Jabez L. Van Cleef

The Unstruck Drum: Mystical Poetry of Kabir in a New Setting Jabez L. Van Cleef

Continuing in the grand tradition of Rumi and Kahlil Gibran, Kabir invites us to explore the light within our own sensuality. This incomparable 15th century poet, weaver, mystic and musician of Benares helps us to find the eternal goodness of pure sensation, without allegiance to any creed or cause. "Open the window to the west, / In the sky of love, now be lost; / Drink the sweeter honey that steeps / And imbues with heat, the petals / Of the lotus of the heart's lips. / Receive the waves in your body: / What splendor is in the warm sea! / Hearken to the sounds of conches / And bells, rising through the branches." The poetry of this 15th century mystic has been recreated in modern English rhymed couplets by Jabez L. Van Cleef, joining the ranks of his poetic interpretations of spiritual texts from all of the world's great religious traditions.