Hazrat Khansaa

the bag won - ha ha.

One OSHO devotee`s story

Her Master`s Voice

http://www.sannyasnews.com/Articles/TantraR.html

By Vered Levy-Barzilai

When Radha met Osho, her world changed all at once. She was only 20, and she wasn`t even Radha yet - she was Camilla Luglio, a young Italian Catholic from Naples. But when the gate of the ashram opened, her heart beat furiously, she recalls, and time stopped. Thirty-one years have passed since her first meeting with her famous spiritual mentor in Pune, India.
From her point of view, that was the moment when her life changed. In her book ``Tantralife: A Woman`s Journey of Transformation`` (Wisdom Tree, New Delhi, 2005, 222 pages, $12), which was recently translated into Hebrew, she says that she felt that there was nothing in the world but her, walking toward the man on the chair, and him. Nobody and nothing else was important any longer. The only important thing, absolutely and totally, was the present moment. She approached to touch the soles of Osho`s feet, and when she looked into his eyes, she writes, she felt as though she was she was looking into the eyes of nothingness. And within this nothingness, she says, she felt complete for first time.
Radha spent about half the time since then in Osho`s commune, ``at his feet.`` In Pune, Radha was a disciple, and was among the small group of commune residents who served Osho as mediums for transmitting his spiritual message to his believers. Osho, Bhagwan Rajneesh, was born in 1913 to a family of Indian merchants. At the age of 14, he experienced his first enlightenment, and at the age of 21 he achieved total enlightenment. He studied and taught philosophy, and in 1970 established the Dynamic Meditation stream, and began to train his students. In 1974 he founded the ashram in Pune together with his disciples, and since then, tens of thousands of believers visited the place, stayed in the commune, learned Osho`s philosophy and lived there from time to time.
In 1990, after he ``left his body,`` as his disciples put it, Radha continued to follow his path, but in her own way. She went to live (``permanently/temporarily, because everything changes and everything passes``) in the Tuscany region, began to teach what she had internalized during her years in Pune, and became a teacher of tantra. Today she teaches men and women ``neo-tantra,`` according to the ideas of her Master.
Radha says that tantra is only a small part of Osho`s spiritual message. Small, but substantial. In workshops that she gives in Europe, Japan and Israel, she teaches experientially ``the basic principles of tantric energy work - movement, creating a feeling of vitality in the body, openness to existence, and openness to acceptance.`` Two weeks ago, in her latest trip to Israel, she gave a five-day seminar at the ``desert ashram,`` at Shittim in the Arava.
It is not easy for her in the Holy Land. ``I like the Israelis very much, I like Israel less. There are difficult energies here, I experience them with every fibre of my body and soul.`` Osho`s perpetual disciple is a warm and happy woman, who speaks English with an Italian accent; her voice is warm and rich. She emanates vitality and is dressed in a semi-casual Shanti style - her flowing hair is well cut and cared for, she wears a simple cotton galabiyeh and flip-flops. She is 51, looks younger than her age (``it`s the light from within, not the light from outside``) and under no circumstances is she willing to call herself enlightened. ``There are very few, isolated enlightened ones, on the level of a `master of masters` like Osho. I`m certainly not there, nor am I a master; I`m a teacher.``
She was given the name Radha years ago, by one of Osho`s students. Her full name is Ma Krishna Radha. The name ``radha`` means river in Sanskrit, and her name was interpreted as: a river that returns to its sources. Since then she has been in love with this name, and doesn`t want another one. She lives by herself in a rented house in Tuscany (``one can barely make a living from tantra workshops. My colleagues don`t manage to live on it; I`m lucky, but not to the point of buying a home``).
Four years ago she separated from her partner, a Japanese musician, after a 10-year relationship (``every love, as great as it may be, finally ends``). She tries not to suffer from separations (``love is constant change, and everything that happens should be celebrated, including death or separation``). She has no children. ``It`s impossible to have a lifestyle like mine and to be a mother, too.`` And on the same topic - ``Osho helped me to become liberated from this ancient reflex that was definitely etched deep into my Neapolitan bones.`` She says that her life is full and fascinating and rich and showers her with happy miracles, each time anew.
To Make Love to Existence
She wrote her book ``Tantralife: The vision of Tantra expressed through one woman`s journey of transformation`` in English. It was translated into Japanese and was first published in Japan, and now it has been translated into Hebrew and published by Inbar. The book tells the story of her personal journey of self-discovery and the discovery of the secrets of the world of tantra. And when Radha says ``journey,`` she means a physical journey as much as a spiritual one. She travelled all over Europe, and afterward all over the world. It is hard to grasp the revolution she brought about in her life - from a girl born to an established middle-class Catholic family in Naples, to Osho`s medium in Pune. ``The role of the medium is to be totally not present, so that I can penetrate your entity totally,`` Osho is quoted as saying. That is how he explains to her and her female friends (a dozen beautiful young women who are sprawled at his feet in the ashram) what they are supposed to do.
In her childhood, the church was at the center of family life. The school she attended was a Catholic convent. But her rebelliousness was percolating. In her early teens, she says, she felt that the outside world was calling her and that she was suffocating at home. A year later, she informed her shocked parents that she was leaving school. In the mornings she worked, and in the afternoons she studied subjects that interested her, such as foreign languages. She began to hang out with boys and ``to examine her sexuality,`` which was not acceptable to the family, to put it mildly. The conflict became increasingly bitter, until she was thrown out of the house at the age of 19 (together with a friend) to see the world, ``with a knapsack on my back and $100 in my pocket.``
Thus began the journey of her life, which included, among other things, LSD. She had heard from someone that ``if you take 100 trips, you know everything there is to know,`` and she actually did it, 100 times. Miraculously, she admits, her brain was not completely screwed up, and she managed to regain her balance. She was desperately searching for something she couldn`t identify. ``I hadn`t yet heard about mediation, gurus, enlightened masters, tantra, or anything like that,`` she says, ``but I didn`t believe that the only thing people can do is to find work, marry, have children, and that`s it. As a young woman in southern Italy, that`s exactly what awaited me, that was the life I was going to live.``
Shaken up and Collapsing
For a year, she roamed around with her boyfriend, and later by herself. She met men, fell in love with them, left them, or was left. Her intuitive journey of many stops led her to India, where she met the person who guided her to the ashram. Her first hour in the presence of Osho did not provide answers to all the questions she had accumulated since her childhood, but it gave her the feeling that they were here in this place, alongside this man. During the five of the next 15 years she spent alongside him, she did ``work meditation``: All day, every day, she cleaned a corridor leading to the master`s residence.
But even in hindsight, she has nothing bad to say about her experience. ``It was my melting pot. There I learned, through suffering, that I can be a cleaner, or someone`s doorman, or the person who brings his food to the room, or the Director of the commune and it`s all the same, because it doesn`t matter at all what I do. There I finally realized that it doesn`t matter whether or not I do something.``
During her early days in Pune, she was the youngest of the students. She fell in love with Osho immediately. But she explains, it wasn`t the usual situation of a woman falling in love with a man. ``I was madly in love with him, full of unexplained joy and happiness. Understand, the moment you sit in front of him, a transition to a situation of love takes place. In cosmic love you are never lacking anything. A certain part of me wanted him as a man, I admit, but the interaction took place in a different dimension entirely. It was growing into love, feeling surrounded and flooded with love. I didn`t feel a need to be with him all the time, to feel his touch, as I experienced with `ordinary` men.``
— But the love for him that you describe in the book is definitely erotic love. — ``True, there was an erotic dimension to it. But the difference between love of a man and love of a Master is tremendous. My love for Osho never ends. And never will end. With Osho, things happened to me that I didn`t know could happen. All he had to do was just to look at me. I experienced penetration from his look, and I reached orgasm more than once, only from the energy transmitted to me by that look.``
— A divine cosmic orgasm, or a real, physical orgasm, the way that non-spiritual people experience it? — ``A real orgasm, very physical. With all the accompanying sounds and involuntary movements, I would stand there, moaning and screaming with pleasure, while he simply went about his own business, doing other things entirely. From the power of the experience I would be shaken up and collapse - my body was not capable of containing all this sexual energy, I would fall to the ground in front of him, at his feet. Sometimes he would look at me for another moment and say in the didactic tone of a teacher giving a grade to his student: `Very good, Radha, very good,` and turn back to his affairs.``
— And all that happened during a group meditation exercise, in the presence of many other men and women? — ``Yes, and not only to me - I knew other people in Pune who experienced it as I did. And in the workshops I teach, people who have never experienced such things get into it quite quickly. You`d be surprised.``
A Parody of Hedonism
Radha`s book is first of all the story of her wild, rebellious, unusual life. And she tells all, with no holds barred. She exposes herself and what she experienced, for good and ill, the favorable and the embarrassing events, as well as the large number of lovers she has had.
This is personal testimony about the everyday life in the world`s most famous ashram. Radha is not objective, of course; she is a follower and a great admirer of Osho even today. He is ``my beloved, the great Master, the Master of Masters.`` When asked about Oshos apparent wealth and about the fact that he had a fleet of 93 Rolls Royces, gold watches and other ostentatious luxuries: she simply says that was a sophisticated provocation - ``a parody of the hedonism and the foolish acquisitiveness of the blind West.``
— There is a tendency to connect true spirituality with qualities like asceticism, modesty and mercy. Isn`t it possible to expect a spiritual leader of Osho`s stature to have a different order of priorities? For example, to sell the fleet of cars and to help needy families in India with the money?— ``Osho did not believe in asceticism or modesty. He disdainfully rejected these false messages common to all the religions. He`s the one who brought to the world the message of spirituality that celebrates life to the full. He is one of the only spiritual mentors who included sex and pleasure in the road to enlightenment.``
Another Osho
Osho, who was portrayed in the American media as a man who invited a different young woman to his room every day for lovemaking, appears very differently in the book as an authentic spiritual guru, about whose private life no one, including the author herself, knows nothing at all about. Radha insists that she doesn`t know whether during her time he ever slept with any of the women who visited the ashram. To the question as to whether she herself was his lover, she replies: ``I`m not willing to answer such a question. There`s a fear here of undermining Osho`s privacy. I repeat that my relationship with him, as well as those of the others, were not on that plane. Osho was free of any manipulation, his communication with us came from a clean and pure place. Some people hear `tantra` and immediately imagine pornography, because their lives take place in a pornographic dimension. Others have a different experience of existence. Let anyone who wants to believe, believe, and anyone who doesn`t want to - shouldn`t.``
(This article has been abridged from an an article first appearing on www.haaretz.com)

RE # 38

I apologise to any followers of OSHO or ``Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh``, the only real gift from India to the humanity.

I forgot the Bhagwan is now only referred to as OSHO.

The “Art of Living” dude is at much lower level. His people call him Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (only 2 Sri’s).

Mr. Rajneesh Chandra Mohan was a much bigger kahuna. He became Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh or as his western devotees called him “the bag-won”

Well, I like Sri 420--one of Raj Kapoor`s classics! ;-)

A summation of abbreviations (which, strictly speaking, the scholas frown upon--the salutation is to be written in full).

SAWS = sal Allahu alayhi wa Aalihi wa sallam (may Allah bless him and his Family) -used exclusively for the Beloved Prophet Muhammad only.

AS = alayhisalam -used for all the other Prophets and can be used for the Prophet Muhammad as well. Sometimes also used for the members of the Ahlul Bayt (The Prophet`s progeny, especially the Imams descended from Hazrat Ali and Hazrat Fatima`s marriage)

RA = radhi Allahu anhu/radhi Allahu anha- may Allah be pleased with him/he -usually used for the Companions of the Prophet. Can also be used for great saints too.

Also can be an abbreviation for rahmatullah alayhi/alayha = Allah have mercy on him/her. Used for pious people and especially scholars/saints.

QS = qadas Allahu sirruhu - may Allah sanctify his/her secret - used for the great Sufi saints.

#35 Kaal:

I think the current article has already served ONE useful purpose for me, by reminding me about the system of Sri’s used in Nepal (By the way, this system is not government instituted, but honestly practiced in good faith at grassroots.)

After a bit of googling, I quote the following from a Satya Sai Baba web page:

`Sri` is an honorific prefixed to the names of deities, sacred texts and eminent persons. It is an auspicious word indicating good fortune. The word also came to be used as an honorific for each individual, universalising or democratising good fortune as it were. This democratisation has itself led to another outburst of snobbery on the part of the disciples of the heads of Maths or monasteries. For example, the prefix - Sri 108, meaning that - spiritual eminence is indicated by the fact that the name is to be preceded by a string of 108 Sris.

I will keep looking for more on the “Sri” numeric scale (somehow it intrigues me) and perhaps post on this board (or i-log) at a later time.

Beejay

I get you now. I had no knowledge of the custom in Nepal. Seems similar to the grading system they used to have for government officials in India - grade 20, grade 10, etc.

AS means Alayhayis Salaam but prophets (wannabe or delusionals) happen to have massive egoes under the garb of pious humility... so i say AS needs urgent reinterpretation.....

Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) ????

as ?? .......... what the heck is ``as`` ........ not swa, pbuh, swt, ra, swu, holy father ....... but ``as`` ! ........... and here is the kicker : all his sahaba are referred to as RA ?...............the plot thickens !

............ anyone want to guess what ``as`` means ?

#31 Kaal:

What I am telling you is that in Nepal, these are (or used to be) serious terms of formal address.

Sri 5: (Used to address a government representative) (As in “Sri panch ko sarkar.”)
Sri 108: (To address one’s parents?)

And there are apparently many other numbers in between, to address individuals and entities (in order of their importance, I assume) in a formal manner.

The late great Raj Kapoor confused the issue by making the movie “Sri 420”, which had no connection to this formal system of address. After the movie was popular, its impressions persisted, of course!

Yaar, this comes from more than two decades old memory, but I distinctly recall one fellow in India describing himself / being described as some sri 108.

May be it is some kind of a degree. More likely, it is like other holy appellations - silly nonsense manufactured to trick the gullible and scare the faithful.

#29 Kaal:

You are (most probably) kidding, but in Nepal indeed Sri 5 and Sri 108 have serious meanings! (I believe the latter refers to the monarchy, I forget the first one.)

Hamidm, we are not so creative as to come up with RAs, SWTs, SWUs and PBUHs, but we do have something of that sort.

For our people we use...`` Sri Sri 420,`` Sri Sri 840,`` Sri Sri 1260,`` etc, indicating the increasing levels of danger they present to the rest of us. The numbers represent the minimum distance, in feet, one should maintain from them in order to stay safe.

Naqshbandi, would easily win a Sri Sri 1260 were he a Hindu (apologies, Naqshbandi, for associating your name with sin).

re: Raw_Dust # 1

``This article sounds like taken out of suicide bombers` requisite coursework.``

. . . . . . . . . .

zainab (ra),

you said: ``In the battle of Qa’dsia, she urged all four of her sons to take part and to fight bravely. When she heard the news of the martyrdom of them all, she exclaimed: “All praise is to Allah who honoured me through their martyrdom.”

........what a horrible mother !! ......talk about acute manchusen syndrome ! ........... i hope she is not the patron saint of MOSB (mothers of suicide bombers) ???? .......... don`t you think she is a rather bad example to quote in this day and age when young muslim men are blowing themselves left, right and center ?

Re: # 19
[FOLLOWING THE GENDER CHANGE OF THE ARABIC LANGUAGE.]

...hmmmm...had no idea arabic language had changed it`s gender... wallah aalum bil swaab...hadha hua amr`l ajeeb wal ghareeb...ya haraam...(shaking my head wala icon)

Re: # 18

...errr... anger is not good for your blood pressure...i mean the caps are scaring the daylights outta me... ;-)

Re: # 20
...comparing her with ``SHAKESPEARE, MILTON , GHAALIB AND IQBAL.``...you are committing a blasphemy as well...unless you are related to our biraadur naqshbandi saheb...;)

Re: # 1
FOR THE REPLY TO YOUR INTERACT, PLEASE REFER TO #14.

i hate to berate a dead issue, but this whole concept of awards and titles intrigues me .....

....... in addition to RA, there is SWT, SWU nd PBUH ....... in the heirarchy of civil and military awards i think SWT is the highest , which god reserves for himself ...... and i am not to sure about SWU since it gets dangerously close to sounding like that animal which cannot be mentioned .......... i do believe that pbuh is the highest award that man can aspire for - but it seems that in order to qualify you have to talk to an angel (peter pan does not qualify) ...........

..............on the other hand, the christians confer high sounding titles on their living and dead great men, eg. lord, saint, holy father, etc............... the lord, i think, is reserved for god himself (he is the fat man with the big beard on the ceiling of the bascilica) ........ however it is a little confusing since they also use the title for his son from the virgin mary.......... and then there is this mysterious person called the ``holy spirit`` - i am not sure if ``holy`` is a title or a proper first name .......... and what about the ``holy father`` ? ...........he is the guy who runs around in a dunce hat and pontificates from the window of a rent-controlled apartment in downtown vatican ( it has been rent-controlled for centuries ... but i digress)........... it is a little confusing because sometimes these christians will refer to god as ``holy father`` ....... now, in this day and age, when it is not unusual for a kid to have two fathers, or mothers, it doesn`t sound too bad, but i am still a little confused ...............

........... i give up !

Re: # 11
R.A. STANDS FOR RAZI-ALLAH-ANHAA, AN ARABIC TERM MEANING `ALLAH HAS BEEN PLEASED WITH`. IT IS USED FOR ALL THE FEMALE COMPANIONS OF THE HOLY PROPHET(PEACE BE UPON HIM). ANHOO IS USED FOR THE MALE COMPANIONS. IT IS USED BECAUSE ALLAH, THE ALMIGHTY HAS DECLARED THAT HE HAS BEEN PLEASED WITH THEM. FOR A DETSAILED STUDY, PLEASE REFER TO SURAT AL-FATAH, VERSE 18 AND ITS BACKGROUND.

Re: # 7
THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO ENJOY THE WORKS OF THE LONG-AGO DEAD PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY HAVE LITERARY TASTE. THAT IS WHY PEOPLE STILL ENJOY SHAKESPEARE, MILTON , GHAALIB AND IQBAL.WE MUST NOT USE ANY BAD NAME FOR A PEOPLE AS WE, THE ASIANS , MUST LOOK INTO OUR OWN SELVES FIRST.WELL, THE LANGUAGE WE USE REFLECTS OUR OWN THOUGHTS.

Re: # 6
R.A. STANDS FOR RAZI-ALLAH-O-ANHAA,AN ARABIC TERM MEANING `THE ONE WHO ALLAH, THE ALMIGHTY HAS BEEN PLEASED WITH`. THE MUSLIMS USE THIS TERM BECAUSE ALLAH HIMSELF HAS STATED IN THE HOLY QURA`AN THAT HE HAS BEEN PLEASED WITH THE COMPANIONS OF THE PROPHET, MUHAMMAD(PEACE BE UPON HIM).PLEASE REFER TO CHAPTER, SURAH AL-FATAH, VERSE 18 AND THE BACKGROUND OF THE VERE FOR DETAILED INFORMATION.(THE MUSLIMS USE THIS TERM WITH THE NAMES OF ALL THE COMPANIONS OF THE PROPHET(PBUH)

---

ANHAA WITH THE NAMES OF THE LADIES AND ANHO WITH THE NAME SOF THE GENTS

---

FOLLOWING THE GENDER CHANGE OF THE ARABIC LANGUAGE.

RE TO #7
THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE HAVING LITERARY TASTE WHO ENJOY THE WORKS OF LONG-AGO DEAD PEOPLE LIKE SHAKESPEAR`S OR GHAALIB, IQBAAL OR KHANSAA(R.A.). WE SHOULD REFRAIN FROM CALLING PLACES AND PEOPLE BY BAD NAMES AS THERE ARE MANY WHO CAN RIGHTLY USE BAD NAMES FOR MANY OF THE ASIAN PLACES AS BLACK SHEEP ARE FOUND EVERYWHERE.IN ADDITION, THEY SAY AND IT IS TRUE THAT LANGUAGE IS THE GARMENT OF OUR THOUGHTS.

beejay,

sorry, i forgot to mention a very important recipient of the R.A. award - ameerul momineen general zia ul haq ............. i guess he is the khatim-ul- ra`s instead of the quaid !!!

Re: # 6
R.A. STANDS FOR RAZIALLAHU-ANHAA, AN ARABIC TERM MEANING `MAY ALLAH, THE ALMIGHTY BE PLEASED WITH HER`. THE MUSLIMS USE THIS TERM BECAUSE ALLAH HIMSELF STATED IN THE HOLY QURAN THAT HE HAS BEEN PLEASED WITH THE COMPANIONS OF THE HOLY PROPHET,MUHAMMAD(PEACE BE UPON HIM).PLEASE REFER TO THE HOLY QURA`N, CHAPTER26,VERSE #18. AND NOW THIS TERM IS USED WITH THE NAMES OF ALL THE COMPANIONS(R.A.).

Re: # 3
THANKYOU FOR THE APPRECIATION AND THE ECOURAGEMENT AND ALSO FOR GIVING THE ADDRESS OF THE WEBSITE.

In the battle of Qa’dsia, she urged all four of her sons to take part and to fight bravely. When she heard the news of the martyrdom of them all, she exclaimed: “All praise is to Allah who honoured me through their martyrdom.” So, this was the change that Islam had brought in her: on the one hand, we find her urging her tribesmen to avenge her brothers’ death and on the other hand, she, as a mother, sends all her children to the battlefield and is grateful for their martyrdom.


THESE LINES DEFINITELY SHOW US A FACET OF HER PERSONALITY THAT CANNOT BE OVERLOKED: SACRIFICE IN THE WAY OF ALLAH. SURELY, IF A PERSON CAN SACRIFICE ALL HIS CHILDREN FOR THEIR LORD, THEY ARE NOT BEING HYPOCRITES OR DIPLOMATIC. INFACT, THEY ARE ON THE ZENITH OF HUMANITY.

beejay,

....... i did some more research and found that abu bakr siddiq (probably related to the author) was the first RA and quaid-i-azam muhammad ali jinnah was the last RA ( khatim-ul-RA?) ........... i also found out that mirza ghulam ahmed is not an RA and some people (depending on who you talk to) think that omar and osman also did not deserve the title of RA ..... of course ali is a bonafide RA ...........

..... but then again, maybe RA simply stands for resident assistant - a frigid born again christian graduate student who wears little house on the prairie skirts, jesus sandals, and tries to maintain law and order in a freshman dorm .......

beejay,

...... i am not sure what R.A. stands for, but it could be one of the following :

1. ancient egyptian sun god who journeyed across the sky every day
2. the element radium (atomic number 88) - i think this is the most likely definition since it was discovered by a woman and this article is about a woman
3. rheumatoid arthritis - this is a long shot, but it is possible that khansaa bibi suffered from ra in addition to pms, qrt, adhd, jv and other abbreviations that afflict women

zainab siddique,

.... beejay asked a question - what does R.A. stand for ? ..........

Sorry for a kaffir butting in. But is there a Qadiani angle to this story a la Hazrat whatever Naked pir business. How long will it take a full blooded derby between urstruly/asifbhai and sattarbhai to break out on this. Any bets.

Regards

#8 Hamidm (my long lost soul-mate, maybe even a kin from my past life!)

Sorry, since I still don’t know what R.A. stands for, I can not be accused of falling for anything (I did enquire about the initials, didn’t I!). Besides, I didn’t “buy” anything, I just enjoyed this poetess’ story of life lived and loves loved (and (sadly) somewhat expeditiously dispatched through exhortation)! Besides, the way she stood by her husband no. 2, attending to all his critical basic needs in spite of his various VERY human limitations – ought to inspire the vast multitude of our South Asian fair sex members to no end (perhaps even to the bitter end). What an ideal role model – just bring on the booze, bring on the chops, and roll that dice (not to mention that roll in the bed, of course)!

I am in fact very much inspired by the fact that the poetess has stood the test of time (like few poetesses from the past and present) and, in spite of singing SAD songs (“melancholy” to some and perhaps “depressing” to others (the likes of you and me?)), she enjoys a certain degree of popularity to this day! That’s nothing to sneeze at, or cry over (take your pick)!

And of course, some of us have a soft corner for those who venture into the domain of poets and poetesses! Like I said when I challenged Chowkies to a game of chess (such chickens and no-shows!) THAT domain is NFTFI (not for the fear-impaired)!

beejay,

``I like articles like this because they have some educational value and are devoid of subjective opinions``

........... i hate to inform you that R.A. is a ``subjective opinion``........... it tells you a lot about the writer`s twisted mindset and warped weltanschauung.........

.... buyer, beware !

...who the eff gives a damn about a long dead arab poetess who no one knows nor wishes to know on a site predominantly visited by south asians...surely chowk has not been declared a medinat-al-fikr after it received a huge grant from the house of swines also known as house of al-sauds...

I like articles like this because they have some educational value and are devoid of subjective opinions. It may have been a good idea to elaborate on some of the terms for people who may not be familiar with such terms (in other words, do not assume that your readership fits a particular profile).

I guess the subject lady was a case of somebody who writes from the heart and goes about creating mayhem and destruction, without seemingly intending to. In fact, this particular lady seems to have been a one person demolition squad! Going through three husbands, two brothers, and four sons – and causing the demise of one and all in one way or other – not to mention the countless other souls she made sad and mournful through her poetry – and perhaps continues to do so – till this day! Wow! One could be almost forgiven for surmising that she deliberately went about creating pain, so she could create poetry!

Notes:
[…was commonly known as “al-Khansaa” (R.A.)]
Forgive me for my ignorance, but what do the initials R.A. stand for?

[… she was married Abdul-Azza who was a spendthrift and was fond of gambling, wine and food. Once he lost everything and was about to leave the house when she went to her brother, Sakhr who gave her half the share from his property. When destitute for a second time, she went to her brother again and again Sakhr gave her half of what he possessed.]
Mooching off her brother, again and again! I understand that the hubby Abdul-Azza was a young stud, but COME ON!

[When she went to him for the third time, his wife asked him to give Khansaa something inferior fearing her husband would ruin it. But, Sakhr helped her generously in a manner befitting her status of a princess and thus set an illustrious example of generosity in the pre-Islamic era.]
At least the brother’s wife had some sense! Some people would call the brother’s generosity mere foolishness, perhaps irresponsibility!

[After her second husband’s death, Khansaa (R.A.) got married to Mird’as bin Ali Aamir Assalma of her own tribe and had three children from the marriage: Zaid, Mu’awiya and Umar (R.A.).]
I guess poetry alone was insufficient company!

[She had started poetry to call upon vengeance of Mu`awiya and then continued it till late in life.]
Not that he will do anything along those lines, but I KNEW there was a good, practical reason why people around here need to be nicer to Temporal!

I ofcourse do not mean any disrespect to Hazrat Khansaa , pur for a second I thought the title was Hazrat Khansama...

I ofcourse do not mean any disrespect to Hazrat Khansaa , pur for a second I thought the title was Hazrat Khansama...

A google search for ``al-Khansa`` led me to this informative site:

http://home.infionline.net/~ddisse/khansa.html

Assalamu alaykum and thank you Zainab for this wonderful article. I have certainly learnt a lot from it about a figure in Arabic literature whom I was not even aware of (surprisingly the anthologies of Arabic literature I have read by orientalists do not even mention her!)-Hazrat Khansa`a radhi Allahu anhaa. Could you perhaps post more examples of her poetry? That`d be great.

a refreshing change for Chowk. Please write more!

:-)

``Khansaa (R.A.) mourned over Sakhr‘s death; she embraced Islam late in life but continued to lament for her brothers. Hazrat Umar (R.A.), during his caliphate, asked her why she lamented and mourned even after embracing Islam (as mourning is forbidden in Islam). She replied: “Before embracing Islam, I lamented for their (brothers’) vengeance and I lament now for their being in hell”. ``

This shows not only this character was supposedly a poet-genius but happened to have a great sense of political timing too. To no avail embracing Islam under Umer`s rule! heh.

on another note, this article sounds like taken out of suicide bombers` requisite coursework.