O moon-faced One,
how long will you stay away?
How long will you be wandering around?
It doesn’t matter if one is an idol or shaman;
we are all Your prey. Continue reading “Love is Only for the Small (5/7/2023)”
Love is Only for the Small (5/7/2023)
Reading Rumi
“You” (4/30/2023)
If all I have made are mistakes and You are my only right, that is enough for me.
You are the only meaning of my ruined, wrecked life.
At the time of my leaving this world,
if they ask me, “What did you do?”
I will answer, “You.” And, that is enough for me.
Rubaiyat (2016), Rubai 3, page 454.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub. fall 2023), Rubai 967, Volume 3.
My Patience Will Win (4/23/2023)
The Beloved is holding my harness,
pulling me like a camel again.
His business is to pull the one who chooses to be pulled.
Mine is to carry the load. Continue reading “My Patience Will Win (4/23/2023)”
Is There a Remedy…? (4/16/2023)
Is there a remedy for this pain?
Will I ever escape from my longing for You?
You said, “Plant the sapling of patience in your heart.
Do not lament and complain about being seized
by the torment of Love.”
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 2, page 260.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub.Fall 2023), Rubai 526, Volume 2.
When Love Rattles Its Chain (4/9/2023)
When it comes to reaching the heart of the Beloved,
there is no room for patience.
Don’t talk about patience.
When Love rattles its chain,
the minds of Plato and Abul Hasan* become befuddled. Continue reading “When Love Rattles Its Chain (4/9/2023)”
My Foundation, My Essence (4/2/2023)
O my Crescent of Eid,*
show Yourself, so that Eid sees the real Eid.
O my invisible moon-faced One, show Yourself.
Pull the ear of the moon.
O my existence, my Absence,
O my rage and my contentment, Continue reading “My Foundation, My Essence (4/2/2023)”
You are on a Journey (3/26/2023)
You are neither water nor earth. You are something else.
You are created from mud, but you are not mud.
You are beyond this muddy world.
You are on the journey to your Essence.
Your body is a riverbed. Your soul is the Water of Life.
But, as long as you stay with your self,
you will not know either one.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 4, page 450.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub.Fall 2023), Rubai 963, Volume 3.
My God, I Wish I Knew (3/19/2023)
My God, I wish I knew the intention of my Beloved.
He has taken my heart. My decision has disappeared.
My escape route has been blocked. Continue reading “My God, I Wish I Knew (3/19/2023)”
Endure (3/12/2023)
O heart, if you cannot endure the troubles of Love, go away.
If you don’t give up your life, you will never reach the Beloved.
If you haven’t been thrown, as Abraham was, into the fire,
you will never find, as Khidr* did, the Water of Life.
*Khidr A legendary man who is said to have attained immortality by drinking from the Water of Life and who comes to help those in moments of extreme distress.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 4, page 449.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub.Fall 2023), Rubai 959, Volume 3.
Paradise (3/5/2023)
O my heart-catching, life-taking Beauty
whose face is more beautiful than the moon,
since You have become my friend,
the light of my heart has burst out of my mouth flame after flame. Continue reading “Paradise (3/5/2023)”