MemChurch Daily
April 28, 2021
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PRACTICING HOPE
The daily newsletter of the Memorial Church
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Dear friends,
Today we are delighted to share with you a reflection by Laila Tauqeer '21 of Eliot House in our Virtual Senior Talks series of 2021. Senior Talks are a beloved annual tradition in which each House at the College is invited to nominate a senior to offer a Morning Prayers address. We are honored to continue this tradition virtually this year by way of uplifting their reflections in our Daily Devotional. Thank you Laila, today we celebrate you and all your fellow Eliot House seniors!
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The Memorial Church of Harvard University
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SENIOR TALKS
Eliot House's Laila Tauqeer '21
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By Laila Tauqeer '21
Eliot House
"Now by my Love for you, I swear
That if you summon me
To be your slave, from all existence
And its sovereignty I will arise"
— Faces of Love, Hafez Shirazi
In the article, "Red Shi'ism vs. Black Shi'ism", Ali Shariati describes Shi'a Islam as the religion of "no". I did not understand this phrase until I started reading poetry. The Islamic doctrine of "there is no god but God" demands that we must first believe in no other gods before reaching God, that we must believe in this no, that we reject everything else we worship before we are able to witness God. This witnessing takes place in Hafez's simple "I will arise", that through his love for the Beloved, he will reject everything to become His slave. The entirety of Shi'a Islam, the entirety of my faith rests on this act of arising, on the abandonment of everything but God, on a love so strong that if He summons us, then nothing in existence will stand in the way.
In the poetry I read, God is often referred to as the Beloved - what a soft sentiment for the one who is the most powerful. I am constantly stumbling and failing in my love for God but the existence of words (and poetry) is a constant reminder that this love is the only thing I have in this world. I am in love with the way people express divine love. I want to be them. I want to transform into their words. I want so much from this world and so much from the One Who is Love, the One Who Owns Love, the One Who Has Taught Me Love. Words are so dear to me because they have led me to glimpses of God, my friend, my reflection & my God, my God, my God who holds all my failures and my exhaustion and, still, guides me to Him, guides me to Love.
In my own journey of Becoming nothingness, of rejection, of Becoming this Love, I want to remember Hafez. I want to remember Hafez's love in the midst of desperation and abandonment — for what else is this caravan if not one of love?
"Rise, struggle like Hafez…And when you find
Your love, prostrate yourself before her there"
Laila is a senior graduating in History and Science with a secondary in Near Eastern Studies. She is originally from Sahiwal, Pakistan and Sacramento, California, and currently lives in Eliot House on campus. Laila is passionate about working with Muslim communities to collectively explore what it means to love and know God in the world that we live in today. She finds inspiration from Islam, Urdu poetry, and all the wonderful people she is blessed to be surrounded by.
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