Overview

Tamam Kahn's poetry carries bright exuberance, as well as empathy and sorrow. Her work is inspired by the mystical Middle East, and her time in Morocco and Syria. The poems are anchored with her research on women from early Islam to today. Anecdotes from history are mixed with today's unchosen difficulties. The reader is introduced to the remarkable Rabia of Basra (Rabi'a al-Adawiyya), eighth-century leader on the path of Unity of Being. What would it be like to meet with her today? Across the Difficult presents tales of other famous mothers such as Eve (known as Grandmother Eve in Arabia), Hagar, Sayyida Zaynab-granddaughter of Prophet Muhammad, her niece Ruqayya, and Fatima al-Fihri, founder of the great Qarawiyyin University, who changed history with her life's work. The brutal difficulties of living at this time in countries such as Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine and other countries, are included in the final poems. Winner of The BookFest First Place award for Poetry, Spring 2024, and an International Book Award, 2024

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9781953220271

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"""I am grateful for this book. A book of history and bravery, poems that burst through silences of centuries, unafraid of either bliss or agony. Tamam Kahn has become a branch on the mighty tree of knowledge that is women's knowledge of the unbreakable connection between flesh and spirit. She declares, and we all can declare, 'We could have world history rewritten. Right now. Why not?'"" - Alicia Ostriker, author of Waiting for the Light and The Volcano and After ""What a joy to read Tamam Kahn's Across The Difficult! Some approach the Sufi tradition like a fossil, an icon of a bygone era, or an artifact we encounter in a museum. Tamam's beautiful book is a reminder that the Sufi tradition is a living tradition, a river of transmission, that has come from the Divine Beloved and will sweep us up to carry us back Home. What a lovely echo of Rabi'a, the giant beacon of love in the Islamic tradition, is Tamam's intimate book. Highly recommended for all spiritual seekers, and those who have been touched by the Sufi tradition."" - Omid Safi, professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Duke University, and founder of Illuminated Courses and Tours ""Tamam Kahn has offered us a treasure in her new book, Across the Difficult. Across worlds, through her words, one feels the presence of the dear ones, the women of heart and deep soul who have come before us; among whom Tamam now stands. May her words encourage and support many souls in their journeying, as they, likewise, come to meet themselves: 'shining right through the difficult.'"" - Camille Adams Helminski, author of Women of Sufism and The Way of Mary: Maryam Beloved of God ""Ms. Kahn's masterful work evidences the mystery of a communing with blessings that is unimpeded by space, time, culture, and yes, even death itself. These poems come from and remind us of the eternal flow of grace that reaches our hearts with meanings, love, and wonder."" - Jonathan Granoff, president of the Global Security Institute ""Our hurting world is calling for women's wisdom. In this new collection, thanks to Tamam Kahn's rich imagination, vital intuition, and vivid imagery, readers can become intimate with and inspired by one of Islam's most important women mystics and others whose vitality and insight might otherwise have been lost."" - Krista Bremer, collaborator, storyteller, author of A Tender Struggle"

"""Ms. Kahn's masterful work evidences the mystery of a communing with blessings that is unimpeded by space, time, culture, and yes, even death itself. These poems come from and remind us of the eternal flow of grace that reaches our hearts with meanings, love, and wonder."" - Jonathan Granoff, president of the Global Security Institute ""Our hurting world is calling for women's wisdom. In this new collection, thanks to Tamam Kahn's rich imagination, vital intuition, and vivid imagery, readers can become intimate with and inspired by one of Islam's most important women mystics and others whose vitality and insight might otherwise have been lost."" - Krista Bremer, collaborator, storyteller, author of A Tender Struggle ""I am grateful for this book. A book of history and bravery, poems that burst through silences of centuries, unafraid of either bliss or agony. Tamam Kahn has become a branch on the mighty tree of knowledge that is women's knowledge of the unbreakable connection between flesh and spirit. She declares, and we all can declare, 'We could have world history rewritten. Right now. Why not?'"" - Alicia Ostriker, author of Waiting for the Light and The Volcano and After ""What a joy to read Tamam Kahn's Across The Difficult! Some approach the Sufi tradition like a fossil, an icon of a bygone era, or an artifact we encounter in a museum. Tamam's beautiful book is a reminder that the Sufi tradition is a living tradition, a river of transmission, that has come from the Divine Beloved and will sweep us up to carry us back Home. What a lovely echo of Rabi'a, the giant beacon of love in the Islamic tradition, is Tamam's intimate book. Highly recommended for all spiritual seekers, and those who have been touched by the Sufi tradition."" - Omid Safi, professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Duke University, and founder of Illuminated Courses and Tours ""Tamam Kahn has offered us a treasure in her new book, Across the Difficult. Across worlds, through her words, one feels the presence of the dear ones, the women of heart and deep soul who have come before us; among whom Tamam now stands. May her words encourage and support many souls in their journeying, as they, likewise, come to meet themselves: 'shining right through the difficult.'"" - Camille Adams Helminski, author of Women of Sufism and The"

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