Issue 148 (Jul - Aug 2022)

Nobody wants it, but it looks like “suffering” is one powerful source of impetus for us to move forward and faster. Many readers might have seen the test in which two balls are being dropped on an inclined plane with two ramps, one straight and shorter, the other with dips and hills and longer, tho…

Sacred days and nights imbue everything and everyone with their own color, their own distinctive taste, and their own accent; they soften everything within their embrace, add to them a dream-like quality, and enable them to attain an unfathomable profundity. In those times, there is a deep charm se…

Everyone needs to go to the doctor at some point in his or her life. If there is a complicated medical situation, they are referred to a specialized doctor. Sometimes, general practitioners cannot make the right diagnoses. Many patients are lost between different physicians and their views on a spe…

As the famous Sufi poet Jalal al-Din al-Rumi (d. 1273) once said, “Listen with ears of tolerance, see through eyes of compassion, speak with the language of love” [1]. It was Rumi’s mystical falling in love with God that animated his affective poetry. For many a modern-day observe…

The pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is a fruit with abundant seeds and a perfect packaging. A vital food and medicine provider across different civilizations for thousands of years, the pomegranate has a different taste depending on variety and maturity. It may taste very sweet, very sour, or shar…

Our dreams are fragile. Our dreams can fade away almost instantly when our beliefs weaken, or our needs are not met. A single child’s dream can change the lives of many people. One such child in India, who used to sell stuff in a local bazaar for his bread in the 1960s, was dreaming of becomi…

When crime happens, it usually involves two kinds of stakeholders: primary and secondary (McCold 2000). The categorization is based on who is affected the most, ranging from the victims and offenders as the most affected, to the community and the state as the least affected. Currently, conventional…

Although suffering always takes on the same form, dervishes experience it differently according to their capacities and their powers of resistance. Some are almost completely freed from corporeality and worldliness, and are content with extremely little to meet the essentials of life, spending all…

The universe as a whole is a grand book of God, Try any of its letters; the meaning of each reveal nothing but Him Recaizade Mahmud Ekrem Experts of mystical journey profess that to be able to attain true faith, one must have an encompassing sight. Only with such a sight will the essence of un…

My personal sense of unease had been with me for some time, although “unease” is putting it mildly. There had been milestones of relief, little landmarks along the way. These were often books. A man called John Coleman wrote a book called The Quiet Mind. I found the title riveting. Something inside…

My intention in writing this piece is to elucidate crucial concepts in a poem written by Yunus Emre—concepts needed to understand the Sufi worldview. A mysterious figure, almost all that we know of Emre comes from the local peoples of Anatolia. He is an exemplar of the “folk people’s poet”.” We hav…

Considered as a World Heritage Site, Kilwa (or “Quiloa”) bears testimony to the rich heritage and flourishing Indian Ocean trade from the 13th to the 16th century. Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara are the islands with two port cities which lie about 300 kilometers south of Dar es Salam. These islands…

Question: How should believers approach the tribulations of those who devote themselves to the happiness of others? “So others may live” is the loftiest goal possible for a person. It is an ideal for which one is more concerned for the happiness of others than his or hers. Those who live for other…

Secret sauce of exercise Li et al.  An exercise-inducible metabolite that suppresses feeding and obesity. Nature, June 2022. Exercise has been demonstrated to improve the metabolic parameters and help weight loss. There have been major efforts to understand the molecular mechanisms of how exercis…