Fwd : “Love is the bridge between you and everything” – Rumi

42 views
Skip to first unread message

Cornelius Hamelberg

unread,
Jan 22, 2017, 10:09:54 AM1/22/17
to USA Africa Dialogue Series

H O

unread,
Jan 22, 2017, 2:01:51 PM1/22/17
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Cornelius...
You are like the honey bee which is constantly in search of beautiful flowers... 
 
Oladosu A. Afis
Professor of Middle Eastern, North African and Cultural Studies
Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies,
University of Ibadan,
Ibadan, Nigeria.
“The best of princes is he who visits scholars.”
- Jalal al-Din Rumi, 13th century Persian Sufi poet



On Sunday, January 22, 2017 4:09 PM, Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com> wrote:
--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.


Cornelius Hamelberg

unread,
Jan 22, 2017, 4:24:15 PM1/22/17
to USA Africa Dialogue Series

Cornelius Hamelberg

unread,
Jan 22, 2017, 4:24:21 PM1/22/17
to USA Africa Dialogue Series, afi...@yahoo.com

Yessir,

As with “ To his coy mistress”,

No harm or haram in that! There are no monks in Islam! As a real Muslim you must follow the sunnah

Only the impotent bee does not like a beautiful flower or complains (like some of the missionaries) about “polygamy”

The wisest man that lived - King Solomon - was the champion and they say that that is why he was so wise.

The Prophet of Islam (s.a.w.) said, “three things I love most : Prayer, women and perfume

The Prophet of Islam ( s.a.w.) said, “I am better than all of you because I am best to my wives

For the Shia Brethren there are the blessings of muta/ temporary marriage

And if you don't like marriage (permanent or temporary honey) then there was this radical Hindu rascal



On Sunday, 22 January 2017 20:01:51 UTC+1, H O wrote:

Funmi Tofowomo Okelola

unread,
Jan 22, 2017, 4:37:58 PM1/22/17
to USAAfrica Dialogue
Mr. Hamelberg, 

Rumi - Funmi.  Hahaha. 

Thank you for your support. 


Again, thanks!


Funmi Tofowomo Okelola

-In the absence of greatness, mediocrity thrives. 

http://www.cafeafricana.com

On Twitter: @Bookwormlit
Instagram: Aramada_Obirin

Culture, Art History, Film/Cinema, Photography, World Literature, Criminal Justice, Sociology, Child Welfare, Lifestyle & Community. 












H O

unread,
Jan 23, 2017, 2:41:47 PM1/23/17
to Cornelius Hamelberg, USA Africa Dialogue Series
Dear Colleagues
I hereby withdraw or rather discharge the 'metaphor' of the honey bee with which I clothed Cornelius two days ago. Reading the thread that followed, I came to the conclusion that he is more like a 'rubber' in the manner of Tayeb Salih in Season of Migration to the North...*:D big grin
Oladosu A. Afis
Professor of Middle Eastern, North African and Cultural Studies
Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies,
University of Ibadan,
Ibadan, Nigeria.
“The best of princes is he who visits scholars.”
- Jalal al-Din Rumi, 13th century Persian Sufi poet



On Monday, January 23, 2017 6:46 PM, Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com> wrote:


Cornelius,
You must correct any wrong impressions that you transmit.
Of course,
the bee sees a beautiful flower and says “Mashallah !
As Kabir says,“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty.”
However, this much is clear :
1. Neither al-Islam nor Rumi propagate philandery and libertinism .
2. The Sufi heart is only for the beloved - as in the classic tale of Laila and Majnu
3. The Instructions were clear for the wisest King Solomon- he who built the temple
Felt a wisp of sadness today, when I read that “ an ignoramus cannot be a righteous person.
Felt sorry, not for myself but for Cornelius Ignoramus….

Cornelius Hamelberg

unread,
Jan 23, 2017, 2:41:57 PM1/23/17
to USA Africa Dialogue Series, afi...@yahoo.com

Cornelius,

You must correct any wrong impressions that you transmit.

Of course,

the bee sees a beautiful flower and says “Mashallah !

As Kabir says,“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty.”

However, this much is clear :

1. Neither al-Islam nor Rumi propagate philandery and libertinism .

2. The Sufi heart is only for the beloved - as in the classic tale of Laila and Majnu

3. The Instructions were clear for the wisest King Solomon- he who built the temple

Reality : "And trust every flower but not the red red rose

Felt a wisp of sadness today, when I read that “ an ignoramus cannot be a righteous person.

Felt sorry, not for myself but for Cornelius Ignoramus….



On Sunday, 22 January 2017 22:24:21 UTC+1, Cornelius Hamelberg wrote:

Cornelius Hamelberg

unread,
Jan 23, 2017, 4:48:39 PM1/23/17
to USA Africa Dialogue Series, cornelius...@gmail.com, afi...@yahoo.com

Toda! Many thanks Sir !


D Big grin:


True, I migrated North many years ago, however, since I haven't done so, I must visit Tayeb Salih's Season of Migration to the North in order to identify the “rubber” or robber that reminds you of someone else.


My late friend Blyden (J-J) was once known as “The random sampler” and “Jolly Papa” (on the way to the Lati Hyde Hostel, usually fortified with his pint of Porter / (Guinness Stout)...

Other folks confer on themselves titles such as “Connoisseur of the feminine mystique


We have to be constantly on our guard. Last week, when I entered the Samsung store to enquire about one of the functions on my phone, the woman on my side of the counter, was dressed in what appeared to me to be a uniform – black and blue just as the others working there, so I asked her, “Do you work here ?” She said, “No. Why do you ask?” But before I could answer , another woman on the other side of the floor was telling her in (Arabic) that I was flirting with her and that's what she told me (she herself no spring chicken) - that I ought to be ashamed of myself, being old enough to be her father and flirting with her ! I was about to tell her that I'm not as old as Donald Trump but if I were I would have have probably grabbed her there and then or invited her for a cup of coffee, when the guy at the counter asked, “ How can I help you?”

Cornelius Hamelberg

unread,
Jan 23, 2017, 4:48:39 PM1/23/17
to USA Africa Dialogue Series
Cornelius,
You must correct any wrong impressions that you transmit.
Of course,
the bee sees a beautiful flower and says “Mashallah !
As Kabir says,“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty.”
However, this much is clear :
1. Neither al-Islam nor Rumi propagate philandery and libertinism .
2. The Sufi heart is only for the beloved - as in the classic tale of Laila and Majnu
3. The Instructions were clear for the wisest King Solomon- he who built the temple
Felt a wisp of sadness today, when I read that “ an ignoramus cannot be a righteous person.
Felt sorry, not for myself but for Cornelius Ignoramus….

"Rubber"?


On Monday, 23 January 2017 20:41:47 UTC+1, H O wrote:

Funmi Tofowomo Okelola

unread,
Jan 23, 2017, 9:04:12 PM1/23/17
to USAAfrica Dialogue
"We have to be constantly on our guard. Last week, when I entered the Samsung store to enquire about one of the functions on my phone, the woman on my side of the counter, was dressed in what appeared to me to be a uniform – black and blue just as the others working there, so I asked her, “Do you work here ?” She said, “No. Why do you ask?” But before I could answer , another woman on the other side of the floor was telling her in (Arabic) that I was flirting with her and that's what she told me (she herself no spring chicken) - that I ought to be ashamed of myself, being old enough to be her father and flirting with her ! I was about to tell her that I'm not as old as Donald Trump but if I were I would have have probably grabbed her there and then or invited her for a cup of coffee, when the guy at the counter asked, “ How can I help you?”
- show quoted text -"

Mr. Hamelberg, 

Perception. Assumption.  One of the four agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz is "Don't make assumptions."

I read Mr. Oladosu's comment and I'd to scratch my afro. What was that all about? (side-eye)

Anyway, Mr. Hamelberg, again, thank you. 

Hahaha. USAAfricaDialogueSeries! 

Ire o.


Funmi Tofowomo Okelola

-In the absence of greatness, mediocrity thrives. 

http://www.cafeafricana.com

On Twitter: @Bookwormlit

Cornelius Hamelberg

unread,
Jan 24, 2017, 10:10:09 AM1/24/17
to USA Africa Dialogue Series

Funmi :

Rumi : “When I come to Love, I am ashamed of all that I have ever said about Love

Once again, many thanks for Cafeafricana.  The cyber-personality is maybe different, but If I lived in California or if I were the Caliph of California, I would have liked to be friends with you.

In my time in Nigeria, it was Ja Funmi .

The only Yoruba people I hung out with in Ahoada, in Rivers State, were some guys in the transport business from Ondo. Their boss was one Mr. Johnson. I once reported a matter to the Police and they seized one of his vehicles. The following morning he approached me with a one hundred naira bribe. I refused it , told him , “You are my Yoruba brother” and got the police to release his danfo. (What Valentine Ojo once accused me of “ anecdotal irrelevancies” but that's not a major crime. From my point of view everything's connected ,

“We Poets in our youth begin in gladness;

But thereof come in the end despondency and madness.”


but not everyone is absolutely crazy, like Roland Barthes .

My anecdotal irrelevancies / dia-tribes, still in process, intends to surpass but not necessarily outclass the profound despondency of The Blind Owl (which is putting it lightly) or the Arabian version of “Season of Migration to the North” (Different strokes for different folks)

In 1987, this book took me to Sufism and to Dr. Nurbaksh to London eight times and to Cologne in Germany, once , all in approximately one year..

Still in dialogue. if I hadn't added in brackets (Rumi jives with Funmi) we – you me, Professor Oladosu A. Afis wouldn't be having this discussion. Mood I'm in I haven't been listening to Miles at your place but to Mezzo. Mood I'm in is further down below.

I guess it's cultural - blame it on cosmopolitanism (that too is an assumption). You've got to admit that it's still a man's world in which bees are still busy doing their duty, busy pollinating flowers. You ask someone who looks like she's wearing a workplace uniform at Samsung in Kista (our Silicon Valley) , do you work here ? (to attend to your errand) and her friend tells her (in perfect Arabic) that you're flirting with her. If instead of asking her, do you work here, I had said to her: ”Love is the bridge between you and everything” maybe, that should have been enough to make her presume or assume that that was my opening line and that I had pollination in mind. And as to any indignation about “ old enough to be my father”, a lady who’s been to the moon should also know that “ Old violins make the sweetest music”...

Until I read the text ( Temporary Like Achilles) what I heard and myself sang, was, “ I’m trying to read you poetry, but I’m helpless, like a rich man’s child”. Lo and behold his actual words were :

“I’m trying to read your portrait, but
I’m helpless, like a rich man’s child”.

It's still very much a man's world in which over there in America land of the free you occasionally see such indecencies

I don't know the Ruiz that you're referring to - the only Ruiz I know and have met, is Hilton Ruiz . I met him during the break at a jazz concert in which he played at Fasching - over here in Sweden. Horace Silver had been billed to play in the band, so I went over to greet him after the first wonderful set , told him all about his wonderful albums etc. and he told me, “Thanks for the compliments but I'm Hilton Ruiz!” - a last minute replacement. You can imagine the depths of my moment, but the earth refused to open.

My immediate background - what I read just after midday before writing all of the above: the extracts below address last Sabbath's Torah portion Shemot - pages 77-83 of Torah Studies – a parsha anthology - discourses by Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, adapted by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (former Chief Rabbi of Britain)

of which deal with last Sabbath's Torah portion

2. DESCENT FOR THE SAKE OF ASCENT

How are we to understand this?

The Rabbis said: When the world was created , everything was in a state of perfection. But after the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, when the serpent infected Eve with impurity, man and the world fell from perfection until the Giving of the Torah, for when Israel were at Mt. Sinai the “ spirit of impurity” departed. But it returned with the sin of the Golden Calf, and it remains in the world until the Messianic Age when the promise will be fulfilled to remove( utterly destroy) impurity, and the world will be ultimately purified and cleansed.

8. ONENESS AND THE INDIVIDUAL

Man is a microcosm of the world. And this cosmic process finds its echo in every man at all times: When he works and performs his service until evening, and entrusts his soul to G-d at night;the next day is made new again and begins a new service.

The service of the day begins with prayer and Torah. Through them a man receives the strength to serve( the G-dly spirit is diffused through the whole of his being by prayer) and to overcome the inclination to evil( through Torah which instructs him in the right course of action). Then he is able to enact this service in the practical world( to the extent that, as Rambam says, “ his wisdom is manifest in his eating and drinking”). His worldly existence( the chet and daled of echad ) is subordinated to his Divine wisdom (alef); a recognition of oneness permeates his physical actions.

H O

unread,
Jan 25, 2017, 5:45:58 AM1/25/17
to Cornelius Hamelberg, USA Africa Dialogue Series
 Sister Funmi and Cornelius 
I actually did not mean to be as 'mischievous' as Cornelius when I first made reference to the honey bee and later to 'rubber'. On each occasion, I was strongly apprised of, as has been shown by Cornelius, how 'words' make and unmake our 'worlds' and how our world is 'worlded' -apologies to Edward Said-by our word. Of the honey bee, I called attention to, among others, two qualities- it eats of that which is pure; it produces that which is pure and as the Quran would describe it- out of it comes that which is pure and in which there is cure for humankind ...Qur'an 16:69...
Nor the metaphor of  a'rubber' meant to do what Cornelius knows how to do best-turn a joke to a hoax...'the rubber' in Tayyeb Salih's Migration to the North is a metaphor for a subject that defies negative characterization...or a palimpsest: the more you define it the more enigmatic it becomes...may your days be like a rainbow... 


 
Oladosu A. Afis
Professor of Middle Eastern, North African and Cultural Studies
Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies,
University of Ibadan,
Ibadan, Nigeria.
“The best of princes is he who visits scholars.”
- Jalal al-Din Rumi, 13th century Persian Sufi poet



Cornelius Hamelberg

unread,
Jan 25, 2017, 7:57:12 AM1/25/17
to USA Africa Dialogue Series

Gracious one,

Indeed it's beautiful to decorate words, to enhance or soften their meanings by placing them between inverted commas :

as 'mischievous' as Cornelius

'rubber'.

how our world is “worlded” together

As our language buff, Prof Kperogi would tell us “honey

has its special meaning in American English.

Well, here's Taj Mahal (African American blues-man) and Toumani Diabate (Kora player from Mali) doing Queen Bee

Much much better yet, indeed, chapter sixteen of the Quran: Surah An-Nahl (The Bees)

Hadith : The Prophet of Islam ( s.a.w.) said : By HIM in whose hand is my soul, eat honey. For there is no house in which honey is kept and the angels will not ask for mercy. If a person eats honey, a thousand remedies enter his stomach and a million diseases will come out. If a man dies and honey is found within him, fire ( the hell-fire) will not touch his body.”

I follow the sunnah of honey

honey in quran and hadith

Hadith : honey

honey is a remedy for every illness

In my medicine cabinet I have this precious product Hemani Black Seeds Oil which according to the brochure “can cure everything except death” ( the certainty )

Of course , the only cure for the latter is “everlasting life” preferably with the houris in paradise.

Amin.

Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages