Spiritual practice takes self-sacrifice but the rewards are immense… Sometimes too much sleep can be bad for you; you wake up feeling groggy the next day… Why not stay up one night reading spiritual texts or praying? The poem below talks about this…. Conversation at Night Do not go to sleep one night. What you most want will come to you then. Warmed by a sun inside, you will see wonders. Tonight do not put your head down. Be tough, and strength will come. That which adoration adores appears at night. Those asleep may miss it. One night, Moses stayed awake and asked, and saw a light in a tree. Then he walked at night for ten years, until finally he saw the whole tree illuminated. Muhammad rode his horse through the night sky. The day is for work… The night for love. Do not let someone bewitch you. Some people sleep at night, but not lovers. They sit in the dark and talk to God, who told David, Those who sleep all night every night and claim to be connected to us, they lie. Lovers cannot sleep 27 when they feel the privacy of the beloved around them. Someone who is thirsty may sleep for a little while, but he will dream of water, a full jar beside a creek, or the spirit water you get from another person. All night, listen to the conversation, stay up. This moment is all there is. Death will take it away soon enough. You will be gone, and this earth will be left without a sweetheart, nothing but weeds growing inside thorns. I am through. Read the rest of this poem in the dark tonight. Do I have a head, and feet? Shams, so beloved by Tabrizians, I close my lips. I wait for you to come and open them.
Today we talk about The Other Cheek of Islam, a book by Rami Elias Kremesti published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author Rami Elias Kremesti to get to know him better, the crucial themes of his book The Other Cheek of Islam, and what is the greatest achievement a man can achieve in life according to his vision.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- What are the crucial themes of this novel?
The Other Cheek of Islam compares the Rumi interpretation of Islam to Christianity and shows that, at the very mystical fundamental level, All Religions are One Praise as Rumi puts it. The book offers an alternative interpretation to Fundamentalist Islam which has plagued both the West and the Middle East.
- Was the idea for this book born at a particular moment?
The book was born over 15 years ago in Los Angeles, California when I had recently discovered the poetry of Rumi and I was mesmerized….
- You are a man of many interests, how did you approach writing?
There is a saying that if a man knows he does not write, and if a man writes he does not know… Having said this, and at the risk of sounding superfluous, I write as an attempt to wake people up from the slumber of ignorance that they are in, which I myself experienced for many years… it is a horrid prison to be in….
- What would you like to hear from your readers?
The most valuable, priceless thing in the world is the human soul. When Jesus was tempted in the desert, Satan offered him the world if He would bow down to him. Jesus told him, what use is the world to man if they lost their soul… this is very deep. Therefore the greatest achievement a man can achieve in life is to wake up a human soul. And if one of my books touched someone’s soul and ignited the fire of Love, then I would not have lived or written books in vain…. This is what I would like to hear from my readers. That my books helped them catch fire in their souls….
- Are you already working on a new book?
My second book is called: For Love of the Sacred Awe which is being published by Europe Books. I am also writing my third book titled: Megalopsychia: The Other Cheek of Judaism. It is a compilation about the accomplishments of Jewish people throughout history and essays about what makes the Jewish people special. I grew up in Lebanon where anti-Seimitism and Anti-Jewish sentiment was rife and still is and I would like to combat that in my futile attempt to bring peace to the region.
Europe Books thanks the author Rami Elias Kremesti once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside him on the editorial path that led to the publication of his book The Other Cheek of Islam. We wish him the best of luck for this novel and for his future works.
To you, my dear reader, I wish you to be touched by Rami Elias Kremesti’s writing, to eventually awaken your soul and catch the fire within, as the author wishes to all his readers.
So, my dear reader, I just have to wish you a pleasant reading!
Your Editor!