whom today are in the front lines of the Path in Arabia. So again… I must say that the book itself was pivotal and an aide while I was in the dry and harsh region of Najd.
As far as the couple is concerned, I personally have not met them, yet knew of them before I was initiated. I being inclined towards the Mevelevi Order or Mev. Rumi’s teachings, did come across their work yet no opening ever came from my guides to take from their way. I do recall a dream I had of Kabir and his son and not sure if Camille was in the dream. Hence, I did write an email to him or them and do not recall a reply. I believe it was redirecting me towards the Mevlevi Order as at that time I was not ready for the initiation which came later in dream-initially.
I was to meet Shams e Tabrez personified in a female figure. She drove me to a place unlike any other conduit and prepared me for my life’s calling. In the process, I was ‘transformed’ into a Rumi Prototype (far from his reality yet symbolically) and then this year, I was to be initiated in person in Makkah on the 6th of Rabi 1 and the eve of the Dec 6th.
The Shams I met was my twin soul, my exact mirror. Yet, like Shams e Tabrez had to ‘leave’, the same is my story. She did what Shams did to Rumi and the rest is history. I am indebted to my mirror, a true Qalander. I know that the disappearance was only illusion as I was to reach a state of annihilation in love through her discipline that it brought me to one reality, there is no separation, only union. In this process, I composed multiple poems with no ‘background’ in poetry. She brought out the reality of my DNA if anything. Through her, I found my way and am aligned to my way which is to serve, serve, and serve. She alighted me, put me ablaze and gave me a sip from the Cup of Love. I am to do my work in sobriety through the state of drunkeness.
Your Doorstep
I shall sit by your door
Like an unworthy beggar
I shall remain at your doorstep
Forever and ever
I promise to remain silent
I shall utter not a word or gesture
I shall diffuse in your presence
I am in Love!
And you are the cause!
My only desire?
A glimpse of your face
I swear this love is Divine
Must I admit and proclaim to all;
this love I speak of is earthly.
—————-
I seek the day where I shall meet once again, if not here, then by Mustafa’s Fountain!
—————-
A River Named Love
There is a river named Love
Upon its banks lovers reside
S e p a r a t e d and United by Love
All in love.
Desiring union they yearn daily
This river is food and drink
Their Fountain of Eternal Life
Lovers must unite!
How shall we reach our beloved’s gate?
Frantic and mad they wail in haste:
This mighty river has split one heart!
Recalling Khidr’s auspicious advice;
One must take the leading plunge
The other shall mirror in unison
Never again to depart
Never again to say good bye
Together in this river they delight
United at last
Shackled by chains
Drifted by vicious currents
Into the Eternal Ocean of Love
Swim together upon the waves
Drink together the eternal drink
Drown together in eternal Love
Live together in eternal Light
[Copyright-Qudra Healing]
———————-
With respect,
Your Dost
The Women of Sufism Study Circle can be accessed here
One may register after reading the guidelines and join the virtual study circle which will give insights into the mystical dimension in Islam, also known as Sufism through a feminine lens.
I had registered this morning and look forward to studying the subject deeper.
There is a belief which comes from ancient times, and that is the belief in a twin soul. Some people wait for this phenomenon and search for it; and sometimes this belief is the cause of much unhappiness during the greater part of their lives because they have not yet found their twin soul. What is a twin soul? One might say that a proper answer is the twin soul of a question: every person is a question and every person is an answer. And when two people meet and one of them is a question and the other is the answer to that question then they are twin souls. But unfortunately what very often happens is that either two questions meet or two answers.
Twin souls can belong to three distinct spheres: to the angelic sphere, to the sphere of the jinns, and to the sphere of the earth. Two people may have inherited from their childhood, or brought with them from the moment of their birth, qualities that fit one another. They need not be of opposite sex. They can be personalities of the same sex. They can be friends or partners in life. It does not matter. It is two souls. One answers the other’s question, as every person is a question and at the same time an answer. These two souls who have brought with them qualities which already fit one another, become friends the moment they meet, and in coming together they find a satisfaction they have never experienced before, because all their life there has been a question and suddenly it is answered. This may come about early or late in life, but there comes a time in the life of most souls when they meet someone who is the answer to their soul’s question.
Souls need not know what question they are, and naturally they do not know it, but they are a question all the same. Neither do they know what the answer is, but when it comes they know that it fits, they know that it is satisfying, and unconsciously they know that it is the answer to their question. It may be that the two were friends before they came on earth or, as many call it, in a past incarnation, but there is no doubt that a contact had been established before their coming to earth, and that is why the moment they meet they think that they have known each other for many, many years.
Very often people do not realize it when they meet their twin soul, and very often they know it and yet do not feel sure. There were two sisters who were so devoted to each other that it seemed that there was one world made for these two sisters and another quite apart from it. They used to call one another, ‘my twin soul.’ There have been men who have worked together throughout their lives, who have striven and suffered and planned together, and when one of them passed away the other followed him. They were twin souls. One might wonder whether it is not an error of the soul to be born like this, because the conditions are often so unfavorable for twin souls; but whether circumstances are favorable or unfavorable, their satisfaction lies with one another and for one another if they are twin souls, and, therefore, it is not an error. It is never an error for a person to have been born on earth, to have to struggle all his life in order to gain the results that he wanted. It is natural.
Then there are twin souls of another kind which belong to the earth, the world, the human sphere. The nature of these twin souls is different. They must develop to become twin souls. And what develops them is the situation in life that brings them together. They are drawn to each other by providence, and circumstances cause them to meet. As they develop they become twin souls, just as in one shell one can sometimes find two almonds. The shell has been the situation, the circumstances, the mold which has brought them together in order to go through life tolerantly. There is a lesson to be learned from this: that each of those two almond kernels has a curve, some part of it is removed, is gone, in order to let the other grow. If the two almonds had pushed one another they would never have grown. It was done by reciprocity. It was as if they said, ‘I will let you grow,’ ‘I will let you grow, too,’ ‘Some part of my being will be held in check. We shall grow as one almond.’ But when that conception is not there, then there is no chance of growing together; that is the lesson which mankind has to learn.
Those who, not understanding the secret of twin souls, remain dissatisfied in life do not understand that either their twin soul is there, and that if it is there providence must bring them together one day; or that they should develop within themselves the quality of the twin soul in order that one day they may perfect themselves in it; or that they should find in their own soul the answer to their life’s question. It is the knowledge of one of these three qualities of twin souls that enables a person to realize in his life the meaning of this idea. Each soul has one of these three aspects.
Souls who have grown to be twin souls on earth remain so in heaven, for life on earth continues in heaven. The Prophet has said that death is a bridge which unites friend with friend. Can we have a twin soul in each sphere? We can have a twin soul every day; it depends on how much we want it; but if we choose to have another twin soul in another sphere we can change them every day. It is either a continual development from the beginning to the end, from the angelic sphere to the earthly sphere, and that brings about the perfect union; or a new union is created and accomplished and fulfilled for eternity, for the hereafter; or the soul has found within itself the twin soul, and that is God, that is perfection.
