The Poetry of RUMI

Come, come, whoever you are,

Wanderer, idolater, worshiper of fire,

Come even though you have broken your vows a thousand times,

Come, and come yet again.

Ours is not a caravan of despair.

Only let the moving waters calm down,

and

the Sun and Moon will be reflected on your Being

“We come spinning out of nothingness, scattering stars like dust”

Rumi “Mathnawi” 3: 4154 – 4158

“Rumi:Daylight” by Tragl Camille & Kabir Helminski

“…yesterday evening I heard your deep sighs.

And I am able, without delay, to give you access, to show you a way of passage,

to deliver you from this whirlpool of time,

that you may set your foot upon the treasure of union with Me;

but the sweetness and delights of the resting place

are in proportion to the pain of the journey.

Only then will you enjoy your native town and kinsfolk,

when you have suffered the anguish of exile.”

“Love has taken away my practices and filled me with poetry...

Feel the motions of tenderness around you...the buoyancy."

“Outside ideas of right and wrong doing, there is a field.

I‟ll meet you there.”

“There are lovers who are content with just longing.

I am not one of them.”

“Love's nationality is separate from all other religions.

The lover's religion and nationality are the Beloved.”

"Every forest branch moves differently in the wind,

out as they sway, they connect at the roots."

“Pilgrimage to the place of the wise is to find escape from the flame of separateness.”

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you

have built against it.”

“The way you make love is the way

God will be with you.”

“The ground submits to the sky and suffers whatever comes.

Tell me, is the Earth worse for giving in like that ??”

“Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.”

''By God, don't remain in any spiritual station you have gained, but desire more.

The one who suffers form dropsy can never have enough water.

The Divine Court is the Infinite Plane.

Leave behind you the place of honor.

It is the path itself which is the place of honor.''

- Mathnawi III, 1960-1

“All day I think about it, then at night I say it.

Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing?

I have no idea.

My soul is from elsewhere.

I'm sure of that, and I intend to end up there.”

“The Lion is most beautiful when it is hunting”

“In your light I learn how to love.

In your beauty, how to make poems.

You dance inside my chest,

where no one sees you.”

“Knowest thou not the beauty of thine own face?

Quit this temper that leads thee to war with thyself.”

“We come spinning out of nothingness, scattering stars like dust”

“To praise the sun is to praise your own eyes.”

“You are quaffing drink from a hundred fountains;

whenever any of these hundred yields less, your pleasure is diminished.

But when the sublime fountain gushes from within you,

no longer need you steal from the other fountains.”

“Why do you stay in prison

when the door is so wide open?

Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking.

Live in silence.”

“Look at Love...

how it tangles

with the one fallen in love .”

“Now I am sober and there's only the hangover and the memory of love .”

“The minute I heard my first love story

I started looking for you,

not knowing how blind that was.

Lovers don't finally meet somewhere.

They're in each other all along.”

“Who could be so lucky?

Who comes to a lake for water and

sees the reflection of moon.”

“One day You will take my heart completely and

make it more fiery than a dragon.

Your eyelashes will write on my heart

the poem that could never come

from the pen of a poet.”

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture,

still, treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out

for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,

meet them at the door laughing,

and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond.

– Rumi

"I swear my dear child,

No one in the entire world is as precious as you

are.

Look at that mirror. Take a good look at yourself.

WHO ELSE IS THERE,

above and beyond you?

Now, give yourself a kiss. And with sweet whispers, fill your ears to the

brim.

Watch for all that beauty, reflecting from you!

And Sing a Love Song to Your Own Existence.

You can never overdo praising your own Soul. You can never overdo pampering your own

Heart.

WHO ELSE BUT YOU?

Please tell me, who else could ever take your place?

Now, give yourself a smile.

What is the worth of a diamond if it doesn't

shine?

How could I ever put a price on the diamond that you are?

You are the entire treasure of the house.

You are that glorious bird of paradise"

- Rumi

Don’t turn to another beggar,

you belong exclusively to Us.

Don’t sell yourself short.

You are priceless.

Divide the sea with your staff.

You are the Moses of the time...

Charge into Battle Alone.

You are the Hero of the Time.

Tear open the gates of the city.

You are Ali, the chose one.

Take Back the Seal from the demon.

You are the Solomon of the soul.

Shatter the army of stars,

as only sunshine can do...

Walk into the fire, like Abraham,

purified and cheerful...

Walk away from the corrupt!

Be free of senseless allures!

Your origin is noble,

your nature awesome!

Invulnerable in Spirit,

Your beauty comes from within.

You belong to the Majestic,

a ray of light from God.

What have you seen of your own still-concealed beauty?

One of these days at dawn,

you will rise from within yourself like a sun.

It’s a shame that you’re so hidden,

like a moon under a cloud.

Clear the corporeal clouds!

Reveal the face of the moon.

No mine has such a brilliant ruby;

the world has no other soul like yours...

You are the sword Dhulfaqar;

your body is a wooden sheath.

Why should you be brokenhearted

if this sheath were battered?...

Don’t run away, sister, brother, from the flames.

What will happen should you be put to the test?

By God, it will not burn you;

child of ancient Abraham,

it will only brighten your golden face...

If sugar could speak,

what sweet words it would utter!

Play the flute of felicity!

You yourself are the melody…

- Divani Tamsi Shabrizi 2840

by Rumi

Recorded in “Love’s Ripening” (pgs. 49-53)

by Kabir Helminski

“The Eternal looked upon me for a moment

with His eye of power, and

annihilated me in His being, and

became manifest to me in His essence.

I saw I existed through Him.”

“Silence is the language of God, all else is poor translation.”

“Oh soul,

you worry too much.

You have seen your own strength.

You have seen your own beauty.

You have seen your golden wings.

Of anything less,

why do you worry?

You are in truth

the soul, of the soul, of the soul.”

“Only from the heart Can you touch the sky.”

“Everyone has been made for some particular work, and

the desire for that work has been put in every heart.”

“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.”

“When I am with you, we stay up all night.

When you're not here, I can't go to sleep.

Praise God for those two insomnias!

And the difference between them.”

“This is love: to fly toward a secret sky,

to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment.

First to let go of life.

Finally, to take a step without feet.”

"How doest thou know what sort of king I have with me as companion?

Do not cast they glance upon my golden face, for I have iron legs."

“You were born with wings. Why prefer to crawl through life?”

WHISPERS OF LOVE Lover whispers to my ear, "Better to be a prey than a hunter. Make yourself My fool. Stop trying to be the sun and become a speck! Dwell at My door and be homeless.

Don't pretend to be a candle, be a moth, so you may taste the savor of Life and know the power hidden in serving." Mathnawi V. 411-414 (translated by Kabir Helminski) 'The Rumi Collection', Edited by Kabir Helminski

http://www.rumi.org.uk/love_poems.html

“Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absent-minded.

Someone sober will worry about events going badly.

Let the lover be.”

“Something opens our wings. Something makes boredom and hurt disappear. Someone fills the cup in front of us: We taste only sacredness.”

“We can’t help being thirsty, moving toward the voice of water.”

“Reason is like an officer when the king appears. The officer then loses his power and hides himself. Reason is the shadow cast by God; God is the sun.”

“Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open?

Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking.

Live in silence.”

“You are quaffing drink from a hundred fountains: whenever any of these hundred yields less, your pleasure is diminished. But when the sublime fountain

gushes from within you, no longer need you steal from the other fountains.”

“To praise the sun is to praise your own eyes.”

“Return from existence to nonexistence. You are seeking the Lord and you belong to him. Nonexistence is a place of income; flee it not. This existence of more and less is a place of

expenditure.”

“Everyone sees the unseen in proportion to the clarity of his heart, and that depends upon how much

he has polished it. Whoever has polished it more sees more - more unseen forms become manifest to

him.”

We can‟t help being thirsty, moving toward the voice of water.”

“Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.”

“Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absent-minded. Someone sober will worry about events going badly. Let the lover be.”

“Every tree and plant in the meadow seemed to be dancing, those which average eyes would see as fixed and still”

“He is like a man using a candle to look for the sun”

“Something opens our wings. Something makes boredom and hurt disappear. Someone fills the cup in front of us: We taste only sacredness.”

“Everyone sees the unseen in proportion to the clarity of his heart, and that depends upon how much he has polished it. Whoever has polished it more sees more - more unseen forms become manifest to him.”

“We can’t help being thirsty, moving toward the voice of water.”

“It may be that the satisfaction I need depends on my going away, so that when I've gone and come back, I'll find it at home.”

“I died a mineral, and became a plant. I died a plant and rose an animal. I died an animal and I was man. Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?”

“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.”

“Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.”

“Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absent-minded. Someone sober will worry about events going badly. Let the lover be.”

“Every tree and plant in the meadow seemed to be dancing, those which average eyes would see as fixed and still”

“He is like a man using a candle to look for the sun”

“Something opens our wings. Something makes boredom and hurt disappear. Someone fills the cup in front of us: We taste only sacredness.”

“Everyone sees the unseen in proportion to the clarity of his heart, and that depends upon how much he has polished it. Whoever has polished it more sees more - more unseen forms become manifest to him.”

“We can’t help being thirsty, moving toward the voice of water.”

“It may be that the satisfaction I need depends on my going away, so that when I've gone and come back, I'll find it at home.”

“I died a mineral, and became a plant. I died a plant and rose an animal. I died an animal and I was man. Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?”

“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.”

“Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.”

“Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absent-minded. Someone sober will worry about events going badly. Let the lover be.”

“Every tree and plant in the meadow seemed to be dancing, those which average eyes would see as fixed and still”

“He is like a man using a candle to look for the sun”

“Something opens our wings. Something makes boredom and hurt disappear. Someone fills the cup in front of us: We taste only sacredness.”

“Everyone sees the unseen in proportion to the clarity of his heart, and that depends upon how much he has polished it. Whoever has polished it more sees more - more unseen forms become manifest to him.”

“We can’t help being thirsty, moving toward the voice of water.”

“It may be that the satisfaction I need depends on my going away, so that when I've gone and come back, I'll find it at home.”

“I died a mineral, and became a plant. I died a plant and rose an animal. I died an animal and I was man. Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?”

“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.”

“Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.”

“Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absent-minded. Someone sober will worry about events going badly. Let the lover be.”

“Every tree and plant in the meadow seemed to be dancing, those which average eyes would see as fixed and still”

“He is like a man using a candle to look for the sun”

“Something opens our wings. Something makes boredom and hurt disappear. Someone fills the cup in front of us: We taste only sacredness.”

“Everyone sees the unseen in proportion to the clarity of his heart, and that depends upon how much he has polished it. Whoever has polished it more sees more - more unseen forms become manifest to him.”

“We can’t help being thirsty, moving toward the voice of water.”

“It may be that the satisfaction I need depends on my going away, so that when I've gone and come back, I'll find it at home.”

“I died a mineral, and became a plant. I died a plant and rose an animal. I died an animal and I was man. Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?”

“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.”

“Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.”

“Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absent-minded. Someone sober will worry about events going badly. Let the lover be.”

“Every tree and plant in the meadow seemed to be dancing, those which average eyes would see as fixed and still”

“He is like a man using a candle to look for the sun”

“Something opens our wings. Something makes boredom and hurt disappear. Someone fills the cup in front of us: We taste only sacredness.”

“Everyone sees the unseen in proportion to the clarity of his heart, and that depends upon how much he has polished it. Whoever has polished it more sees more - more unseen forms become manifest to him.”

“We can’t help being thirsty, moving toward the voice of water.”

“It may be that the satisfaction I need depends on my going away, so that when I've gone and come back, I'll find it at home.”

“I died a mineral, and became a plant. I died a plant and rose an animal. I died an animal and I was man. Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?”

“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.”

“Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.”

“Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absent-minded. Someone sober will worry about events going badly. Let the lover be.”

“Every tree and plant in the meadow seemed to be dancing, those which average eyes would see as fixed and still”

“He is like a man using a candle to look for the sun”

“Something opens our wings. Something makes boredom and hurt disappear. Someone fills the cup in front of us: We taste only sacredness.”

“Everyone sees the unseen in proportion to the clarity of his heart, and that depends upon how much he has polished it. Whoever has polished it more sees more - more unseen forms become manifest to him.”

“We can’t help being thirsty, moving toward the voice of water.”

“It may be that the satisfaction I need depends on my going away, so that when I've gone and come back, I'll find it at home.”

“I died a mineral, and became a plant. I died a plant and rose an animal. I died an animal and I was man. Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?”

“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.”

“Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.”

“Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absent-minded. Someone sober will worry about events going badly. Let the lover be.”

“Every tree and plant in the meadow seemed to be dancing, those which average eyes would see as fixed and still”

“He is like a man using a candle to look for the sun”

“Something opens our wings. Something makes boredom and hurt disappear. Someone fills the cup in front of us: We taste only sacredness.”

“Everyone sees the unseen in proportion to the clarity of his heart, and that depends upon how much he has polished it. Whoever has polished it more sees more - more unseen forms become manifest to him.”

“We can’t help being thirsty, moving toward the voice of water.”

“It may be that the satisfaction I need depends on my going away, so that when I've gone and come back, I'll find it at home.”

“Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.”

“Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absent-minded. Someone sober will worry about events going badly. Let the lover be.”

“Every tree and plant in the meadow seemed to be dancing, those which average eyes would see as fixed and still”

“He is like a man using a candle to look for the sun”

“Something opens our wings. Something makes boredom and hurt disappear. Someone fills the cup in front of us: We taste only sacredness.”

“Everyone sees the unseen in proportion to the clarity of his heart, and that depends upon how much he has

“Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.”

“Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absent-minded. Someone sober will worry about events going badly. Let the lover be.”

“Every tree and plant in the meadow seemed to be dancing, those which average eyes would see as fixed and still”

“He is like a man using a candle to look for the sun”

“Something opens our wings. Something makes boredom and hurt disappear. Someone fills the cup in front of us: We taste only sacredness.”

“Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.”

“Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absent-minded. Someone sober will worry about events going badly. Let the lover be.”

“Every tree and plant in the meadow seemed to be dancing, those which average eyes would see as fixed and still”

“He is like a man using a candle to look for the sun”

“Something opens our wings. Something makes boredom and hurt disappear. Someone fills the cup in front of us: We taste only sacredness.”

“Everyone sees the unseen in proportion to the clarity of his heart, and that depends upon how much he has polished it. Whoever has polished it more sees more - more unseen forms become manifest to him.”

“We can’t help being thirsty, moving toward the voice of water.”

“It may be that the satisfaction I need depends on my going away, so that when I've gone and come back, I'll find it at home.”

“I died a mineral, and became a plant. I died a plant and rose an animal. I died an animal and I was man. Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?”

“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.”

“It may be that the satisfaction I need depends on my going away, so that when I've gone and come

back, I'll find it at home.”

“I died a mineral, and became a plant. I died a plant and rose an animal. I died an

animal and I was man. Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?”

“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.”

“Why do you stay in prison

when the door is so wide open?

Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking.

Live in silence.”

O, the sky who turns above our head!

In love of the sun, you share the same mantle with me.

By God you are in love - and I shall tell what reveals your secret:

Inside and out you are radiant and lush.

You do not get soaked in the sea, you are not bound to the earth;

You do not burn in fire, and are not disturbed by the wind.

O the millstone! which is the water that makes you turn?

Tell me! perhaps you are a wheel made of Iron.

You turn one way and make the earth green [with raindrops] like paradise;

Then you turn the other way and uproot the trees [in storm].

The sun turn the other way and uproot the trees [in a storm].

The sunis a candle and you a moth in action;

Weaving your web around this candle.

You are a pilgrim wearing in Ihram turquoise in color

Like pilgrims you are in circumambulation in Ka'bah.

God said:'whoever performed Hajj is safe';

O dutiful wheel [of the sky!] you are safe from harm.

Everything is a pretext, there is love and nothing besides love;

Love is the house of God and you are living in that house.

I will say no more, for it is not possible to say;

God knows how much more is in me crying out to be told.

(Divan 2997:1-10)

What can I do, Muslims (Submitters to God/truth)? I do not know myself.

I am neither Christian nor Jew, neither Magian nor Muslim,

I am not from east or west, not from land or sea,

not from the shafts of nature nor from the spheres of the firmament,

not of the earth, not of water, not of air, not of fire.

I am not from the highest heaven, not from this world,

not from existence, not from being.

I am not from India, not from China, not from Bulgar, not from Saqsin,

not from the realm of the two Iraqs (Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. and Error! Hyperlink

reference not valid. = Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.), not from the land of Khurasan

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I am not from the world, not from beyond,

not from heaven and not from hell.

I am not from Adam, not from Eve, not from paradise and not from Ridwan.

My place is placeless, my trace is traceless,

no body, no soul, I am from the soul of souls.

I have chased out duality, lived the two worlds as one.

One I seek, one I know, one I see, one I call.

He is the first, he is the last, he is the outer, he is the inner.

Beyond "He" and "He is" I know no other.

I am drunk from the cup of love, the two worlds have escaped me.

I have no concern but carouse and rapture.

If one day in my life I spend a moment without you

from that hour and that time I would repent my life.

If one day I am given a moment in solitude with you

I will trample the two worlds underfoot and dance forever.

O Sun of Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. (Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.), I am so

tipsy here in this world,

I have no tale to tell but tipsiness and rapture

At the hour of the morning-drink

At the hour of the morning-drink

a beloved said to her lover

by way of trial,

"O such-and-such son of such-and-such,

I wonder, do you love me or yourself more?

Tell the truth,

O‟ man of sorrows."

He replied, "I have become so naughted in thee that I am

full of thee from head to foot.

Of my existence there is nothing in me but the name;

in my being there is naught but thee,

O‟ thou whose wishes are gratified.

By that means I have become thus naughted, like vinegar, in

thee (who are) an ocean of honey."

As the stone that is entirely turned into pure ruby;

it is filled with the qualities of the sun.

That stony nature does not remain in it;

back and front, it is filled with sunniness.

Afterwards, if it love itself, that (self-love) is love of the sun,O youth;

And if it love the sun with (all) its soul, „tis undoubtedly love of itself.

Whether the pure ruby loves itself or whether it loves the sun,

There is really no difference in these two loves:

both sides are naught but the radiance of the sunrise.

Until the stone has become a ruby, it is an enemy to itself,

because it is not a single "I"; two "I‟s" are there;

For the stone is dark and blind to the day;

the dark is essentially opposed to light.

If it love itself, it is an infidel,

because it offers intense

resistance to the supreme Sun.

Therefore „tis not fitting that the stone should say "I,"

for it is wholly darkness and in death.

A Pharaoh said, "I am God" and was laid low;

a Mansur (Hallaj) said, "I am God" and was saved.

The former "I" is followed by God‟s curse and the latter

"I" by God‟s mercy, O loving man;

For that one (Pharaoh) was a black stone,

this one (Hallaj) a cornelian; t

hat one was an enemy to the Light, and

this one passionately enamoured of it.

This "I," O presumptuous meddler,

was He in the inmost consciousness,

through oneness with the Light,

not through the doctrine of incarnation.

Strive that thy stony nature may be diminished,

so that thy stone may become resplendent with the qualities of the ruby.

Show fortitude in enduring self-mortification and affliction;

continually behold everlasting life in dying to self.

Then thy stoniness will become less at every moment, the

nature of the ruby will be strengthened in thee.

The qualities of self-existence will depart from thy body,

the qualities of ecstasy will increase in thy head.

Become entirely hearing, like an ear,

in order that thou mayst gain an earring consisting of a ruby ring."

-- Translation by Reynold A. Nicholson

"The Mathnawi of Jalalu‟ddin Rumi"

WHISPERS OF LOVE

Lover whispers to my ear,

"Better to be a prey than a hunter.

Make yourself My fool.

Stop trying to be the sun and become a speck!

Dwell at My door and be homeless.

Don't pretend to be a candle, be a moth,

so you may taste the savor of Life

and know the power hidden in serving."

Mathnawi V. 411-414 (translated by Kabir Helminski)

'The Rumi Collection', Edited by Kabir Helminski

http://www.rumi.org.uk/love_poems.html

The Time Has Come...

the time has come

to break all my promises

tear apart all chains

and cast away all advice

disassemble the heavens

link by link

and break at once

all lovers' ties

with the sword of death

put cotton inside

both my ears

and close them to

all words of wisdom

crash the door and

enter the chamber

where all sweet

things are hidden

how long can i

beg and bargain

for the things of this world

while love is waiting

how long before

i can rise beyond

how i am and

what i am

Ghazal 1591 Translated by Nader Khalili

Mathnawi VI: 2955-2962

The spirit is like an ant, and the body like a grain of wheat

which the ant carries to and fro continually.

The ant knows that the grains of which it has taken charge

will change and become assimilated.

One ant picks up a grain of barley on the road;

another ant picks up a grain of wheat and runs away.

The barley doesn't hurry to the wheat,

but the ant comes to the ant, yes it does.

The going of the barley to the wheat is merely consequential:

it's the ant that returns to its own kind.

Don't say, "Why did the wheat go to the barley?"

Fix your eye on the holder, not on that which is held.

As when a black ant moves along on a black felt cloth:

the ant is hidden from view; only the grain is visible on its way.

But Reason says: "Look well to your eye:

when does a grain ever move along without a carrier?"

"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"

Camille and Kabir Helminski

Threshold Books, 1996

Love

Are you fleeing from Love because of a single humiliation?

What do you know of Love except the name?

Love has a hundred forms of pride and disdain,

and is gained by a hundred means of persuasion.

Since Love is loyal, it purchases one who is loyal:

it has no interest in a disloyal companion.

The human being resembles a tree; its root is a covenant with God:

that root must be cherished with all one's might.

A weak covenant is a rotten root, without grace or fruit.

Though the boughs and leaves of the date palm are green,

greenness brings no benefit if the root is corrupt.

If a branch is without green leaves, yet has a good root,

a hundred leaves will put forth their hands in the end.

Cradle My Heart

Last night,

I was lying on the rooftop,

thinking of you.

I saw a special Star,

and summoned her to take you a message.

I prostrated myself to the Star

and asked her to take my prostration

to that Sun of Tabriz.

So that with his light, he can turn

my dark stones into gold.

I opened my chest and showed her my scars,

I told her to bring me news

of my bloodthirsty Lover.

As I waited,

I paced back and forth,

until the child of my heart became quiet.

The child slept, as if I were rocking his cradle.

O‟ Beloved, give milk to the infant of the heart,

and don't hold us from our turning.

You have cared for hundreds,

don't let it stop with me now.

At the end, the town of unity is the place for the heart.

Why do you keep this bewildered heart

in the town of dissolution?

I have gone speechless, but to rid myself

of this dry mood,

o‟ Saaqhi, pass the narcissus of the wine.

O lovers!

O lovers! I turn dust into jewel.

O musicians! I fill your instruments with gold.

O thirsty ones, I shall be the water-bearer today;

And I turn this dry dusty land into paradise, into the river Kawsar.

O lonely ones, relief has come!

I turn everyone afflicted with sadness into a king.

O‟ the elixir, look at me! for I

Turn a hundred convents into mosques, a hundred gallows into pulpits.

O unbelievers, I shall release you all;

For I am in full command, I give faith and I take it away.

(Divan 1374:1-5)

If anyone asks you

how the perfect satisfaction

of all our sexual wanting

will look, lift your face

and say,

Like this.

When someone mentions the gracefulness

of the nightsky, climb up on the roof

and dance and say,

Like this.

If anyone wants to know what "spirit" is,

or what "God's fragrance" means,

lean your head toward him or her.

Keep your face there close.

Like this.

When someone quotes the old poetic image

about clouds gradually uncovering the moon,

slowly loosen knot by knot the strings

of your robe.

Like this.

If anyone wonders how Jesus raised the dead,

don't try to explain the miracle.

Kiss me on the lips.

Like this. Like this.

When someone asks what it means

to "die for love," point

here.

If someone asks how tall I am, frown

and measure with your fingers the space

between the creases on your forehead.

This tall.

The soul sometimes leaves the body, then returns.

When someone doesn't believe that,

walk back into my house.

Like this.

When lovers moan,

they're telling our story.

Like this.

I am a sky where spirits live.

Stare into this deepening blue,

while the breeze says a secret.

Like this.

When someone asks what there is to do,

light the candle in his hand.

Like this.

How did Joseph's scent come to Jacob?

Huuuuu.

How did Jacob's sight return?

Huuuu.

A little wind cleans the eyes.

Like this.

When Shams comes back from Tabriz,

he'll put just his head around the edge

of the door to surprise us

Like this.

From 'The Essential Rumi', Translations

by Coleman Barks with John Moyne

A moment of happiness,

you and I sitting on the verandah,

apparently two, but one in soul, you and I.

We feel the flowing water of life here,

you and I, with the garden's beauty

and the birds singing.

The stars will be watching us,

and we will show them

what it is to be a thin crescent moon.

You and I unselfed, will be together,

indifferent to idle speculation, you and I.

The parrots of heaven will be cracking sugar

as we laugh together, you and I.

In one form upon this earth,

and in another form in a timeless sweet land.

Kulliyat-e Shams, 2114

Wealth has no permanence: it comes in the morning,

and at night it is scattered to the winds.

Physical beauty too has no importance,

for a rosy face is made pale by the scratch of a single thorn.

Noble birth also is of small account,

for many become fools of money and horses.

Many a nobleman's son has disgraced his father by his wicked deeds.

Don't court a person full of talent either,

even if he seems exquisite in that respect:

take warning from the example of Iblis1 Devil.

Iblis had knowledge, but since his love was not pure,

he saw in Adam nothing but a figure of clay.

Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski

"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"

Threshold Books, 1996