Dear all,
We are pleased to welcome you to a Sufi Talk and our traditional Sufi Zikr Ceremony on Monday 26th September, 2016 by Shaykh Taner and Shaykha Muzeyyen Ansari.
The event will be held at Essex Unitarian Church, 112 Palace Gardens Terrace, Notting Hill Gate, London, W8 4RT.
We look forward to see you at the talk / Zikr.
Dear everyone,
I hope everyone is in the best of health and spirits.
Please note that there is no Zikr (meditation) on the 29th of August 2016 in Notting Hill Gate, due to the Notting Hill Carnival.
We hope to see you the week after (5th Sept) when Zikr will resume its regular schedule every Monday evening in Notting Hill Gate.
Wishing you a wonderful bank holiday weekend!
Dear all,
We have rescheduled our first Shoreditch Zikr to the 21st of July. Apologies for any inconvenience caused and we hope to see you there.
Here is a re-post of the event details:
We will be starting a new Zikr (Sufi Meditation) group in Shoreditch from the 21st July 2016. Initially the Zikr will run monthly and then hopefully weekly.
Briefly, Zikr is “Remembrance of God” and we do this through chanting the Most Beautiful Names of the Beloved, singing hymns and performing simple sacred movements – all accompanied with frame drumming.
Sufi Zikr (Shoreditch, London):
Thursday 21st July
7:15 PM – 9:00 PM
Kobi Nazrul Centre
30 Hanbury St, E1 6QR, London
(Meetup Link)
This is an open group for spiritual exploration in the widest sense with no prior knowledge required. We welcome everyone who comes in peace regardless of their faith/non-faith background.
For this first monthly event (21st July 2016) there will be a short workshop of Sufi chants and movements, and perhaps practising a Sufi song, before starting the zikr ceremony.
We can share tea and something nice to eat at the end. So if we each bring fruit or fresh bread and humous or cheese, what better way to taste the Divine.
Kobi Nazrul Centre is a pleasant walk from Liverpool St station down Brushfield St and Spitalfields market. Aldgate East and Shoreditch Overground are just as near.
Zikr is free to attend, and we suggest a small donation for those who are able (£4) to contribute towards the rent.
Our Zikr at Notting Hill Gate will continue every Monday as usual (Meetup Link) – we hope to see you in Notting Hill and/or in Shoreditch!
Dearest all,
We are pleased to announce that the spiritual leaders of the Ansari Sufi Order, Shaykh Taner and Shaykha Muzeyyen Ansari, will be visiting the United Kingdom this May.
They will be leading the Sufi Zikr (Remembrance Ceremony) on Mondays, 16th and 23rd May 2016. We will begin with a Sufi talk and Q&A, and serve dinner after the Zikr. We welcome everyone who comes in peace, and the event is free of charge
Sufi Zikr
Dates: 16th and 23rd May (Mondays)
Venue: Essex Unitarian Church, 112 Palace Gardens Terrace, Notting Hill Gate, London, W8 4RT
If you would like spiritual consultation and/or healing, please contact Rita / Reeyaaz at 07941653337 / 07875569921.
We hope all of you are in good health, and we look forward to seeing you at our events. Peace and blessings.
Do not worry , O Khushal!
No matter how wretched you are
You are only flesh and blood
And not some heavenly seraph.
We are delighted to welcome Sami ur Rahman who has flown in from Pakistan to present his new translations of the national poet of Afghanistan – Khushal Khan Khattak. A contemporary of Bulleh Shah, he likewise rejected caste and clerical edicts. Part warrior poet who led the Pashtun struggles against emperor Aurangzeb, part mystic, part scholar, he produced ghazals, rubaiyat, and verse treatises on the body and falconry.
Sami ur Rahman (journalist, translator, lover of mystic poetry and theoretical physics), hails from the same obscure village as the 17th century Khushal, and has published two books of translations. He will be reading in Pashtu, Farsi and English, and will include Rumi in Farsi and English.
In the other half we have original poetry from guest Jane Silk who studied Islamic and Sufi philosophy at Kings College and SOAS and then deepened her academic experience with a spiritual awakening in Isfahan. She took to a form of meditation-writing at night, covering her wall with scores of jottings. This outpouring is sometimes described in farsi as ‘taravoosh zehniyat’ – a ‘dripping of the mind’.
As always we keep our floor open to contributions of original poetry or music from our audience.
Ending with a Sufi zikr- a traditional meditation of remembrance with chanting, movement, breathing, and music, which closes with prayers for humanity and the planet.
Please note: the Sufi zikr at approximately 9pm is FREE and you are welcome to come only for the zikr.
‘Rubaiyat’: New Translations and New Poetry, and Zikr
Poetry Cafe
22 Betterton St, Covent Garden WCH2 9BX
Saturday 7th May 2016
7pm to 9:45pm
£8 on the door
Ansari Qadiri Rifai Sufi Order - UK 