Questions and Wishes

Will Melek (Princess Angelica) catch the Owl who stole her crown?

Will Nûr (Francesca, the Princess' Maid) fall out of the Book of Poetry to a more sober state of consciousness?

Will Lâl (the Frogmouth Owl, a.k.a. Shaykh Frögüddan) come to an understanding of what Love is, and at the same time escape his dreadful destiny?

To find out these and more, the Sufi Magic Theatre invites you to its new production:

*Seeking the Shemurgh*
or *The Conference of the Frogs - Part II*

which will be out here on Monday, January the 6th, 2014 (Insha Allah)!

In the meantime: HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

See You on Monday!

See You on Monday for an End-of-the-Year Special Post!

New Year, New Names!

Will you add your Colours to the Froggies?

607d

Because if when I catch that owl I do not roast him alive, then for sure I am an Angel!!!

607c

Ya Nûr! No crown, no princess!!
From now on, call me Melek...

607b

O Princess!
Yes, it is me, and yet, it is not.
From now on, call me Nûr, as I am flooded with God's light...

607a

Tsk tsk. I know these lines.
Francesca! Is it you recycling old poems?!?
Please, come in! Please!?! Let's have a drink...

Happy Holidays!

Don't worry, we are not leaving you like this: there is one more strip before the end of this year. Please, as usual, come back on Monday!

To the Spirit of the Lake

Will you add your Colours to the Froggies?

606d

Be the sun that makes me glow
when it is Asr time, and never
never less, and seldom more.
Keep my heart in yours, forever.

606c

Be my sun, I'll be your water
not the earth to grow your seed
nor the air to increase your power
only glitter at your feet.

606b

I am the friend of your good days
so don't burden over me
but keep me enslaved. I will fly away
if you ever set me free.

606a

Be my king as I am your falcon
be the arm on which I rest
and keep the jess around my claw
because I will never build a nest.

Hee Hee Hee...Something about Humor

All educated people we are visually impaired to a higher or lower degree because education relies on words more than on observation, to the point that we are taught acronyms to help us remember things that could better be remembered through observation. A well known example is ROY G. BIV to remember the sequence of the colors of the rainbow. We memorize the sequence while we lose the ability to visualize the rainbow.

Who Is a King?

Add your colours to the Froggies!

605d

Sadly, it seems so.
Be our king! Be our king!! Be our king!!!

605c

Is it the crown that makes the king?

605b

And now all frogs are praising him! Can't you hear the croaky singing? That is a poem for the Frogs' King...

605a

Can you believe it?!? The Frogmouth Owl (Batrachostomus) stole my crown!?!

Frog Walking a Dogfish

A Stolen Crown!

Add your Colours to the Froggies!

604d

Ya Princess... Sufis work faster than you think they do!

604c

The moment is infinite!
Time is elastic!!
Shaykh is always right!!!

604b

You Frogmouth Owl preaching! How ugly is this translation!! Al-Waqt (الوقت‎) is "The Time" NOT "The Moment"!!! Too short is a moment to do any good...

604a

Rumi says: "The Sufi is the child of the moment, o kind friend" (Sufi ibn al-Waqt bashad, ay rafiq).

Thoughts under the Stars

I think... Should we buy a Sailing boat?
Yes, may be... Sailing boats are Greener...

Wind is cheaper!
And funnier!!
Hu Hu Ha!!!

Microtones and Microcones

This is the sixth (and last) of a series of six drawings I made between 2005 and 2006, inspired by the group Sufis Without Borders.
Ink on tracing paper, 30x30 cm/12"x12".

Celebration Dance

The elephant in image b comes from the Padshah-nama (c. 1640-5) while the background of the same image is in folio 378a of the BL Babur-nama;

Image c is also kept at the British Library (BL) and represents *Sufis in Ecstasy*;

Image d contains a spade of the kind worn by Emperor Aurangzeb and intricacies from a jali (perforated wall) in the Jami Masjid at Ahmedabad, India.

Should you thirst for more images from Mughal India, along with an excellent text and at a very reasonable price, turn to Valerie Berinstain: THIS is the book for you (the original is in French).

Add your colours to the Froggies!

Happy Thanksgiving 2013

The Frogs Without Borders wish you a Happy Thanksgiving full of Gratitude and Remembrance of God.

603d

Your love teaches the warrior
how to handle her spade
your love keeps her drunk
at your gate!

603c

Oh! You who opened her eye
to the beauty of the sea
you who lent her the key
of Paradise...

603b

Who gave fruits and fish
to this lonely darvish
to this heart
that was wandering wild...

603a

Oh! Let me sing
a song for the King
for the Owner
of the Tavern of Ruin...

Frog Planting a Crocus

Crocus!

A Tap on the Heart

This is the fifth of a series of six drawings I made between 2005 and 2006, inspired by the group Sufis Without Borders.
Ink on tracing paper, 30x30 cm/12"x12".

Flowers of Love

The frog and the bird (images a and b) come from the Babur-nama kept at the British Library.

Image c represents Jahangir contemplating the portrait of his father Akbar. The original, painted c. 1614 by Nadir az-Zaman, is in Paris, Musée Guimet. A very good article about *The Imperial Image* by B.N.Goswamy can be read here.

Image d comes from a hanging of cotton and silk, c. 1650-1700, kept at V&A Museum, London, U.K.

Enjoy Colouring the Froggies!

602d

Consciousness and the many poems that spring out of me!

602c

Consciousness is what I get out of love. Consciousness...

602b

But... What do you get out of Desert's Love?!?

602a

Love is made of luscious gardens as well as of barren deserts...

Frog & Zebra Reading Jack London

Friggitoria Giorgia (Fish and Chips Georgia)

This is the fourth of a series of six drawings I made between 2005 and 2006, inspired by the group Sufis Without Borders.
Ink on tracing paper, 30x30 cm/12"x12".

Frogs Are Frogs

These images are inspired by four Indian miniatures of the Mughal Era (1656-1857).

The first image (upper left) represents Prince Selim, the future Emperor Jahangir, on his throne.
Painted by Mansur and Manohar, 1605 ca., it is kept at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

The second, third and fourth images are inspired by miniatures of the Vaqi'at-i Baburi (Babur-nama), translated into Persian and illustrated around 1590 under the reign of Akbar. They are kept at the British Library.

Enjoy Colouring the Froggies!

601d

Frogs are frogs... They can't learn love if they don't jump beyond!

601c

So why did she quit her to go with him? And why did she quit him and joined the howling zebras?!?

601b

And before him, the Shaykha, she loved her so...

601a

She loved the Shaykh of a new kind of love...

600th Strip's Staff Party