Welcome, traveler! Enter and take your rest...

A chaikhana is a teahouse along the legendary Silk Road pilgrimage and trading route linking China to the Middle East and Europe. It is a place of rest along the journey, a place to shake off the dust of the road, to sip tea, and to gather together to sing songs of the Divine...


My heart wears all forms

by Muhyiddin ibn Arabi
English version by Ivan M. Granger

My heart wears all forms:

For gazelles it is an open field,
for monks a cloister.

     It is a temple for idols,
     and for pilgrims the Ka'ba.

          It is the Torah's tablets
          and the pages of the Quran.

Love is the faith I follow.

Whichever path Love's caravan takes,
     that is my road and my religion.


/ Image by bachmont /

View All Poems by Muhyiddin ibn Arabi


These lines from The Interpreter of Desires are probably Ibn ‘Arabi's most famous. The entire work is a multi-layered love poem that, like The Song of Solomon in the Bible, can be read as an exploration of the soul's yearning for God. Ibn ‘Arabi's poem tells of a pilgrimage to Mecca in which he meets a beautiful young woman named Nizham (Harmony). The ardor awakened by this encounter inspires a quest for the eternal harmony she embodies. Her earthly beauty and grace awakens a yearning for the true Beloved, for God.

My heart wears all forms.

The heart, in this sense, is not just how we feel love, it is the center of our awareness. It is the mirror that reflects whatever we focus on. In other words, the heart, the core of awareness, doesn't just feel, it takes on the form of what we love. This is why we ultimately become what we love or fixate on, for good and for bad.

When we fall silent, perhaps stunned into silence through a radical encounter with beauty and harmony, we find everything reflected within the heart. Every person. Every creature. Every object. Every thought. We find all of existence reflected within the heart.

And each reflection is recognized as an expression of the Beloved. While we ourselves become formless.

For gazelles it is an open field,
for monks a cloister.

It is a temple for idols,
and for pilgrims the Ka'ba.

It is the Torah's tablets
and the pages of the Quran.

Can such an awakened heart then reject any school of awakening?

Love is the faith I follow.

Whichever path Love's caravan takes,
that is my road and my religion.

But, of course, one must understand what real religion is. It is not stone walls or steeples. It is not crosses or crescents. It is neither creeds nor rituals nor books. Though any one of these, properly approached, can open the door.

Like all true masters, Ibn 'Arabi reminds us that the true religion is nothing less than Divine Love.

This is an all-embracing vision of reality in which the heart has grown wide enough to recognize everyone and everything at rest within itself. An overwhelming, blissful experience of wholeness, interconnectedness, and joy. Words fail, but that pulse of the universal life does not.

That is what religion is. That is the road.


Share Your Thoughts on today's poem or my commentary...
(Or visit the poem's blog page to click the FB 'Like' button.)







/ Photo by Maria Hossmar /

Donations to the Poetry Chaikhana

- THANK YOU to everyone who donates to the Poetry Chaikhana! New donations in the past few weeks:

- Hoppra (GA) - Thank you!

Thank you also to everyone who donates on a monthly basis. I am grateful for your continuing contribution!


A NOTE: While donations are important and greatly appreciated to keep the Poetry Chaikhana running, I know that personal finances are feeling uncertain for many people. I don't want anyone to feel that they have to make donations to receive these emails. If you need to cancel your monthly donation for any reason, I understand. When donations are easy, then I welcome them; but please do not strain your finances to donate. I want you all to be well.

A few reasons to consider making a donation of your own...

  • Other ways you can help the Poetry Chaikhana: Spread the word! Tell your friends about the Poetry Chaikhana and invite them to sign up for the free poem emails.
  • I so appreciate everyone who takes the time and goes to the extra effort to send a donation online or through the mail. Your willingness to do that lets me know how much the Poetry Chaikhana means to you.
  • Donating feels good! Don't stop with the Poetry Chaikhana; donate to a charity in your community and see how good you feel.
  • Consider making a donation to another organization in the Poetry Chaikhana's name. Some suggestions: your local food bank or homeless shelter, immigrant and refugee advocacy organizations, organizations that work for racial justice, wherever you feel that spark of inspiration to reach out and help.
  • It may not feel like it at the moment, but springtime will return!
Poetry Chaikhana