Rabi'a Al'adawia &Charles de Foucault

-Translated into English by Benedict McHugo-

She was an Arab Muslim who lived in Iraq between 717 and 801: see black text

He was a French Christian who lived in France and Algeria between 1856 and 1916: see red text

“They never met and they never knew each other. They lived in different times, in different civilizations and belonged to different religions. But they both loved a single God whom they knew through following Him with their whole beings. They burnt with love of Him and prayed to Him in words which were very similar in style and content. She was a Muslim Sufi mystic and he was a Christian monk. If you read the two extracts, either side by side or separately, you will see their shared sense of the meaning of this deepest reality. These two very special but very different people both reached great heights and shared a single sense of bliss. They both overcame the obstacles which they met. This common eternal essence lives on and makes them timeless.”

Father Hanna Kildani

Marj Alhamam, 5 April 2007

Rabi’a said “My Lord”,  Charles said “My Father”

My Lord, if I have cried out to you with my fear of hell, throw me into it, and if I have  implored you to grant my wish for heaven, keep me out and close the heaven door.

Father, I abandon myself into your hands, do with me what you will.

But if I called you because of your love. Do not refuse me your eternal splendour.

Whatever you may do, I thank you.

My God, unless I continually keep you at the front of my thoughts  there is no way that I can live in this world.

 I am ready for all, I accept all.

I am a stranger in this world, and lonely among your creatures.

Let only your will be done in me, and in all your creatures

What sort of eternity can I have with a future where I cannot see you?

Lord, guide me so that nothing comes between us.

I wish no more than this, O Lord

Computer prayer

You can pray using many ways... and words, even computer modern expressions!

        O Lord... keep me connected to You, to be on line any time. Use every free space in me, and let me updated. If a virus infects me, do a scan.  I have a big damage, come Lord, format me as You like, I am full of bad sector, fix my error. I hope to save Your word…but my heart is out of space, empty my recycle bin, in order to be free for You. If I lose Your word, restore it. Bring me back to you; my heart volume label is Your name. Come and do a double click and open my heart to Your love, and help me to close all the ways of sin in my life. Explore all my life and delete all the temporary files which take me far away from You. Print Your image in my life and make me a copy of the saints. Lord... make me run in Your way, I need Your help to start again and erase all my sins. Insert Your peace in my heart, and make from my personality a standard mode as You created me…O Savior save your love in my heart. Follow up my heart inbox, don't let any bad spam in it, delete all spam mails... Even when I am idle and sleeping, keep Your holy face on my desktop, and St Mary as a screen server in my mind.  Amen, turn off.

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