Category Archives: Blog

The lover’s food is the love of the bread;
no bread need be at hand…

— Rumi

Last night–at a Sufi gathering in Beirut–I was treated to some sumptuous snacks. Since I arrived on an empty stomach, I reached first for the tasty zataar flatbread (man’oushe). Zaatar is a spice blend of thyme leaves, sumac, sesame seeds and salt. In fact, a new Lebanese restaurant called Za’atar just opened in the East Village in New York. After the man’oushe, I helped myself to a few of the succulent spinach pies (fatayer bil sbanegh). The quinoa salad (with carrots, seaweed, and fennel) was so good that I had two servings, and felt compelled to ask for the recipe (even though I’m a disaster in the kitchen). In my Sufi travels over the past decade from Afghanistan to Mali, I’ve found that Sufi hospitality is always the most welcoming and warm…

My love wanders the rooms, melodious,
flute notes, plucked wires,
full of a wine the magi drank
on the way to Bethlehem.

We are three. The moon comes
from its quiet corner, puts a pitcher
of water down in the center.
The circle of surface flames…

— Rumi, We Are Three

How can my soul be still
when I am whirling in stillness?

— Rumi

I spent the last two days of the week teaching the mystic philosophy of al-Ghazali, and whirling into the week-end with Lebanese and Syrian Sufis in Beirut. Over sumptuous snacks at a Sufi gathering last night, I was reminded that the questions al-Ghazali posed in the 11th century–about the nature of sense-perception, and the primacy of experiential knowledge–are still being contemplated and debated by Sufis in Lebanon and around the world…

Many years after leaving behind his prestigious teaching post in Baghdad to develop himself spiritually on the Sufi path, al-Ghazali stepped out from the seclusion of his spiritual retreat to return to the madressa and teach–sharing with his students the mystic knowledge he gained while wandering on the road…

In myself I know that, even if I went back to the work of disseminating knowledge, I did not really go back. To go back is to return to the previous state of things. Previously, however, I had been disseminating the knowledge by which worldly success is attained; by word and deed I had called men to it; and that had been my aim and intention. But now I am calling men to the knowledge whereby worldly success is given up and its low position in the scale of real worth is recognized. This is now my intention, my aim, my desire; God knows that this is so. It is my earnest longing that I may make myself and others better.

— al-Ghazali

Worldly desires were striving to keep me by their chains just where I was, while the voice of faith was calling, ‘To the road! to the road! What is left of life is but little and the journey before you is long. All that keeps you busy, both intellectually and practically, is but hypocrisy and delusion. If you do not prepare now for eternal life, when will you prepare? If you do not now sever these attachments, when will you sever them?’ On hearing that, the impulse would be stirred and the resolution made to take to flight…

— al-Ghazali

Today, while teaching about al-Ghazali and Sufism in the Levant, I showed this clip (from a few years ago) of Sufis in Syria whirling in the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus–right next to the shrine of John the Baptist. The whirling begins around the 27:00 mark…

Today in Beirut, my students and I continued our discussion of the “mystic way” described by the medieval Islamic philosopher al-Ghazali. Though al-Ghazali–the most influential intellectual of his time–held a prestigious post at the Nizâmiyya Madrasa in Baghdad, he gave up his teaching position in 1095 to pursue the mystic path. Believing that the virtuous ideals of the Sufi path could not be reconciled with worldly attachments, al-Ghazali decided to retreat from the world of desire, and wander through the Middle East to places like Damascus and Jerusalem to commit himself fully to the spiritual path…

It had already become clear to me that I had no hope of the bliss of the world to come save through a God fearing life and the withdrawal of myself from vain desire. It was clear to me too that the key to all this was to sever the attachment of the heart to worldly things by leaving the mansion of deception and returning to that of eternity, and to advance towards God most high with all earnestness. It was also clear that this was only to be achieved by turning away from wealth and position and fleeing from all time-consuming entanglements.

Next I considered the circumstances of my life, and realized that I was caught in a veritable thicket of attachments. I also considered my activities, of which the best was my teaching and lecturing, and realized that in them I was dealing with sciences that were unimportant and contributed nothing to the attainment of eternal life.

After that I examined my motive in my work of teaching, and realized that it was not a pure desire for the things of God, but that the impulse moving me was the desire for an influential position and public recognition. I saw for certain that I was on the brink of a crumbling bank of sand and in imminent danger of hell-fire unless I set about to mend my ways…

— al-Ghazali

We’re all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that’s all.

— The Breakfast Club

An upcoming theatrical performance of The Breakfast Club by students in Beirut will be a bit different than the film–since it’s being staged as a commentary on contemporary Lebanese politics…

Since I try to swim with turtles every day, I was drawn to these turtle pillows today while shopping at Barjis in Beirut. I felt like I had to take one home–to remind me to become more like a turtle myself…

…She can’t see
herself apart from the rest of the world
or the world from what she must do
every spring.
Crawling up the high hill,
luminous under the sand that has packed against her skin,
she doesn’t dream
she knows
she is a part of the pond she lives in,
the tall trees are her children,
the birds that swim above her
are tied to her by an unbreakable string.

— Mary Oliver, The Turtle

All of the colorful tables, pillows, chairs, and door-stoppers at Barjis in Beirut are made by hand…

When I walked into the store Barjis today in Beirut, I was interested in the keffiyeh pillows on display in the window. Though the “keffiyeh craze” of 2004-2009 is behind us, keffiyehs are still in fashion in Beirut…

I suppose it’s a blessing and a curse that one of my favorite stores in Beirut is right near the grocery store. Every time I go to fetch some fresh vegetables, I’m tempted to step inside this store and buy a new pillow or chair. Today, I couldn’t resist the temptation, and I ended up going to the grocery store with my new purchase in hand…