Die Before You Die

Ironic, but one of the most intimate acts
of our body is
death.

So beautiful appeared my death – knowing who then I would kiss,
I died a thousand times before I died.

“Die before you die,” said the Prophet
Muhammad.

Have wings that feared ever
touched the Sun?

I was born when all I once
feared – I could
love.

 

~ Rabia al-Adawiyyah
_____

From ‘Love Poems from God’ translated by Daniel Ladinsky.

Rabia al-Adawiyyah of Basra, Iraq was a famous Sufi Saint, who was noted for her asceticism and many legends have been told about her life. Her concept of Divine Love was that God should be loved for His own sake and not out of fear.