Considered one the greatest mystical poems of German medieval literature, and usually attributed to Meister Eckhart, the Granum Sinapis or “Grain of Mustard Seed of the Most Beautiful Deity” is presented here in three English translations, with an audio recording of the original poem.

It is, yet truly none knows what. ‘Tis there, ’tis here,
’tis far, ’tis near,
’tis high, ’tis low,
yet all we know
is: This it’s not and That it’s not.

• A new audio lecture by Abdal Hakim Murad, “Infinite and Finite”, on the relation between Ramadan and the Qur’an.

A religion has to deal with the huge paradox of how the infinite intersects with the finite… and where, in Islam, the infinite and the finite most conspicuously intersect is with the book of Allah. Look at what our theologians all say about the book: kalam Allah al-qadim. That is something very strange to say about something you can hold in your hands, “Allah’s ancient uncreated word”… and it is particularly associated with the month of Ramadan.

• Finally we present a brief article on the two types of “Calmness” known to Aikido practitioners.

Being calm in a crisis may mean that you don’t understand the situation, or it may mean that you have had some excellent training, so similar is the outward appearance of living and dead calmness.