LIFE’S JOSS
Your beauty blooms
Like the moon shining in my sky.
To prevent your face from becoming saffron,
I whispered your name with a caress.
Like the moon shining in my sky.
To prevent your face from becoming saffron,
I whispered your name with a caress.
I picked my stars one by one,
At the time attached to your hair.
A secret blinds my conscience,
O, it confuses me.
At the time attached to your hair.
A secret blinds my conscience,
O, it confuses me.
Your thousands of ploys surprised me,
Now you eyes are icons of love.
I knew your only pride was me,
(A hermit who breathes with love).
Now you eyes are icons of love.
I knew your only pride was me,
(A hermit who breathes with love).
Allegedly your voice was gold,
Our souls were obedient, free.
We made a covenant forever –
“Life is with us, if love exists!”
Our souls were obedient, free.
We made a covenant forever –
“Life is with us, if love exists!”
--tr. Asror Allayarov from "The Gate Opened by Angels"
Stellarscape -- Oriol Angrill Jordà
Joss, in Chinese Pidgin English, is a house idol or cult image; the word came from the Portuguese “deos” (god) via the Javanese “dejos.” Joss sticks are a form of combustible incense that are set on fire and then fanned or blown out, leaving a glowing ember that smoulders and releases a fragrance. They are used for a variety of purposes associated with ritual and religious devotion or for meditation or simple pleasure. They are often burned in front of a door or open window as an offering to Heaven or spirits. [On the other hand, joss paper (jinzhi, “gold paper,” or ming bi, “shade/dark money"), also called ghost money, is burned to insure that the spirit of the deceased has plenty of good things in the afterlife (among other purposes, including the veneration of the dead or the higher gods).] Though not used during worship, incense is used throughout the Islamic world to remind people of the rewards righteous believers will receive in Paradise; according to Muhammad al-Bukhari, who collected “hadith” (traditions associated with the prophet Muhammad) in “The Abridged Collection of Authentic Hadith with Connected Chains regarding Matters Pertaining to the Prophet, His practices and His Times” (al-Jaami’ al-Sahih al-Musnad al-Mukhtasar min Umuri Rasooli-llahi wa sunanihi wa Ayyaamihi), popularly known as the “Sahih al-Bukhari,” sometimes regarded as the most authentic book after the Qur’an: “The first group of people, who will enter Paradise, will be glittering like the full moon and those who will follow them, will glitter like the most brilliant star in the sky. They will not urinate, relieve nature, spit, or have any nasal secretions. Their combs will be of gold, and their sweat will smell like musk. The aloes-wood will be used in their censers. Their wives will be houris. All of them will look alike and will resemble their father Adam in being sixty cubits tall.” [The houris were "gazelle-eyed (women)," commonly translated as "lovely eyed," of "modest gaze," "(splendid) companions of equal age (well-matched)," or "pure beings" or "companions pure" of Paradise; they were humans or jinn (genies) who entered Jannah (paradise) after being recreated in the hereafter. Humans, jinn, and mala ikah (angels) were the three sapient creations of God, who made them respectively from clay, smokeless fire, and light. Like humans, the jinn could be good, evil, or neutrally benevolent and hence had free will; the mala ikah were purely spiritual and not subject to temptation.]
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