Love
Love is an essential part of our existence. It alleviates the challenges and hardships of life, illuminating our days with a bright smile whenever we think of those who reside in our hearts. Regardless of our attempts to suppress or overlook this profound emotion, it remains an intrinsic part of us. Here, we present some of the most beautiful reflections on love and its impact.
Expressions of Love
- A beloved is not merely someone who captivates us at first sight, but rather one who stealthily embeds themselves within us, making us realize that they are, in fact, the air we breathe.
- Some ask me why I love you, as if they were inquiring why I breathe.
- Your love is akin to the pangs of death, coursing through my veins, suffocating my breaths, tearing apart my soul, leaving me suspended between life and death, devoid of feeling.
- Love is not adept at reasoning, and shockingly, it lacks memory; it fails to learn from previous follies or the minor disappointments that once created its deeper scars.
- If love were merely words to be inscribed, my pens would run dry; however, love is the souls we gift. Is my spirit sufficient for you?
- Love’s fate is disappointment, as it originates with towering dreams that exceed the dreamers, requiring them to surpass themselves to be true love.
- In every individual’s life, there exists someone like a needle; if you touch them, they irritate and wound you. You may cry out against them, yet if you find them, hold on tightly, for you will eventually realize they are mending what you have torn within yourself.
- Love awaits permission from a woman to enter her heart, while for a man, it barges in uninvited.
- Love is torment in the hearts of the young, a plant in the hearts of women, a myth in broken hearts, and a necessary evil.
- My dear, can distance truly separate us while our sighs draw us closer? You have captured my heart and my essence, and I am consumed by you.
- Would you believe me if I told you that beauty was born from your eyes upon seeing you?
- When I sleep, I dream of seeing you in reality, and when I awaken, I wish to glimpse you once more in my dreams.
- When my soul ceases to adore yours, my pen will stop adoring words and kissing paper.
- The beauty of planting a rose in the garden of someone you love is surpassed only by placing love in the heart of a person whose eyes see you as the most beautiful and sweetest angel.
- It’s lovely to play the role of the tender one to win those around you, but it’s even more beautiful to earn their affection through sheer madness.
- I am deeply in love with you and have made my choice; to whom should I offer my apologies? There is no authority in love that eclipses mine; my opinion is my own, and my choice belongs to me alone.
- Between fate and destiny lies a grave where half of mankind’s feelings are buried.
- When we love, our emotions become interlinked with fear; we fear loss, separation, and are even more apprehensive of destiny.
Poems About Love
A Poem: My Heart Tells Me You Are My Destruction
This poem is by the esteemed poet Ibn al-Farid, also known as Umar ibn Ali ibn Murshid, born in Egypt. He was a renowned Sufi poet, often referred to as the Sultan of Lovers. His poetry reflects a philosophical pursuit of metaphysics known as “Unity of Being.” He expresses in his poem:
My heart tells me that you are my destruction
My soul is devoted to you, whether you know it or not.
I have not fulfilled the love I owe you,
Nor have I experienced sorrow, yet I am not capable of returning it.
I have nothing but my soul, and one who gives himself away
In love for whoever he cherishes does not waste.
If you are content with that, you have indeed aided me;
Oh, the futility if you do not assist.
Oh, you who prohibit the sweetness of sleep and grant me
The robe of sickness and my consuming passion.
Have mercy on my breath, and what you have left me
Of this ailing body, and my heart in distress.
For longing remains, and connection is delayed,
And patience wanes while the meeting is postponed.
I am not free of jealousy for your sake, so do not let
My sleeplessness be exacerbated by the imagination’s disgrace.
Ask the stars of the night: Did sleep visit my eyes,
And how could it visit one who is unknown?
There’s no wonder if my eyes are averse to the unfolding
Of sweet tears.
Regarding what unfolded in the moment of farewell, with
The ache of departure, I witnessed the gravity of the situation.
If there is no connection with you, then promise me
Hope and avoid me if you do not intend to keep your word.
For postponement from you is bittersweet,
More delightful than a connection from a compassionate lover.
I long for the breath of the breeze
And for the face of the one who transferred its fragrance.
Perhaps the fire within me will be quenched
And I wish never to be extinguished.
Oh, those I cherish are my hope and those who
Called out to you, oh people whom I cherish, have been spared.
Return to that which you once had of loyalty,
For I am indeed that loyal companion.
By your life and your lives, I swear my life is
Inextricably entwined with yours; I cannot swear.
If my soul was in my hands and I gifted it to
Those who would herald your arrival, I would not be sufficient.
Do not consider me as one who feigns passion;
My passion for you is a natural outcome of affection.
I have concealed my love for you until my pain
Grew, and indeed, only just did I threaten to disappear.
I kept it from myself, yet if I revealed it,
I would find it more concealed than hidden gentleness.
I would say to anyone who meddled with love:
You expose yourself to calamity and should be targeted.
You are the slain of any whom you have loved;
Select for yourself in matters of love whom you desire.
Tell the critic: “You prolong my reproach while coveting,
That my blame in love holds me back.
Stop your cruelty and taste the sweetness of intimacy,
For once you have loved, thereafter you may reprimand.
The guise has fled from whom if in darkness
You had revealed the guise, I would have said: “Oh moon, remain concealed.”
And if another is satisfied with dreams of his glowing reflection,
I am the one who does not suffice without communion.
My affection is centered around him, and for my crises,
With less than my destruction, I ask to be forthright.
His love is my solace, and he is indeed my oath,
With which I exalt him as I would a holy book.
If he decreed: “Stand upon the flames,”
I would stand obediently and would not retreat.
Or if one were to approve of my cheek, as a threshold,
I would place it on the ground and not disdain.
Do not deny my profundity of affection, even though
He has refused my solidarity.
Love has conquered, and I have obeyed the decree of my passion,
In pursuit of which I disobeyed the injunction of my reproacher.
To him, I am humbled in submission, and from him, I have
The pride of affluence and the strength of the vulnerable.
I was accustomed to rejection, and my heart, unyielding, has not changed,
Since I have known him; other than his kindness, I have no alternative.
Every beauty that pleases him is to me delightful,
I would ever revel in them.
Were they to inform Jacob about the allure
In his face, he would lose his beauty to the moon’s brightness.
Or were Job to behold him returning in
The slumber that befell him from trials, he could never regain his health.
Every radiant moon wishes to shine upon him,
Every angel desires him.
If I were to declare: “In you lies all my obsession;”
He would respond: “Beauty belongs to me, and all goodness resides in
His completeness, so should he offer a glow
To the full moon, he would never be dimmed.
Upon the eloquence of his description of beauty,
Time dwindles, while its essence remains unportrayed.
I have devoted my entire self in love
Thus through the guidance of his compassion, I celebrated good judgment.
For the eye desires the image of beauty that
My soul wishes to reach towards a hidden meaning.
Exalt my brother, and sing for me about his beauty,
Pour its sweetness into my ears to hear and serve.
To see with the eye of hearing the witness of his
Beauty’s meaning thus enriches me.
Oh sister of Saad, from my beloved you came to me
With a message you delivered with such grace.
For I have heard what you did not hear and have seen that
Which you did not observe, and found out what you never knew.
If he visits, oh heart, tear yourself apart.
Longing for him, or if he walks away, oh eye, shed a tear.
There is no fault with separation, for whom I love is with me,
If he is absent from my sight, he dwells in my heart.
A Poem on Love, the Sea, and the Guardian
This poem by the poet Najib Surour, whose full name is Muhammad Najib Muhammad Hijras, was born in the village of Ikhtab, in the Ajya district of Dakahlia, Egypt. Often referred to as the “Poet of Reason,” he was married to the Egyptian actress Samira Mohsen. He expresses in his poem:
They said: “Love extends life.”
Indeed, truly love prolongs life.
When we feel as though the world is a bouquet of flowers.
When we dry as though made of crystal.
When we elevate as a morning smile.
When we utter words resembling poetry.
When the heart beats as a bird,
Ready to escape its cage,
To embrace everyone.
We used to sit on the sand,
With melodies echoing in our eyes,
Written by no poet before.
She asked: “Describe the sea to me.”
– I swear, I do not possess the art of description.
– Then how do you know poetry?!
– I do not seek to depict this world; I live it.
I do not arrange words until I neared immobility,
Unless I pour myself into the words.
Come let’s summarize the ocean.
– How? In a single line of poetry?
– Not in a line, but with a kiss.
Beyond the guardian, then he stretched, “We are here”
And departed, leaving us with gazes.
Oh guardian, we do not steal.
Oh guardian, how I wish you might love.
How I hope love encompasses the entire world.
May people’s conversations be reduced to kisses.
How I wish a shade were raised upon the poles,
To embrace all the wounds of humanity.
May man live for centuries in mere moments.
And the guardian walked on, she said “Summarize this sea.”
This was an invocation that troubled the lips,
It seems the guardian possesses this ocean.
He despises us wishing to summarize it in our kisses.
So let us summarize it in words.
Do you think he can even prevent a mere word?!
Thoughts on Love
First Thought:
Celestial winds brought these ideas, to the dimming moon that loses its light over time. I tried to be strong like you, but fragrant flowers, like love-laden words that never reach you, dissolve into nothingness from their weakness. I would soar into your sky if only I had wings like a butterfly, not caring about what I might become or the pain and sadness I might feel to achieve that. Celestial winds indeed sparked these ideas, scattered before reaching the moon; dreams last only a moment, lingering in my heart like a cocoon awaiting its end, with my tears beneath the dimming moonlight.
Second Thought:
As separation is love’s other face, and disappointment is love’s twin, why not establish a holiday for forgetting? A day when the postal workers cease their duties, phone lines pause, and radio broadcasts refrain from playing love songs. Let us also halt writing love poems.
Third Thought:
What a woman seeks today is not merely a knight as we traditionally believe, nor a man who provides everything as Shakespeare claims, nor a wall to lean upon as our sayings suggest. She is capable of everything herself without a knight or man. However, she cannot love alone. Love is a law that binds her with this man, whether he be a knight or a child. A woman’s sustenance is love, not wealth, nor horses, nor men; this is what she desires, nothing more.
Fourth Thought:
Do you know, my love, that you do not pass through my mind? For there is nothing I think of but you. I do not merely love you; I adore you and cherish you. If you were to leave me, I would not mourn, for I would die. I have not lived for you, but I would die for you.
Fifth Thought:
Life holds two tears, one of reunion and one of separation. If days do not bring us together, dreams will unite us; if dreams do not suffice, memories will gather us with their beauty and hope for reunion. If your ship docks on the shores of memories, let me be one of its passengers.
Sixth Thought:
Love is a glance, a glance is love, love is a whisper, a whisper is love, love is life, and life is love. Because I genuinely love you, accept my overflowing emotions, from the depths of my heartfelt sincerity forever. The sun rises to your voice, and I wish the serene heavens would pause time while you bear your heavy burden, gently following you along a perilous path. The clouds drifting afar were specially prepared for this moment; I wish to be by your side, as the sun paints my heart with your love. I simply desire to be bound to you.
Seventh Thought:
It is beautiful to share emotions and feelings with those around you; what is even more beautiful is for this exchange to endure. It is lovely to hear a loved one call out to you while present, but even more beautiful to hear that they called you so in your absence. I cherished you until my love arrived at your eyes. I adored you until every drop of my blood declared that I long for you. I loved you until tears of fear fell from my eyes at the thought of your absence. I loved you until I forgot my whole life, and you became my life.
Eighth Thought:
Oh woman who holds my heart in your hands, I implore you by God: do not leave me, do not abandon me. What would I be if you are gone? I love you fiercely, resolutely, utterly, and I refuse from the fire of your love to resign. Can a passionate heart resign from love? I care not if I leave love alive or if I perish.