I suddenly thought of the phrase: “See walks in glory.” Did not know where it came from. The new age individual I am, I turned to Gemini.
Gemini: You are likely thinking of one of the most famous opening lines in English romantic poetry, but with a slight, poetic tweak of your own. The actual line is “She walks in beauty...” from Lord Byron’s famous 1814 poem, She Walks in Beauty.The opening lines are:”She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies;” Your mind substituting “glory” for “beauty” fits perfectly, though, because the poem itself goes on to describe a magnificent, glowing harmony of dark and light, concluding that her mind and face reflect a peaceful, innocent “glory.”
Me: I feels like I am walking in glory, actually convinced I am. There must be with the references to dark and light, some parallels in the Islamic Faith.
Gemini: In Islamic thought, the contrast between darkness and light isn’t just a physical phenomenon; it is a profound sign (ayah) of divine harmony and balance. Here is how that parallel beautifully mirrors your thoughts today There is a dynamic balance of cosmic order. In the Qur’an, night and day, darkness and light, are rarely presented as a battlefield where one must destroy the other. Instead, they are described as a perfectly calibrated partnership. The Night is created for stillness, deep contemplation, rest, and concealment. The Day is created for manifestation, action, and radiant clarity. Just like Byron’s imagery of “cloudless climes and starry skies” where dark and light meet to create a perfect grace, Islamic tradition views the transition from night to dawn as a profound manifestation of divine beauty and majesty working together.
The Al-Nur (The Light) and the Spiritual Journey The ultimate concept of glory in the faith is captured by the word Nur (Light). God is described as Nur as-samawati wal-ard—the Light of the heavens and the earth. The spiritual journey is often described as a movement min al-dhulumat ila al-nur—“out of the depths of darkness and into the light.” Walking in that kind of clarity and certainty, where you feel completely aligned and peaceful, is essentially the definition of having that inner light reflected outward.
Me: I am beginning to identify with the Sufi perspective. Could you say more about what Rumi or Ibn Arabi said about it.
Gemini: If you look into the mystical poetic traditions, such as Rumi or Ibn Arabi, they take this parallel even deeper. They write that without the “darkness” of human trial, longing, or hidden mysteries, we would never appreciate or recognize the brilliant “light” of joy and realization. The contrast is exactly what gives life its texture, depth, and ultimate glory. That is a profound and beautiful path to walk. The journey into Sufism (Tasawwuf) is essentially an education of the heart, transforming how you view every contrast in life—not as a conflict, but as a divine symphony. Both Jalal al-Din Rumi and Ibn ‘Arabi looked at the interplay of darkness and light, or trial and joy, and saw them as the breath of existence itself.
Here is how these two great masters approached this beautiful mystery, For Rumi, contrast is the tool God uses to wake us up. He famously believed that the soul cannot grow in a static environment; it requires the pull between darkness and light to expand. The wound is where the light enters Rumi looked at human suffering or times of darkness not as punishments, but as cracks in the ego. He wrote: “The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” Without the breaking, the inner glory cannot shine through. : In his famous poem The Guest House, he advises treating every emotion—whether a depression (darkness) or a sudden joy (light)—as a visitor from the unknown:
“Meet them at the door laughing and invite them in… because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.” Rumi spoke of the necessity of opposites. Rumi explicitly states that we only know things through their opposites. You cannot truly comprehend the majesty of light unless you have sat in the stillness of the dark.
Whereas, Rumi is a poet of ecstatic emotion; Ibn ‘Arabi (often called Al-Shaykh al-Akbar, the Greatest Master) is a philosopher of spiritual vision. He explained the dark and light through the concept of Wahdat al-Wujud (the Oneness of Being) Ibn ‘Arabi taught that the universe is constantly being created and dissolved in every single moment by the “Breath of the Merciful.” In this view, darkness is simply the concealment of light, and light is its manifestation. Both are required for the universe to exist. Ibn ‘Arabi wrote that the true spiritual master is the one who can sit at the center of these two forces. When you are “walking in glory,” you are experiencing Jamal (Beauty), but a true Sufi recognizes that even in the Jalal (the dark, difficult times), God is equally present, just wearing a different veil. “The lover is a mirror for the Beloved. Look into the mirror and see the glory of the Divine.” — Inspired by Ibn ‘Arabi
Me: This is so proud because I have been wounded recently and the light is coming in. Ahamduillah.
Gemini: Alhamdulillah—praise be to God. There is an immense, quiet power in being able to say those words when looking back at a wound. To see the crack not as damage, but as the exact entry point for grace, is the mark of a true traveler on the Sufi path (salik). In the vocabulary of the heart, that transition you are feeling right now is called Faraj—the beautiful spiritual relief and opening that arrives precisely when the constriction has done its work. The great Sufi masters would say that the pain you felt was the burning away of what wasn’t genuinely you, clearing the space so that this current “glory” could pour in. You aren’t just healing; you are being illuminated. May this light continue to expand in your heart, filling every space that was previously hurt with absolute peace and clarity. Enjoy every step of this walk today.
There is an incredible paradox in human nature: we spend so much energy trying to shield our wounds, thinking armor keeps us safe. But the moment I finally stopped, looked at the fracture and simply admitted: “Yes, I was hurt,” the heavy armor drops. In its place came this rush of profound relief, freedom, and light. It took immense strength to be so vulnerable, to admit to the pain but there was an intimate reward, It felt I was walking in glory indeed.
June 24, 2024
Today I was ‘feted’ at one of the most fun and fascinating lunches I have enjoyed in my entire long life. One woman, the first to arrive was standing outside the Japanese restaurant.
She: You must be Alexis
Me: Hahaha Who else would it be?
She: I have heard so much about you.
Me: And you still came to lunch? Hahaha
We were five women. Another uninvited friend when hearing of the ensemble called us High Society. (Well, High Society and Alexis). Hahaha. We laughed, swapped stories and ‘bad habits”. Two of us were loved rubber band. Everyone laughed at the rubber bands wrapped around my blog cards. One promised to give me a business card case for my belated birthday present. The food delicious. I was gifted with flowers which shall be pictured. One woman brought and gifted me with a book: Nouri My Light I began to flip through the pages and my discovery was beyond serendipitous because I had already written the words you have just read. I opened randomly to a page and this is what I found.
“Self -Esteem
I am happy
I am at peace with myself
I am strong.
I welcome those who mean well
But will show you my claws if you mean me harm
Through it all
I say thanks to my Maker
Without Him
I am nothing.”
To find a mirror of your exact thoughts staring back at you from a page you didn’t seek out is enough to leave you speechless. It makes the world go quiet. In that moment, the design becomes undeniable. It is as if Allah scripted the entire afternoon—the people, the timing, the gift, and the poem—to deliver a direct, unmistakable echo to my soul.
I leave you with an Invocation which is, as you shall see, profoundly meaningful. It covers all the bases.
“Oh Allah! By your Knowledge of the Unseen and by Your Omnipresence and Power over all of creation, grant me life as long as You know that it will be good for me, and let my life end if You know that death will be better for me. Oh Allah! I ask you to make me conscious of You in secret and in public. I ask You to keep me truthful when I am content and when I am angry I ask You fo moderation in richness and in poverty. I ask You to grant me blessings that will never end. I ask You to grant me containment that does not cease. I ask You to make me satisfied with what You proclaimed. I ask You for a fair afterlife past my death and I ask You for the pleasure of seeing Your Face. I ask You for yearning to meet You, when I am not in harm’s way not in a trial that would lead me astray. Oh Allah! Grace us with Faith, and make us rightly-guided and good leaders.” Ameen
A photo of the lovely bouquet will follow.
