Pilgrimage To A Person poem by Sufi master Rumi (p328-329)
When you are not with close friends,
You are not in the presence.
It’s sad to leave the people you travel with .
How much more-so those who remind you of God.
Hurry back to the ones protecting you.
On every trip, have only one objective,
To meet those who are friends
Inside the presence.
If you stay home, keep the same purpose,
To meet the innermost presence
As it lives in people.
Be a pilgrim to the Kaaba inside a human being ,
And Mecca will rise into view on its own.
Muhammed on his night journey
Wanted most to see the beloved’s face.
The angels and the other world were secondary.
A young man, a new student, is building a house.
His teacher walks by and asks,
Why are you putting the window
In this direction, my son?
To let light in,
That should not be primary.
Your deepest desire for a window
Should be as an open empty placer
Through which to hear the call to prayer.
Footnotes
Preface: A note about the Holy Spirit or Ruh al Qudus
Islam as well as Christianity has a concept of Holy Spirit which Muslims call Ruh al Qudus, which, similarly to Judaism, Muslims believe the Ruh al Qudus inspires prophetic insights. A Christian woman, in a discussion with me, expressed that her understanding is that only Christians embrace the Holy Spirit. My sense of it is that, from God's point of view, it wouldn't make sense to just create the Holy Spirit and have it operate only for a limited number of people. Also, as one aspect of the Holy Spirit is consciousness and connectivity it would make sense to have the Holy Spirit at work throughout the world.
The Kaaba was a sanctuary in pre-Islamic times. Muslims believe that Abraham—known as Ibrahim in the Islamic tradition—and his son, Ismail, constructed the Kaaba. Tradition holds that it was originally a simple unroofed rectangular structure. The Quraysh tribe, who ruled Mecca, rebuilt the pre-Islamic Kaaba in c. 608 CE with alternating courses of masonry and wood.
I also key into his use of the word 'travel," or alternately pilgrimage. I 'envision' life as a journey and companions are of course the most important part of any journey
Rumi refers twice to "inside a human being" - the presence and the Kaaba. It crossed my mind that Rumi's concept of "Presence" could possibly be a veiled reference to Ruh al Qudus, after a fashion.