Sunday, June 12, 2011

Love and Ishq


In Persian, Arabic and Urdu there is a little word "Ishq" which is at the heart of Sufi tradition. According to Wikipedia in English it means "love without lust". But anyone familiar with these languages especially Urdu will tell you this little word means a whole lot more than that, and any Sufi will tell you that this one word is the basis of an eternal quest.

Lately love and Ishq have started to be used interchangeably when someone wants to express the strength of their love, but I have always felt that such an exaggeration belittles the depth of Ishq. I have been trying to define this word for my own clarity but I realize that it is difficult, the best I could do was compare Love and Ishq and here are some thoughts that came to my mind.

Love says be mine
Ishq says I'm yours

Love says 'us' and 'we'
Ishq says there is only One

Love says 'I want to be near you'
Ishq says distance is immaterial

Love says 'I want to spend my life with you'
Ishq says my life is for you

Love possesses
Ishq releases

Love says 'as long as we live'
Ishq says life is a mere stopover on this journey

Love yearns acknowledgement
Ishq yearns knowledge

Love yearns gratification
Ishq yearns absorption

Love intoxicates
Ishq brings clarity

Love says 'you are the centre of my world'
Ishq says ' I'm part of the Universe'

Love is finite
Ishq is infinite

Love brings joy as well as pain
Ishq only brings ecstasy
 
Love is a feeling
Ishq is a state of being

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