The Daheshist Mission Emigrates to AmericaSelection of poems presented by Joseph H. Chakkour
TO THE FIRST SETTLERS who delved deep into the wilderness of the New World, finding the “right spot” where they could build their dream of a life was the reason that incited them to leave their homeland. They left everything behind them—even their fears, and held onto the one thing that made them envisage a viable future: Hope! Hope was not only their strength but their greatest asset too!
Some gave up the search and returned back home after few snags opened their eyes to the realities of the new adventure. Others searched for long without finding what they were looking for, so they settled for second best, thinking that what they were hoping for did not exist after all. And there were those who kept their hope high and intact in spite of the deceptions they encountered, and after a hard and diligent search they found their Heaven on Earth: they knew it the moment they laid eyes on it. These last ones are the True Hearts that build a lasting, unshakable entity!
And that’s how America was born …
When you are to come… would you be a Jew among Jews, like the first time, a Muslim or a Christian reading the Bible or the Koran … How would we know it’s you? The Bible puts you on a cloud, surrounded with angels, John compared your approach to the one of a thief in the dark of the night …
The Daheshist Mission emigrates to the Land of the Free
I am that lonely pilgrim I am that lonely pilgrimLost in yonder trails,A wayfarer,In search of the Holy Grail! In vain …I roamed the distant
We are all settlers in the wilderness of this life, and hard to please settlers at that! We long to find a way of life which appeals to our minds and hearts. And once we find it, we are set for life!¾My very feeling once I stepped into Dahesh’s New World. And while there, I couldn’t help comparing this new world to the world still moving around me. Alas, the world around me was going to pieces; chaos and destruction loomed everywhere. And just when I thought I had no world wherein I could live my Spiritual New World in peace, Doctor Dahesh let us know that the Daheshist Mission was emigrating to the United States for good. Imagine my surprise and joy to know that the Country that I loved most when budding to life was to be the host of my New World … my new raison d’être!
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Note:
Doctor Dahesh wrote “The Daheshist Mission emigrates to America” on March 10, 1976 in Paris. He was on his way to the United States to lay down the cornerstone of the Daheshist Mission in “The Land of the Free.”
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[Escaping persecution in their country, the first Pilgrims came to America seeking religious freedom …]
Alike the sun she rose, and the eyes of the nations upon her were cast.
She shone, and her sublimity dazzled the sights with its crimson hue.
“O Nations of the Earth,” she said out loud, “unto me, rush forth, for life is ephemeral;
“For he who is enthralled by my Beauty obtains happiness and peace, and he who turns his face away from me is under Satan’s sway.
“There is suffering in my fascination, and suffering turns into happiness for my bosom friends.”
Then she set out to reveal her charms to the crowds, the truthful among them and the mendacious.
“I am the most beautiful women of the Earth,” she said with determination, and all ears fathomed the import of her words!
O wonder! Could the moon be outshone by another star in the sky?!
And our Beauty to laugh for that which God bestowed upon her of most illuminant loveliness,
And the birds warbled joyfully to behold her, while she was playing with her necklace of pearls.
I was amazed by her, and the sweetest hopes stormed into my head,
And the passions to toss me to and fro; alike a feather I became, at the mercy of the blowing winds.
I drew close and touched her soft and tender fingers; so she smiled at me, and I found myself drowning in a poppling sea.
Restless I became, when she suddenly vanished amidst the roses, the jonquils, and the red pomegranate blossoms.
I followed her virtuously, keen on adoring her, though adoration is only meant for the Most Merciful.
I have loved no one else but her, and I shall never stop loving her.
The Creator bestowed upon her the raiment of grace, and endowed her with kindness and compassion.
To the enchanting Gardens she is the principal charm; she is the Queen of Eden.
She is a stray gazelle, roaming the gardens of the Most Munificent.
She is a flamboyant butterfly, fluttering merrily over the boughs,
Singing splendor in an enchanting melody that uplifts the soul, but to have you dedicate yourself to her heart and soul!
And if God wants to grant me happiness, He would allow that I reunite with her, and she with me,
Thus, I will live with her an everlasting life, be madly in love with her, and sing forever to her on my lute.
She is not a sylph playing coy with me; nor is she a songstress;
No, she is the Daheshist Mission emigrating to America, renouncing thus the mountains of Lebanon she left behind.
Paris, 4 o’clock of the dawn of March 10, 1976
Copyright © 2009 Georges H. Chakkour – Tous droits réservés