"DISSOLVER OF SUGAR
Dissolver of sugar, dissolve me,
if this is the time.
Do it gently with a touch of a hand, or a look.
Every morning I wait at dawn. That's when
it's happened before. Or do it suddenly
like an execution. How else
can I get ready for death?
You breathe without a body like a spark.
You grieve, and I begin to feel lighter.
You keep me away with your arm,
but the keeping away is pulling me in."
Rumi, The Essential Rumi, p. 53
OK, actually I think this is the most famous Rumi poem. I'm trying to avoid the trap of turning this discussion into a celebration of my favorite Sufi poems (that would be like the Sufi equivalent of my occasional Discography cycles), however, they are profound. My ex-wife, who was/is much smarter than me, used to point out that you could say so much more with a brief poem than you could with infinitely more prose, and, as usual (with the obvious exception of her choice in men) correct. One of the many things that I like about this poem is that it gets us away from the anthropomorphic image of God, that is so popular in Christianity but forbidden in Islam and Judaism. Going back to our discussion or metaphors or symbols, while there is a certain practicality in using terms like "God said" or "the word of God" or the "throne of God," it definitely takes us down a slippery slope wherein we naturally envision God with a physical human form, and thus allows/forces us to assign human emotions to God - thus God's anger or God's wrath. Even some of the Greek philosophers mocked the fact that they had somehow devolved to the point of assigning human emotions/motives/desires/weaknesses to the gods. So, I don't think you ever go sit at the right hand of God (although, to be fair, that's more of a Christian metaphor), another popular metaphor for the experience after death that can take on a more tangible meaning. Rather, I think that we will, as the poem suggests, be dissolved into something greater, an end which seems almost more fitting of Hinduism or Buddhism than our run of the mill interpretation of Islam.
Dissolver of sugar, dissolve me,
if this is the time.
Do it gently with a touch of a hand, or a look.
Every morning I wait at dawn. That's when
it's happened before. Or do it suddenly
like an execution. How else
can I get ready for death?
You breathe without a body like a spark.
You grieve, and I begin to feel lighter.
You keep me away with your arm,
but the keeping away is pulling me in."
Rumi, The Essential Rumi, p. 53
OK, actually I think this is the most famous Rumi poem. I'm trying to avoid the trap of turning this discussion into a celebration of my favorite Sufi poems (that would be like the Sufi equivalent of my occasional Discography cycles), however, they are profound. My ex-wife, who was/is much smarter than me, used to point out that you could say so much more with a brief poem than you could with infinitely more prose, and, as usual (with the obvious exception of her choice in men) correct. One of the many things that I like about this poem is that it gets us away from the anthropomorphic image of God, that is so popular in Christianity but forbidden in Islam and Judaism. Going back to our discussion or metaphors or symbols, while there is a certain practicality in using terms like "God said" or "the word of God" or the "throne of God," it definitely takes us down a slippery slope wherein we naturally envision God with a physical human form, and thus allows/forces us to assign human emotions to God - thus God's anger or God's wrath. Even some of the Greek philosophers mocked the fact that they had somehow devolved to the point of assigning human emotions/motives/desires/weaknesses to the gods. So, I don't think you ever go sit at the right hand of God (although, to be fair, that's more of a Christian metaphor), another popular metaphor for the experience after death that can take on a more tangible meaning. Rather, I think that we will, as the poem suggests, be dissolved into something greater, an end which seems almost more fitting of Hinduism or Buddhism than our run of the mill interpretation of Islam.
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