I haven't said my prayer yet

you ask me,
do i pray regularly?

said Muhammad, the praised one,
"speak the truth
even if it be against yourself."

instead of saying i pray,
may i speak the truth:
nay!
in my whole life
i'm yet to pray!

only trying,
still waiting for that
true prayer to bloom.

nine months of care
it takes to prepare,
a soul's journey from world of unseen
to manifest in flesh;
to give birth a true prayer
many human breaths it take.

"i haven't said my prayer yet!"
i can go on saying to myself every split moment,
every single day
till the heart whispers the sincerest prayer
and behold!
the soul opens to the Great Sun at last,
like a radiant sunflower.

till that prayer finds me, may i humbly say:
i'm yet to pray!
still wandering here in this unknown tavern
like an unwashed wayfarer
waiting to wash
with pure rain of one true prayer.
waiting for the rising flame
that will melt the heart like molten wax
and fuse with Beloved in true union.

the hour shall certainly come! +
before your soul's sudden call back Home
may you say that true prayer once,
so that in your last breath
regret you not saying,
"i haven't said my prayer yet!"

(c) Anonymous Mystic

+ Inna alssaAAata laatiyatun! la rayba feeha.
The hour shall certainly come! Therein is no doubt.
- The Quran 40.59

I will cry to Thee,
and cry to Thee,
and cry to Thee,
until the milk of Thy kindness boils up.
- Rumi

Come, seek, for search is the foundation of fortune:
every success depends upon focusing the heart.
Unconcerned with the business of the world,
keep saying with all your soul, "Ku, ku *," like the dove.

Consider this well, o you whom worldliness veils,
God has tied "invocation" to "I will answer."**
When weakness is cleared from your heart,
your prayer will reach the glorious Lord.
- Masnavi, Rumi III, 2302-5

* in persian ku, ku means, where? where?

** Waqala Rabbukum-u dAA oonee astajib lakum.
And your Lord promises: Call upon Me, I shall answer thee.
- The Quran 40.60

A flower can only give its own fragrance, is it not so?
Only Jasmine can give the fragrance of Jasmine
The fragrance of Allah can only
be given by Allah.
That is true prayer.

- from the teachings of Sufi Master Bawa Muhaiyaddeen

.: art credit