My Beloved

(Poem by : Rabi'ah al-Adawiyya ~ a major spiritual influence in the classical Islamic world, is one of the central figures of the spiritual tradition. She was born around the year 717 C.E. in what is now Iraq.)


My peace, O my brothers and sisters, is my solitude,
And my Beloved is with me always,
For His love I can find no substitute,
And His love is the test for me among mortal beings,

Whenever His Beauty I may contemplate,
He is my "mihrab", towards Him is my "qiblah"
If I die of love, before completing satisfaction,
Alas, for my anxiety in the world, alas for my distress,

O Healer (of souls) the heart feeds upon its desire,
The striving after union with Thee has healed my soul,
O my Joy and my Life abidingly,

You were the source of my life
and from Thee also came my ecstasy.
I have separated myself from all created beings,

My hope is for union with Thee,
for that is the goal of my desire.