Emily O'Dell visiting Sufi shrines in Damascus
Love is the dancing cry of the soul, calling the body to worship
Like a shining whirlpool, or a spinning mayfly.
So is love among the skies.
I leap across the mountaintops, madly singing the song of all songs.
I float through the ether, intoxicated and thrilled.
I think only of your love, your calling to me,
And I dance the thousand dances of love, all returning to you…
In my new Huffington Post piece, “Sharing the Sufis of Syria”, I explore through my travels and photographs the Sufi history of Syria–including the whirling dervishes of Rumi’s Sufi order. In the post below this one, you can read a bit more about the whirling dervish photos in the article which were taken by my friend in Aleppo.
Only dance, and your illusions will blow in the wind
Dance, and make joyous the love around you
Dance, and your veils which hide the Light
Shall swirl in a heap at your feet.
— Rumi
