“For the Sufi mystic, the soul that is animated in its earthen shell lives a terrestrial life in spiritual exile from its maker. Life is a journey of estrangement and the wistful soul longs to return to its spiritual home and be reabsorbed into the ultimate reality from which it was created. The enduring soul is on an ephemeral journey in the physical body. It is the reed flute that yearns to return to the mud of the reed bed from where it was cut, the drop of rain that thirsts to fall back into the waiting ocean, the beam of light that looks to disappear in the brightness of the sun, the lover who aches to be reunited with the Beloved.” (From the Introduction also by Sassan Tabatabai)
Through this collection of short poems, Tabatabai explores themes of both Eastern and Western spirituality. The fifty included haikus are divided into four movements—water, fire, earth, and you. Each movement represents a “different ‘element’ of the mystic’s spiritual journey.” The result is a progression of introspective yet sweetly evocative nuggets of poetry, punctuated by a series of detailed black line illustrations by Catherine Enwright.
- Title: Sufi Haiku
- Author: Sassan Tabatabai
- Illustrator: Catherine Enwright
- Publisher: Nemi Books
- Massachusetts
- Year: 2021
- Paperback
- First Edition
- Design and layout by Darby Thompson
- Conditions: New
- Length: 80pp
- Dimensions: 5.5” x 6”
- ISBN: 9780991622238