The Theology of Love in Rasha Al-Sayyed Ahmed’s Poem: A Deconstructive–Sufi Reading

The Theology of Love in Rasha Al-Sayyed Ahmed’s Poem: A Deconstructive–Sufi Reading By: Firas Al-Waily

Introduction: In her poem "In the Night of Love’s Cities," Rasha Al-Sayyed Ahmed does not present love as a personal experience, but as a cosmic force latent within language—one that reconfigures the world anew. The text does not merely sketch an intimate bond; it ventures into symbolic and semantic realms, constructing a poetic theology in which love becomes salvation, the beloved a radiant planet, and the poem a vessel for transcendence.

The Poem as a Migratory Being The poet begins her text in a space saturated with symbolism—Chicago—not as a geographical location, but as a launchpad from reality into the imagined. She writes: “On the edge of the city of Chicago / I kept vigil in his eyes that evening until dawn…”In this vigil, the first rupture of place occurs: the eyes become a sanctuary, and dawn a threshold between presence and absence. From the very beginning, the poem constructs an alternate world—one where earthly noise dissolves in favor of the seer’s love-drunk insight.

Dismantling Time and Space Through Love The poem dismantles conventional time, and repurposes space as a mirror of the soul. Everything external fades, leaving only the beloved as a “planet” and the lover as a “free-flying poem”: “A poem traveling to the heights, / heading toward a cosmos draped in eternal peace, / where the stars are enthroned in its dome…”This generative image is not romantic in the mundane sense, but metaphysical. The poem becomes a soaring entity, journeying toward a higher state of being—beyond human conflicts and political anxieties—into a realm where angels speak in verses.

The Beloved as an Invisible Planet The poem reshapes the image of the beloved—not as a person, but as a luminous celestial body: “And he is a radiant planet—O my God—he astonishes me each night with his hidden lights…”This evokes a Quranic intertext—“its oil almost glows, even if untouched by fire… light upon light” (Surat al-Nur). The allusion is not a quotation, but a poetic unveiling of the Sufi dimension in perceiving the Other. The beloved ceases to be an object of desire and becomes a source of divine light—toward which the self is drawn to be purified, transformed, and redeemed.

Inner Rhythm and Sonic Displacement Though lacking traditional meter, the poem generates its own music through:

• Structural repetition: “The more we rose… the more we listened… the more we touched…”

• Prose-like fluidity: Sentences cascade seamlessly, creating a meditative rhythm akin to the voice of the soul communing with its beloved through a long night.

  
  

  This music is not merely auditory—it is spiritual, aligning sound with ascent, and repetition with transcendence.

Cosmic and Religious Intertextualities A rich semantic field unfolds throughout the poem, merging love with sacred texts and mystical language:

• “Light upon light” (Surat al-Nur): The beloved as a theophanic presence.

• “The angels of heaven reading us”: Expanding the poetic dialogue into the unseen.

• “Chanting, glorifying, veils of light, a world that praised with light, and his words are light…”: These terms carry potent Sufi resonance, drawn from Qur’anic and gnostic heritage—yet reimagined in a contemporary poetic language.

Love as a Creative Force of the Cosmos The poem does not present love as mere sentiment, but as a cosmic law that reshapes existence: “He is light upon light—his heart has known nothing but love. "HereHere, the beloved becomes the principle of creation, and love the primal matter—not just of poetry, but of the cosmos. The text thus converges with Ibn Arabi’s vision of the Perfect Human—where the beloved is not an individual, but a mirror of the Real, and a manifestation of ultimate Being.

Conclusion: Poetry as a Rite of Salvation "In the Night of Love’s Cities” is not an emotional narrative, but a linguistic architecture of cosmic scale—one that generates its own universe and moves within it. Rasha Al-Sayyed Ahmed does not write about the beloved; she builds for him a cosmos in which he manifests, inviting the reader to ascend with her into a realm that transcends language and surpasses fleeting meaning. This poem becomes a Sufi sanctuary, an existential journey, a linguistic planet…A text not to be merely read, but glorified within.

The Poem

‏In the Night of Love’s Cities

‏On the edge of the city of Chicago, I kept vigil in his eyes that evening until dawn. And when the stars began to fade, slipping away from their beds, his soul touched me with the sweetness of an intoxicating drowsiness. The morning star watched over me as I drifted into sleep within his gaze—a free-spirited poem that knows nothing but flight. And he—O my God—a radiant planet, astonishes me each night with his hidden lights, which he unfurls before me with an enchanting soul. All his worlds were luminous, captivating me with the tenderness of their nocturnal glow. The beauty of his cities carried me, lovingly, to discover their charm, day after day. A poem journeying skyward, heading toward a cosmos shrouded in eternal peace, beneath a dome crowned with stars. And when I soared with him, I knew I had left behind all the wars, the endless and absurd conflicts of this earth, and the politics of unrest that know nothing but opposition. It was only he and I—sometimes playing with the breeze, sometimes listening to the angels of the heavens reading us their celestial verses. And the more we listened, the higher we ascended. And as our souls rose, we touched it—found it to be veils of light, woven by the drizzle of love. Thus was returned to us a world of longing, a realm sanctified by light, whose words are light—and he is Light upon Light, whose heart has known nothing but love.

United States of America

Michigan

3/24/2025