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We’re excited to be hosting Medina Tenour Whitem

We’re excited to be hosting Medina Tenour Whiteman for a free online poetry book reading of her heart-stirring and mind-stimulating verse. Join us on 23rd April at 6pm BST for her reading from “Love is a Traveller and We are its Path”. Link in bio @lotetreepress.

“With Medina Whiteman’s lively, metamorphosing voice, we have here finely detailed poetic stances on whatever attracts her and her pen, and her heart is here, and its centripetal ripples edge out to our own world and wash over it as if with our own sensibilities — and it is a welcoming thing, a sweet and healing thing to know these enlightened trails.”
- Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore (Poet, Publisher)

“‘Love is a Traveller and We are Its Path’ is an astonishing, accomplished, heartbreakingly beautiful work. Ms. Whiteman writes as a girl, a woman, a mother, and a wide-eyed, reflective observer of her world — as seeker, believer and sage. For her God is truly in the details. Each observation, whether earthy or supernal, is internalized and suffused with a piercing awareness of meaning, and a deep, abiding faith that shines through a world full of mundane and transcendent particulars.”
- Michael Sugich (author of: Signs on the Horizons)

Medina Tenour Whiteman is a British-American Muslim writer, poet and singer based near Granada in Spain. She is the author of the poetry collection Love is a Traveller and We Are Its Path (Ecstatic Exchange, 2016), Huma’s Travel Guide to Islamic Spain (2016), and The Invisible Muslim: Journeys Through Whiteness and Islam (Hurst, 2020). Her work has appeared on BBC Radio, Critical Muslim, Sacred Footsteps, Amaliah, and other international platforms, as well as being anthologised in A Kaleidoscope of Stories by Lote Tree Press (2020), The Ordinary Chaos of Being Human (2024), and Meanderings: Art, Ecology and Metaphysic (2024). She is cofounder of the Muslim Writers’ Salon and regularly holds creative writing workshops online and in person.

Use the code EidMubarak by 20th April 2024 (ends t

Use the code EidMubarak by 20th April 2024 (ends today)

Join us in an exploration of the poetic traditions of the Muslim world, with classes and events including poetry writing workshops, anthology submissions and online open mic events.

Thus far on our poetic journey we have explored Palestinian resistance poetry, poetry at the time of the Prophet ﷺ, Rumi’s verses and meditations on Ramadan and the themes and verses of early Sufi poets. On-demand videos on these topics are available inside the membership.

Next month on our poetic itinerary we will be exploring the life and poetry of Amir Khusrau, who lived in the 13th century in Delhi and who is known as the father of Urdu literature and of qawwali. Join our poetry caravan on our journey around the Muslim world in verse!

Join us on 23rd April at 6pm BST for a free online

Join us on 23rd April at 6pm BST for a free online poetry book reading from “Love is a Traveller and We are its Path” with Medina Tenour Whiteman.
Sign up for the event in the link

“With Medina Whiteman’s lively, metamorphosing voice, we have here finely detailed poetic stances on whatever attracts her and her pen, and her heart is here, and its centripetal ripples edge out to our own world and wash over it as if with our own sensibilities — and it is a welcoming thing, a sweet and healing thing to know these enlightened trails.”
- Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore (Poet, Publisher)

“‘Love is a Traveller and We are Its Path’ is an astonishing, accomplished, heartbreakingly beautiful work. Ms. Whiteman writes as a girl, a woman, a mother, and a wide-eyed, reflective observer of her world — as seeker, believer and sage. For her God is truly in the details. Each observation, whether earthy or supernal, is internalized and suffused with a piercing awareness of meaning, and a deep, abiding faith that shines through a world full of mundane and transcendent particulars.”
- Michael Sugich (author of: Signs on the Horizons)

Medina Tenour Whiteman is a British-American Muslim writer, poet and singer based near Granada in Spain. She is the author of the poetry collection Love is a Traveller and We Are Its Path (Ecstatic Exchange, 2016), Huma’s Travel Guide to Islamic Spain (2016), and The Invisible Muslim: Journeys Through Whiteness and Islam (Hurst, 2020). Her work has appeared on BBC Radio, Critical Muslim, Sacred Footsteps, Amaliah, and other international platforms, as well as being anthologised in A Kaleidoscope of Stories by Lote Tree Press (2020), The Ordinary Chaos of Being Human (2024), and Meanderings: Art, Ecology and Metaphysic (2024). She is cofounder of the Muslim Writers’ Salon and regularly holds creative writing workshops online and in person.

In this session we explore key concepts of early S

In this session we explore key concepts of early Sufi poetry such as fanā’ - annihilation and baqā’ - abiding, meditating on the eternality of the Divine and the ephemerality of all else, including our own selves and everything in the material world. We draw inspiration from the verses of early Sufi poets to contemplate these themes and to then write our own poems based around them.

Available now in our membership as an on-demand video. Link in bio @lotetreeprees. Take advantage of our Eid promotion by 20th April to get 20% off for 6 months.

Join us on 23rd April at 6pm BST for a free online

An invitation to join our poetry community with an

An invitation to join our poetry community
with an Eid discount of 20% off for the first six months
(cancel any time)

Use the code EidMubarak by 20th April 2024
Link in bio @lotetreepress

Join us in an exploration of the poetic traditions of the Muslim world, with classes and events including poetry writing workshops, anthology submissions and online open mic events.

Thus far on our poetic journey we have explored Palestinian resistance poetry, poetry at the time of the Prophet ﷺ and Rumi’s verses and meditations on Ramadan. On-demand videos on these topics are available inside the membership. And this month on our poetic itinerary we will be discovering early Sufi poets and their poetry and historical context - from Rabia al-Adawiyya to Hallaj. Join our poetry caravan on our journey around the Muslim world in verse.

Instagram post 18019949654164012

Instagram post 18019949654164012

Truth is the Night of Power hidden amidst the nigh

Truth is the Night of Power hidden amidst the nights
In order that the soul may make trial of every night

- Rumi

حق شب قدر است در شبها نهان
تا كند جان هر شبى‌را امتهان

haqq shab-e qadr ast dar shabhā nahān
tā konad jān har shabī rā emtehān

the Truth . haqq . حق
the Night of Power . shab-e qadr . شب قدر
is . ast . است
in . dar . در
nights . shabhā . شبها
hidden . nahān . نهان
in order that . tā . تا
makes . konad . كند
the soul . jān . جان
every . har . هر
night .‌ shabī . شبى
[direct object marker] rā . را
trial/ test . emtehān . امتهان

For thirty days be head over heels in this ocean,

For thirty days be head over heels in this ocean, O friend
until you obtain the rarest pearl of fasting

- Rumi

‎سی روز در این دریا پا سر کنی و سر پا
‎تا دررسی ای مولا اندر گهر روزه

sī rūz dar īn daryā pā sar konī ū sar pā
tā dar resī ay mawlā andar gohar-e rūze

thirty . sī . سی
days . rūz . روز
in . dar . در
this . īn . این
ocean . daryā . دریا
head over heels پا سر … و سر پا
be . konī . کنی
until . tā . تا
you reach/ obtain . dar resī . دررسی
O! . ay . ای
friend/ master . mowlā . مولا
rarest . andar . اندر
pearl of . gohar-e . گهر
fasting . rūze . روزه

Join our membership for classes and events. Link in bio @lotetreepress

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lotetreesufipoetry

Use the code EidMubarak by 20th April 2024 (ends t

Use the code EidMubarak by 20th April 2024 (ends today)

Join us in an exploration of the poetic traditions of the Muslim world, with classes and events including poetry writing workshops, anthology submissions and online open mic events.

Thus far on our poetic journey we have explored Palestinian resistance poetry, poetry at the time of the Prophet ﷺ, Rumi’s verses and meditations on Ramadan and the themes and verses of early Sufi poets. On-demand videos on these topics are available inside the membership.

Next month on our poetic itinerary we will be exploring the life and poetry of Amir Khusrau, who lived in the 13th century in Delhi and who is known as the father of Urdu literature and of qawwali. Join our poetry caravan on our journey around the Muslim world in verse!

In this session we explore key concepts of early S

In this session we explore key concepts of early Sufi poetry such as fanā’ - annihilation and baqā’ - abiding, meditating on the eternality of the Divine and the ephemerality of all else, including our own selves and everything in the material world. We draw inspiration from the verses of early Sufi poets to contemplate these themes and to then write our own poems based around them.

Available now in our membership as an on-demand video. Link in bio @lotetreeprees. Take advantage of our Eid promotion by 20th April to get 20% off for 6 months.

An invitation to join our poetry community with an

An invitation to join our poetry community
with an Eid discount of 20% off for the first six months
(cancel any time)

Use the code EidMubarak by 20th April 2024
Link in bio @lotetreesufipoetry

Join us in an exploration of the poetic traditions of the Muslim world, with classes and events including poetry writing workshops, anthology submissions and online open mic events.

Thus far on our poetic journey we have explored Palestinian resistance poetry, poetry at the time of the Prophet ﷺ and Rumi’s verses and meditations on Ramadan. On-demand videos on these topics are available inside the membership. And this month on our poetic itinerary we will be discovering early Sufi poets and their poetry and historical context - from Rabia al-Adawiyya to Hallaj. Join our poetry caravan on our journey around the Muslim world in verse.

Instagram post 17989794164637977

Instagram post 17989794164637977

Truth is the Night of Power hidden amidst the nigh

Truth is the Night of Power hidden amidst the nights
In order that the soul may make trial of every night

- Rumi

حق شب قدر است در شبها نهان
تا كند جان هر شبى‌را امتهان

haqq shab-e qadr ast dar shabhā nahān
tā konad jān har shabī rā emtehān

the Truth . haqq . حق
the Night of Power . shab-e qadr . شب قدر
is . ast . است
in . dar . در
nights . shabhā . شبها
hidden . nahān . نهان
in order that . tā . تا
makes . konad . كند
the soul . jān . جان
every . har . هر
night .‌ shabī . شبى
[direct object marker] rā . را
trial/ test . emtehān . امتهان

For thirty days be head over heels in this ocean,

For thirty days be head over heels in this ocean, O friend
until you obtain the rarest pearl of fasting

- Rumi

‎سی روز در این دریا پا سر کنی و سر پا
‎تا دررسی ای مولا اندر گهر روزه

sī rūz dar īn daryā pā sar konī ū sar pā
tā dar resī ay mawlā andar gohar-e rūze

thirty . sī . سی
days . rūz . روز
in . dar . در
this . īn . این
ocean . daryā . دریا
head over heels پا سر … و سر پا
be . konī . کنی
until . tā . تا
you reach/ obtain . dar resī . دررسی
O! . ay . ای
friend/ master . mowlā . مولا
rarest . andar . اندر
pearl of . gohar-e . گهر
fasting . rūze . روزه

Join our membership for classes and events. Link in bio @lotetreepress

If fasting has a difficulty it has a hundred sort

If fasting has a difficulty
it has a hundred sorts of benefit
The trade on account of fasting
has different kind of gain

- Rumi

‎گر روزه ضرر دارد صد گونه هنر دارد
‎سودای دگر دارد سودای سر روزه

gar rūze zarar dārad sad gūneh honar dārad
sowdāy-e degar dārad sowdāy-e sar-e rūze

if . gar . گر
fasting . rūze . روزه
difficulty. zarar . ضرر
has . dārad . دارد
a hundred . sad . صد
sorts of . gūneh . گونه
benefits/ virtues . honar . هنر
has . dārad . دارد
trade/gain sowdāy-e سودای
another/ different . degar . دگر
on account of/ because of . sar-e . سر
fasting . روزه . rūze

Join our membership for online classes and events. Link in bio @lotetreepress

When you shut the gate to hellfire in this month Y

When you shut the gate to hellfire in this month
You open up thousands of doors to paradise
- Rumi

در این مه چون در دوزخ ببندی
هزاران در ز جنت برگشایی

dar īn mah chon dar-e dūzakh bebandī
hazārān dar-e ze jennat bar goshāyī

in . dar . در
this . īn . این
month . mah . مه
when . chon . چون
gate/ door . dar . در
hellfire . dūzakh . دوزخ
you close . bebandī . ببندی
thousands . hezārān . هزاران
to/ of . ze . ز
paradise. jennat . جنت
you open . bar goshāyī . برگشایی

Join our membership for classes and events. Link in bio @lotetreepress

Through fasting we purify our heart and soul Even

Through fasting we purify our heart and soul
Even though the impure body remains with us

- Rumi

کردیم ز روزه جان و دل پاک
هر چند تنِ پلید با ماست

kardīm ze rūze jān o del pāk
har chand tan-e palīd bā māst

we purify . kardīm… pāk . کردیم …پاک
through/ from . ze . ز
fasting . rūze . روزه
soul . jān . جان
and . o . و
heart . del . دل
even though . har chand . هر چند
body . tan . تن
impure . palīd . پلید
is with us . bā māst . با ماست

Join our membership for online classes and events. Link in bio @lotetreepress

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