Introduction ix

Opening Up to the Light
Gem 1 "This Is the Book" (Qur'an 2:2)"Meditate on Its Signs" (Qur'an 38:29) 3
Gem 2 "The Qur'an Is a Shy and Veiled Bride" (Rumi) 11
Gem 3 I Was a Secret Treasure and I Longed to Be Known (Hadith Qudsi) 15
Gem 4 We Have Not Known You as We Should Have (Hadith) 23

Cultivating Inner Spaciousness
Gem 5 Know Thyself and You Shall Know Thy Lord (Hadith) 35
Gem 6 Die Before You Die (Hadith) 41
Gem 7 The Road Is Long, the Sea Is Deep (Fariduddin Attar) 46
Gem 8 In the Name of God, Boundlessly Compassionate and Infinitely Merciful (Quranic Invocation) 51
Gem 9 We Have Made Some of You as a Trial for Others: Will You Have Patience? (Quran 25:20) 59
Gem 10 Ye Shall Surely Travel from Stage to Stage (Quran 84:19) 65
Gem 11 Will You Not See? Will You Not Listen? Will You Not Pay Attention? (Quran 54:17, 7:204) 68

Purifying and Expanding the Heart
Gem 12 O My Lord! Open for Me My Heart! (Quran 20:25) 77
Gem 13 Bring to God a Sound Heart (Quran 26:89) 81
Gem 14 Who Has a Better Dye Than God? (Quran 2:138) 86
Gem 15 Embrace Not Only the Ten Thousand Joys of Life, But Also the Ten Thousand Sorrows (Traditional Saying) 94
Gem 16 There Is Room Inside for Only One of Us (Rumi) 99

Remembering Your Sustainer
Gem 17 Bow in Adoration and Draw Closer (Quran 96:19) 107
Gem 18 Truly in the Remembrance of God Do Hearts Find Rest (Quran 13:28) 115

Doing What Is Beautiful
Gem 19 Persevere in Doing Good: Behold! God Loves the Doers of Good. (Quran 2:195) 121
Gem 20 Ah! What a Beautiful Fellowship! (Quran 4:69) 126
Gem 21 Be Just; This Is Closest to Being God-Conscious. (Quran 5:8) 131
Gem 22 Confound Not Truth with Falsehood (Quran 2:42) 138
Gem 23 All Things Have We Created in Proportion and Measure (Quran 54:49) 141
Gem 24 Work in the Invisible World at Least as Hard as You Do in the Visible (Rumi) 146
Gem 25 Move from Knowledge of the Tongue to Knowledge of the Heart (Traditional Saying) 151
Gem 26 Whoever Believes in God Has Grasped the Most Trustworthy Handhold (Quran 2:256) 157

Walking on Spacious Paths
Gem 27 Women Are the Twin-Halves of Men (Hadith) 165
Gem 28 Come to Know Each Other (Quran 49:13) 172
Gem 29 Be Quick in the Race for Forgiveness from Your Lord (Quran 3:133) 179

Being in the Mystery
Gem 30 Praise Be to Allah Who Made the Angels Messengers with Wings (Quran 35:1) 187
Gem 31 What Is This Love and Laughter? (Hafiz) 193
Gem 32 To God We Belong and to God We Are Returning (Quran 2:156) 199
Gem 33 A Lovesick Nightingale among Owls (Rumi) 203

Acknowledgments 210
Notes 212
Selected Quranic Passages and Hadith 216
The Most Beautiful Names of Allah: Asma al-Husna 225
Bibliography and Suggestions for Further Reading 229