Inayat’s and Ora’s Poems During His Travels

Claire’s mention that this was one of the few Christmas celebrations where both Inayat and Ora were present indicates the nature of the family household during their time in France, as Inayat was often gone and traveling from 1922 onward, something that was "painful" to Ora. During his absences, Inayat strove to let Ora know of his love, writing a poem for her in 1922:

"At all my busy hours in life,
Everything I do,
You are my only consolation,
And I think of you.
My work keeps me away from home
But I leave my heart,
At home, to be ever with you,
Our souls can never part.
Happiness be with our little ones,
Right guidance from above,
I wish good luck in this house,
And my deepest love.
Prosperity and success,
Long life and good health,
May be yours always Sharda
My treasure, my wealth.
With a world of love

Mari Calleja on your birthday
from your own

1922"121

Inayat and Ora frequently exchanged letters while he traveled, and a letter in February 1923 featured another poem he dedicated to her:

"Be not anxious my Sharda,
On his service I must go,
Though parting is hard to bear,
But it’s God who meant it so,
I’ll carry you in my heart,
Where ever in the world I roam.
His protection is over us,
Rest in peace soon I will come."122

In a 1924 letter, Inayat confided to Ora the pressures of his spiritual work, writing:

"My Mari Calleja,

It is most difficult to bear the responsibility as I do and to pay due attention to everybody at all sides and yet keep one's balance. I am getting quite tired of this world.

With all the love there is,
(Inayat)."123

Poems were an important medium of communication between Inayat and Ora. In a poem dedicated to Ora on her birthday, Inayat wrote:

"A heart full of love,
A soul full of life.
I dedicate to Sharda,
My soul and my wife."124

In response to his 1922 poem, Ora wrote:

"Day by day and night by night,
Every thing I see,
I feel Thy presence in it
And I think of Thee.

In every thing I may do,
Thy love guideth me,
When Thy gentle voice I hear,
I’m in ecstasy.

While the Holy Deity
Watcheth over all,
Eagerly I wait to hear
Thy whispering call."125

Such poems confirmed that the initial passion found in Ora’s letters to Inayat at the start of their relationship had continued in their marriage. Lines such as "While the Holy Deity watcheth over all" also confirm that the spirituality that imbued the Movement and Inayat’s and Ora’s work was present in all aspects of their lives, including the intimate, private space of their love letters.