When the Wound Becomes a Window – A Sufi’s Response to Sorrow
The wound is the place where the light enters-Rumi There is a kind of knowledge that no book can teach, a kind of clarity that dawns only after the storm…
Subzar Ahmad
Beyond Light, Sound, and Vision: Understanding What Sufism Is Not
There is something strange happening in the world of spirituality. A kind of confusion. A soft lie dressed in golden words. Many people today talk about Sufism as if it…
Why I Am a Sufi Muslim-Because freedom was too precious to surrender at the altar of dogma
I was not born a Sufi Muslim. I was born, like most others, into a ready-made religion, handed down like an heirloom from generations before me. It came wrapped in…
The Enigma of Iqbal’s Khudi: Inspiration Without a Method
Iqbal holds a significant place in the intellectual and literary history of the subcontinent, known for his philosophical discourse and poetic expressions. His works remain influential, particularly among Urdu-speaking communities,…
The Interplay of Literature, Natural Sciences, and Human Sciences: A Case for Balance
In a world enamored with the relentless pace of technological advancement, a pervasive belief has taken root: that the natural sciences, with their capacity to harness and transform the physical…
The River in a Drop: Mirza Ghalib’s Vision of Universal Unity
Qaṭrah meñ Diĵlah dikhāī na de aur juz meñ kulKhel laṛkoñ kā huā dīda-e-bīnā na huā If you cannot perceive the river in a drop or the whole within a…
Surrendering to Sacred Silence: The Apophatic Echoes in Mirza Ghalib’s verse
Hai parē sarḥad-e-idrāk se apnā masjūd Qiblē ko ahl-e-naẓar qibla-numā kahte hain The focus of our devotion transcends the boundaries of cognition;For those who possess true vision, the Kaaba is merely…
Restrained by faith, called by Disbelief: Postcolonial Resonances in Mirza Ghalib’s Verse
Imān mujhe roke hai jo kheenchay hai mujhe kufrKaʿbah mere pīchhe hai kalīsā mere āge Faith restrains me, yet disbelief calls;The Kaaba is at my back, the church before me.…
When Words Sleep: Interpreting Mirza Ghalib’s Verse
Khamoshi mein nihaan khoon gasht'ah lakhon aarzooein hainChiragh-e-murdah hoon mein Be-zubaan ghor-e-gharibaan ka Hidden in my silence are countless unfulfilled desiresI am a dead lamp of the silent graves of…
The Dialectic of Divine Manifestation: A Mystical Reading of Mirza Ghalib’s Verse
Latāfat be kasāfat jalwa paidā kar nahīn saktīChaman zangār hai ā'īna-e bād-e bahārī kā The ineffable requires the tangible to manifest.The garden is the patina on the vernal wind's mirror…
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