A quiet notice V2Melody closes at midnight on , Spanish time.

Closes

A note from Richard

V2Melody will close at midnight on 20 January 2028

This site has been a retirement project in musical poetry: poems chosen with care and set to music, offered freely for as long as it felt right to keep the garden open.

The work no longer holds the place it once did in my life. I have gone as far with it as I wish to go. Like a sand mandala, it was made to be completed and then released. I am not attached to its permanence, and I do not believe any of it needs to last beyond the time it was given. The poems were already here before I arrived and began to experiment with them. They will still be here when these musical experiments, and indeed myself, have been swept away, like the sand of a mandala. Nothing has been lost.

I want a simpler end to my life, days of simple love and enjoyment with my wonderful wife of 20 years. The work of maintaining a server, the monitoring, and the residual obligations that come with keeping a site alive no longer fit that life.

From 4 November 2026 I will not be adding new poems or musical poems to the site.

The experimental music I am making now is on my Suno profile. Those pieces stay there, and are not added to this site.

Until midnight on 20 January 2028, Spanish time, everything remains available exactly as it is. That is when my VPS server contract comes to an end, and it will not be renewed. After that, the server will be switched off and the site will disappear.

The Mandala Is Finished explains this more fully.

Thank you to anyone who found a poem, a track, or a quiet moment here.

The pleasure was in the making.

Richard

Home › Glossary › Letter S

Shariah

World Religion
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Islamic law derived from the Quran, Hadith, and scholarly consensus, guiding moral, legal, and ritual aspects of Muslim life.

Detailed Definition
Shariah encompasses a comprehensive ethical and legal framework rooted in divine revelation and human interpretation. It governs worship, transactions, family life, and social justice, aiming to align human conduct with divine will. In poetry, Shariah appears not as rigid law but as a path of balance, discipline, and divine order—often contrasted with human caprice or injustice. Poets reference it to explore themes of justice, submission, and the harmony between earthly life and spiritual ideals, especially in Sufi works that see Shariah as the outer shell of inner truth (haqiqa).
Example
Example in poetry:
A poem on law: “Sharī‘ah isn’t rigid code—it’s the path to justice, mercy, and wisdom”; In a modern verse, “True sharī‘ah protects the widow, the orphan, the stranger”; A minimalist lyric: “Sharī‘ah: divine guidance, not human tyranny”; A student’s reflection: “Sharī‘ah’s goal isn’t punishment—it’s societal harmony.”
Additional Notes
Shariah is often translated as "Islamic law," but its meaning is broader, encompassing a divine path or way of life. It is derived from the Quran, the Sunnah of the Prophet, scholarly consensus (Ijma), and analogical reasoning (Qiyas). It guides not only legal matters but also worship, ethics, and personal conduct. For poets and scholars, understanding Shariah as a holistic system of values, rather than just a penal code, is crucial. It represents the ideal of submitting all aspects of life to God's will.
Also Known As
Sharia Shari'ah Islamic Law
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