If I were to become Him (1/7/2024)

If I were to become Him (1/7/2024)

I am not Me.

And, if I were to become Me for even a moment,

I would crush this world to pieces.

If I were to merge with the One who took my heart,

if I were to become Him,

like a tree, I would uproot myself from this world.

Rubailer (2016), Rubai 4, page 486.

The Rubailer of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub.spring2024) Volume 3, Rubai 1081.

In Every Prayer Niche and Alter (12/24/2023)

In Every Prayer Niche and Alter (12/24/2023)

There is a spark and warmth from Your Love

in everyone’s heart.

Your trace, the tears of Your longing

are in every prayer niche and alter.

I need a long night and beautiful moonlight to tell You

about all my troubles and sufferings caused by Love.

Rubailar (2016), Rubai 3, page 432.

The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pubsummer2024), Rubai 1084, Volume 3.

Worth Less Than a Small Coin (12/10/2023)

Worth Less Than a Small Coin (12/10/2023)

Leave to others the endless job

of the improvement of this Earth.

This whole world

is worth less than a ruined caravanserai,*

less than a small coin,

less even than a grain of barley.

*A roadside inn along a caravan route.

Rubailer (2016), Rubai 2, page 441.

The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (pubwinter2024), Rubai 1079, Volume 3.

Sweets Will Be Served (11/26/2023)

Sweets Will Be Served (11/26/2023)

When Absence adds Soul to your soul,

you will get morsels from Absence,

and you will chew them with pleasure.

Neither kitchen nor cook will appear.

But, plate after plate of sweets will be served to you.

The Rubailer (2016), Rubai 1, page 455.

The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (ApprxPubWinter2024), Rubai 1067, Volume 3.

Nothing but Longing (11/12/2023)

Nothing but Longing (11/12/2023)

My life has become nothing but longing.

O Beloved, what beauty, what charm is that?

I don’t clap my hands unless You are the musician.

I don’t drink wine unless You are the cupbearer.

Rubailer (2016), Rubai 4, page 490.

The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (ApprxPubWinter2024), Rubai 1057, Volume 3.

You are an Endless Treasure (11/5/2023)

You are an Endless Treasure (11/5/2023)

I wonder if your eyes are sleepy or evasive.

No, I swear, you are trying to deceive God.

 

You close your eyes like a merchant

who reaches his gold once he falls asleep.

 

You have extended a chain, setting up endless traps.

You tightly restrain some, while you loosen the bondage of others.

 

As a good deed, you kill your innocent lovers

and pray in front of your martyrs’ graves.

 

Sometimes, like a cupbearer, you take the mind away from the head.

Sometimes, like a musician, you fill that head with melodies.

 

You play the ney of separation.

You play Iraq’s ney, making Buselik similar to Hicaz.*

 

You make the hearts and souls of poor ones

and the wounded hearts of captive ones

treasures of supplication

just with the alms of your beauty.

 

You tear the curtain of the firmament.

You are coy with the coyness of the Sultan.

You live with the great splendor of Eyaz,,**

stealing the crowns of sultans.

 

You are my love.

Does Love have any shape or form?

You dress in this shape. You are just joking.

 

You are an endless treasure.

No sultan’s seal could be put on such a treasure.

Even if a seal were put on one side,

you would quickly cut through it.

 

Submerge into this wealth and be silent.

How long will you be screaming,

clinging to hope and greed

while you sit next to this treasure?

*Iraq/ Buselik/ Hicaz  Tunes of Near Eastern music.

**Eyaz  The name of the slave of Gazne’s Mahmut, used symbolically to mean auspicious.

Divan-i Kebir, Volume 21, Ghazal 114, verses 1236-1246, pages 253-254.