It is very difficult for one to be in a state of dhikr, to be in a state of worshipfulness while we struggle with relationships and struggle with the difficulties of the mundane and the day-to-day, which have the effect of keeping our attention and our energy quite low.

Absence - Poetry by Shahbano Aliani.

We have two ways of using our attention. Is there any difference to the feeling in the statements, "He's looking at me" and "He's listening to me"? For most people there's a difference.

Nameless - Poetry by Shahbano Aliani.

We are entering a period or a time where the development of events is overwhelming and, particularly when one experiences a part of that overwhelming development in one's own life, one forgets. One easily forgets that you are not being singled out. You are not being unfairly treated by Allah.

The Storm That Never Came - Poetry by Shahbano Aliani.

One can describe human endeavour and human effort from the point of view of avoiding suffering and pursuing contentment. It's imperative that we understand that most of the things that people do under the assumption that this will decrease or alleviate this suffering, actually have the opposite effect.

The taste that we ascribe to the world is the taste that we acquire. So if you ascribe to the world sweetness then you acquire sweetness and you are therefore sweet to the taste. If you ascribe to the world bitterness then you acquire bitterness and you are bitter to the taste. Eventually your body...

A Poem by Shahbano Aliani.

The meaning and the significance of the hadra is that it is like a shaking loose. It is a shaking loose of the things that normally worry you. It is like letting go of the chains so that you can find out who the being is that is there beyond the chains.