This is a favorite of mine.
My sanctuary, my church is the forest. I deeply appreciate the words of Hazrat Inayat Kahn when he says, “There is One Holy Book, the sacred manuscript of nature, the only scripture which can enlighten the reader.”
So, she had me hooked when she suggested we take our busy hearts to the forest and remember the songs the leaves have been singing forever.
My Sufi teacher and friend, Saladin, early in our relationship, took me out into the forest and had me listen carefully for the whispering trees singing “Ishk Allah, mabud lelah” – God is Love, Lover, and Beloved.
I am of years lived, so far, seventy-one
And the leaves are singing still.
Alhumdulillah!
What can I say that I have not said before?
So I’ll say it again.
The leaf has a song in it.
Stone is the face of patience.
Inside the river there is an unfinishable story
and you are somewhere in it
and it will never end until all ends.
Take your busy heart to the art museum and the
chamber of commerce
but take it also to the forest.
The song you heard singing in the leaf when you
were a child
is singing still.
I am of years lived, so far, seventy-four,
and the leaf is singing still.
~ “What Can I Say” from Swan by Mary Oliver ~
The song of the leaf is still singing, but now I can hear it. Alhamdulillah!