The Way of the Sufi.

The way of the Sufi is the way of the Heart. He calls God his Beloved and in this quest for the Beloved everything else is negated or has no attraction for him. He travels the spiritual path, Tariqat, purifying himself for the time when he and The Beloved are one. The goal is Fanaa, the state of the self having passed away in God.
He first empties himself of all negatives qualities and desires. Then he polishes away the tarnish of the self and attachment to it. Adorning the self with Divine attributes; the attributes of Truth; comes next. Then, finally the self passes away and only the Beloved remains. The Sufi reaches the center....
The mystical Path of the Sufi has ritualistic music and dance as important elements. The music; usually the beutiful poems of Sufi poets like Rumi; set to music; are always about searching for the Beloved and the ache of the seperation.
The ritualistic dance is one of great ecstacy. The Sema ceremony; the ceremony of ritualistic dance is popular among the Mevlavi order; founded by the followers of the Sufi poet and mystic, Jalal Ud Din Mohammed Rumi. They are famed as the Whirling Dervishes.

This takes you to a Sema ceremony

Listen to a Sufi Qawwali

The Dance Of The Dervish

This digital image was done by me on Corel Painter Pro and Wacom Intuos3 tablet. :)

For more on the Dervish and their practises do visit http://www.dankphotos.com/whirling/

Sufi Poetry

Rumi

I thought of you so often
That I completely became you
Little by little you drew near
And slowly but slowly I passed away


Footprints but come to the ocean shore
Therein no trace remains

look at love how it tangles with the one fallen in love
look at spirit how it fuses with earth giving it new life
why are you so busy with this or that or good or bad pay attention to how things blend
why talk about all the known and the unknown see how the unknown merges into the known
why think seperately of this life and the next when one is born from the last
look at your heart and tongue
one feels but deaf and dumb the other speaks in words and signs
look at water and fire earth and wind
enemies and friends all at once
the wolf and the lamb the lion and the deer
far away yet together
look at the unity of this spring and winter manifested in the equinox
you too must mingle my friends since the earth and the sky are mingled just for you and me
be like sugarcane sweet yet silent don't get mixed up with bitter words
my beloved grows right out of my own heart how much more union can there be