Stanford's Özgen Felek investigates the power of dreams in Sufism
Wednesday, April 18, 2012 By Maryam
Through a study of dreams, Özgen Felek charts the ascendance of the 16th-century Ottoman ruler Sultan Murad III from humble disciple to spiritual and political leader.
BY KELSEY GEISER
The Humanities at Stanford
Every night when the 16th-century Ottoman ruler Sultan Murad III went to bed, he looked forward not just to rest, but also to the guidance he would find in his dreams. In the morning, Murad, the grandson of Suleiman the Magnificent, reported his dreams to his Sufi – a mystical Islamic master who interpreted and transcribed the signs and symbols to help the sultan make decisions about his empire and his personal progress.
One night while dreaming of a boy with "a bejeweled crown on his head," the sultan reported hearing a voice in his dream that said, "It is not a boy, it is the religion of Muhammad and the religion of Islam; it is the religion of Muhammad."
Hundreds of dream narrations like this were eventually compiled into a bound manuscript that established the ruler not only as a religious leader but also as an important authority figure.
Dreams
Saturday, November 24, 2007 By Maryam
I want to loose myself in this unknown path
Follow the footsteps,
Reach the dream
I want to feel,
Vibrate with emotion,
And allow myself to be taken by the wind,
The ocean,
Never forgetting I am lost in nothingness,
In everything,
In this life that breathes life
Through roads un-named,
Where questions cease to exist
Where there are no doubts and no expectations,
And nothing succumbs to depression.
To know that I do not know where I am,
Yet I am, I exist, I survive within my own dream.
I want to know that hands throw kisses of love,
Without discriminating who they reach.
Sprinkle the stars with tenderness
And slide along the sparkle of their eyes.
I want to wait, and wake, and feel in that moment
As if it would never happen
As if, still a little girls,
I suddenly came to know the meaning of everything
Without even knowing how to read
The more I know, the further I am from discovering
the true way of “knowin”, observing, meditating,
and throwing myself into the great vacuum of the Everything.
Maryam
Kindly translated to English from Spanish by Rabs. Thank you Dearest for your appreciation and beautiful comments.
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