Jalal Quotes

Ten years ago a book appeared in France called D'Une foi l'autre, les conversions a l'Islam en Occident. The authors, both career journalists, carried out extensive interviews with new Muslims in Europe and America. Their conclusions are clear. Almost all educated converts to Islam come in through the door of Islamic spirituality. In the middle ages, the Sufi tariqas were the only effective engine of Islamisation in Muslim minority areas like Central Asia, India, black Africa and Java; and that pattern is maintained today.

Why should this be the case? Well, any new Muslim can tell you the answer. Westerners are in the first instance seeking not a moral path, or a political ideology, or a sense of special identity - these being the three commodities on offer among the established Islamic movements. They lack one thing, and they know it - the spiritual life. Thus, handing the average educated Westerner a book by Sayyid Qutb, for instance, or Mawdudi, is likely to have no effect, and may even provoke a revulsion. But hand him or her a collection of Islamic spiritual poetry, and the reaction will be immediately more positive. It is an extraordinary fact that the best-selling religious poet in modern America is our very own Jalal al-Din Rumi. Despite the immeasurably different time and place of his origin, he outsells every Christian religious poet.

Islam and the New Millennium ~ Abdal Hakim Murad

You are free to leave, as well." Khalid resumed his trek toward his chamber.
Jalal cut it front of Khalid. "You look terrible." His eyes were bright, and his forehead was lined with worry. ~ Renee Ahdieh

Driving me nuts, bolts, screws
I got the blues from paying dues
For programmed news of honeycoated lies
Your eyes can't believe
That weave the Devil's magic with the latest gadget
From the Mean Machine
A'running the Same Game with Another Name
Down in your brain, blowing your mind
Stealing your time, smooth and slick
With the latest trick to get rich quick
From nonsense at your mind's expense
As your mind digs the scene
From the Mean Machine
Designed to drive your brain insane

From "Mean Machine" by the Last Poets ~ Jalal Mansur Nuriddin

Recourse to thick narrative detail reveals that the principal hurdle in the way of a united Pakistan was not disagreement on constitutional matters but the transfer of power from military to civilian hands. More concerned with perpetuating himself in office, Yahya Khan was strikingly nonchalant about the six points. He left that to the West Pakistani politicians, in particular Bhutto, who, contrary to the impression in some quarters, was more of a fall guy for the military junta than a partner in crime. ~ Ayesha Jalal

Do you think you're invincible? That you live off nothing but fresh dew and cold fury? ~ Renee Ahdieh

It was a vain attempt at indifference, on both their parts.

For Shahrzad bore silent witness to the truth. It was only for an instant, and they never glanced at each other. Yet, she wondered how anyone could miss it - the subtle shift in Jalal's shoulders, and the telltale tilt to Despina's head.

Shahrzad smiled knowingly. ~ Renee Ahdieh

True blues ain't no new news about who's been abused
For the blues is as old as my stolen soul
I sang the blues when the missionaries came
Passing out bibles in Jesus' name
I sang the blues in the hull of the ship
Beneath the sting of the slavemaster's whip
I sang the blues when the ship anchored the dark
My family being sold on a slave block
I sang the blues being torn from my first born
And hung my head and cried when my wife took his life
And then committed suicide.
I sang the blues on the slavemaster's plantation helping
Him build his free nation
I sang the blues in the cottonfield, hustlin' to make the daily yield
I sang the blues when he forced my woman to beg
Lord knows how I wished he was dead
I sang the blues on the run, ducking the dogs and dodging the gun
I sang the blues hanging from the tree in a desperate attempt to break free
I sang the blues when the sun went down, cursing the master when he wasn't around
I sang the blues in all these wars dying for some unknown cause
I sang the blues in a high tone, low moan, loud groan, soft grunt, hard funk
I sang the blues in land sea and air, about who when why and where
I sang the blues in church on sunday, slaving on monday, misused on tuesday, abused on wednesday, accused on thursday, fried alive on friday, and died on saturday.
Sho nuff singing the blues
I sang the blues in the summer, fall winter ~ Jalal Mansur Nuriddin

A greater international role is important to lift some of the burden from the shoulders of the United States. ~ Jalal Talabani

I know very little, and I still know more than you, Khalid-jan. I know love is fragile. And loving someone like you is near impossible. Like holding something shattered through a raging sandstorm. If you want her to love you, shelter her from that storm . . ."
Jalal rose to his feet, straightening the insignia of the Royal Guard at his shoulder. "And make certain that storm isn't you. ~ Renee Ahdieh

Wishful thinking is one thing, and reality another. ~ Jalal Talabani

I voted 'yes' and I urge all Iraqis, no matter their different ethnicities and religions ... to vote 'yes' to the constitution ~ Jalal Talabani

Be always at work scraping the dirt from the well.
To everyone who suffers, perseverance brings good fortune.
The Prophet has said that each prostration of prayer is a knock on heaven's door. When anyone continues to knock, felicity shows its smiling face. ~ Rumi Muhammad Jalal Ud Din Balkhi

Jalal," she said, "I can explain."
"There's no need."
"I'm not - "
"I told you; there's no need." He spoke simply. "I trust you. ~ Renee Ahdieh

Jinnah's "Pakistan" did not entail the partition of India; rather it meant its regeneration into an union where Pakistan and Hindustan would join to stand together proudly against the hostile world without. This was no clarion call for pan-Islam; this was not pitting Muslim India against Hindustan; rather it was a secular vision of a polity where there was real political choice & safeguards, the India of Jinnah's dreams, a vision unfulfilled but noble nonetheless. ~ Ayesha Jalal

Taking the logic of Jinnah's demand to its extreme, Congress now offered him a 'Pakistan' stripped of the Punjab's eastern divisions (Ambala and Jullundur), Assam (except Sylhet district) and western Bengal and Calcutta - the 'mutilated and moth-eaten' Pakistan which Jinnah had rejected out of hand in 1944 and again in May 1946. Such a permanent settlement would at a stroke eject Jinnah from the centre, clear the way for a strong unitary government wholly under Congress's sway, and give away only parts of provinces which past experience had shown lay outside the Congress's ken. ~ Ayesha Jalal

The uneasy symbiosis between a military authoritarian state and democratic political processes is often attributed to the artificial nature of the country and the lack of a neat fit between social identities at the base and the arbitrary frontiers drawn by the departing colonial masters. ~ Ayesha Jalal

A military coup needs a sacrifice and courage that you can't find in an army without morale. ~ Jalal Talabani

We are not denying that Turkey has a right to defend itself from extremists but some of its actions are not serving any democratic purpose in Turkey or in Iraq. This will not benefit the relations between the two countries. ~ Jalal Talabani

Ironically, support for the idea of Pakistan was strongest in regions where
Muslims were a minority and Jinnah, as well as most of his principal lieutenants, belonged to areas that would not fall in Pakistan. To emerge as chief negotiator on behalf of Muslims, Jinnah and the All-India Muslim League had to prove their support in the Muslim majority provinces. 'Such support', Jalal points out, 'could not have been won by too precise a political programme since the interests of Muslims in one part of India did not suit Muslims in others.' Jinnah invoked religion as 'a way of giving a semblance of unity and solidity to his divided Muslim constituents'. ~ Husain Haqqani

I shall stand for freedom of thought and expression in a place where it has been trampled and penalized. ~ Jalal Talabani

Murderer, monster, madman... Khalid may very well be all of those things. But he's also loved. By me and by my father. But, most of all, by Shazi. With her, he is as fiercely loved as he loves. ~ Renee Ahdieh

In the absence of democratic politics, the dominance of a predominantly Punjabi civil bureaucracy and army heightened the grievances of non-Punjabi provinces and the linguistic groups within them. Te entrenched institutional supremacy of a Punjabi army and federal bureaucracy, not Punjab's dominance over other provinces per se, had emerged as the principal impediment to restoring democratic processes in Pakistan. ~ Ayesha Jalal

The Kurdish people have the right of self-determination like every other nation in the world. ~ Jalal Talabani

Our gratitude to the American people is immense and we should never be embarrassed to express it. ~ Jalal Talabani

We believe that an Iraqi founding national assembly, freely elected, must decide the future of Iraq. ~ Jalal Talabani

If you want the moon, do not hide from the night.
If you want a rose, do not run from the thorns.
If you want love, do not hide from yourself. ~ Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi

Except in Punjab and the NWFP, the central government's Kashmir policy had little support in Sindh or Balochistan and even less in East Bengal. Instead of serving the people, civil servants and their allies in the army hoisted the political leaders with their Kashmir petard to become the veritable masters of the manor through autocratic and unconstitutional means. ~ Ayesha Jalal

I must tell you that I am committed, as the president of Iraq, to benchmarks and to do our best to achieve some progress forward for national reconciliation. ~ Jalal Talabani

Jalal shook his head and moved toward Khalid. "She is. Please give her a chance to explain."
"Leave," Khalid commanded quietly.
"Don't let your fear and your distrust ruin this."
His uncle took Jalal by the shoulder.
"She loves you!" Jalal continued, his tone heedless. "This is not what it seems. Maybe it began as something else, but I would bet my life on what it is now. She loves you. Please don't fall to hate. You're not your father. You are so much more. She is so much more. ~ Renee Ahdieh

Conciliation is not capitulation, nor is compromise to be deemed equivalent to imbalanced concession. ~ Jalal Talabani

This will be Iraq for all without discrimination among Iraqi citizens, or ethnic or sectarian discrimination. ~ Jalal Talabani

(A dervish was tempted by the devil to cease calling upon Allah, on the ground that Allah never answered, "Here am I." The Prophet Khadir appeared to him in a vision with a message from God.) Was it not I who summoned thee to my service? Was it not I who made thee busy with my name? Thy calling "Allah!"was my "Here am I." Jalal-uddin Rumi ~ Aldous Huxley

We must acknowledge that for scores of years the Iraqis have offered martyrs and victims but have not been able to change the regime. ~ Jalal Talabani

The murder of Pakistan's first prime minister heralded the imminent derailment of the political process and the onset of a brutal political culture of assassinations, sustained by the state's direct or indirect complicity. ~ Ayesha Jalal

The Kurdish people welcome the no-fly zone protection, contrary to the Iraqi regime that is against it. ~ Jalal Talabani

Iraq is not going to starve to death because of the absence of assistance from Arab countries. ~ Jalal Talabani

As president of Iraq, I shall strive to represent the diversity of a country that has too often in the past denied difference. ~ Jalal Talabani

Words are a pretext. It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words. ~ Rumi

The Western governments will be encouraged and persuaded to deal with the real representatives and listen to the real voice of the Kurdish people. ~ Jalal Talabani

Night falls
And the sun rises,
And I dig niggers, niggers, niggers of all shades and sizes
And the sun, the sun it plays on my eyes
And I hear the hungry cries
Of black children
Their stomachs turned inside out
Their minds full of fear and doubt
Being told lies
Being watched by spies
With loophole-proof alibis
While another nigger, nigger, nigger in Vietnam dies
But the sun still rises and the night still falls
And junkies still O.D. in ghetto halls
And Miles he still blows
And the oppression still grows
And where it stops, nobody knows
And black people cry out in vain
Against injustice and pain
To one whose mind is insane...

from "Surprises" by the Last Poets ~ Jalal Mansur Nuriddin

Without demolishing religious schools (madrassahs) and minarets and without abandoning the beliefs and ideas of the medieval age, restriction in thoughts and pains in conscience will not end. Without understanding that unbelief is a kind of religion, and that conservative religious belief a kind of disbelief, and without showing tolerance to opposite ideas, one cannot succeed. Those who look for the truth will accomplish the mission.
Mevlana Jalal ad-Din RUMI ~ Rumi

In what world did you think you could get away with this?" Jalal seethed. "To my cousin? To my family?" His gleaming hilt continued its punishing onslaught. ~ Renee Ahdieh

Democracies, unlike dictatorships, are forgiving and generous, but they cannot survive unless they fight. ~ Jalal Talabani

He says, "There's nothing left of me.
I'm like a ruby held up to the sunrise.
Is it still a stone, or a world
made of redness? It has no resistance
to sunlight."

This is how Hallaj said, I am God,
and told the truth!

The ruby and the sunrise are one.

Be courageous and discipline yourself.
Completely become hearing and ear, and wear this sun-ruby as an earring.

===
* As quoted in Head and Heart : A Personal Exploration of Science and the Sacred (2002) by Victor Mansfield ~ Rumi Jalal Ad'Din

Every human must take responsibility for his actions. ~ Jalal Talabani

We must provide all kinds of freedom, personal and economic, to all Iraqis. I will fight for that. ~ Jalal Talabani

Love is the dancing cry of the soul,
Calling the body to worship
Like a shining whirlpool, or a spinning mayfly
So is love among the skies.
I leap across the mountaintops,
Madly singing the song of all songs
I float through the ether, intoxicated, thrilled
I think only of your love, your calling to me
And I dance the thousand dances of love,
All returning to you. ~ Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi

The brutal regime of the dictator fell ... the regime that ruled Iraq for decades, the decades of darkness. The decades that were of tyranny. ~ Jalal Talabani

It was an agreement between (former Iraqi president) Saddam (Hussein) and the shah of Iran (ousted in 1979) and not between Iraq and Iran. ~ Jalal Talabani

Human rights and individual liberties, including religious freedom, will be at the heart of the new Iraq. ~ Jalal Talabani

Under extremely difficult circumstances (Iraq) pursues the inherently complicated task of rebuilding the country. Yet Iraq continues, courageously, to reach for the promise of a democratic, federal and pluralistic state, where generations of oppressed Iraqis will regain their dignity, freedom and the right to join the civilized and progressive nations of the world. ~ Jalal Talabani

Trust is for lovers. In politics there are only converging interests. ~ Jalal Talabani

My door will always be open to those who genuinely renounce violence and seek peaceful accommodation into our nascent democracy. ~ Jalal Talabani

Robot men with computers for brains
Space ships, cars, trains and planes
All calculated to blow your mind
Moving faster than your sense of time
Living luxuriously soft while the people slave hard
For the Devil would have you believe he is God
Chemical drugs that keep you high
While the Mean Machine creates another lie
For power and glory and world wide fame
While Running the Same Game with Another Name
It's the computer's equation for world wide invasion
That comes in the name of peace and goodwill
But all of them are lying as they keep on trying
To set the people up for the kill ~ Jalal Mansur Nuriddin

I'd much rather fall to my death than admit my weakness to you."
"The captain of the Royal Guard wants to impress a lowly handmaiden?"
"A clumsy young man wants to impress a beautiful young woman. ~ Renee Ahdieh

Oh soul,
you worry too much.
You have seen your own strength.
You have seen your own beauty.
You have seen your golden wings.
Of anything less,
why do you worry?
You are in truth
the soul, of the soul, of the soul. ~ Rumi

We are trying to persuade all the Iraqi opposition to come breathe freedom in Iraq and use liberated Kurdistan as a base for our common struggle. ~ Jalal Talabani