O one who is fond of wealth and possessions and deeds,
you get so excited by these things,
even though they come entirely from your imagination.
You become happy or sad over nothing.
I see that you are in the fire,
I will leave you there to cook and mature.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 2, page 431.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub.7/2023), Rubai 929, Vol. 2.
I came to grab you by the ear and drag you away.
I came to leave you without a heart, without a self.
I came to put you inside of My heart.
O rose sapling, I came to embrace you like a beautiful spring,
to scatter you here and there and everywhere.
I came to charm you in this palace,
to raise you above the sky like the prayers of lovers. Continue reading “I Won’t Leave You in the Middle of the Road (1/8/2023)”
You are a copy of the Divine Book.
You are the mirror of the Sultan’s art, beauty and power.
There is nothing in the universe beyond you.
Whatever you want, ask yourself to give it to you.
Whatever you are looking for, search for it within you.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 2, page 441.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub.7/2023), Rubai 924, volume 2.
In a group meeting with Hasan Shushud back in the 1970’s, Jonathan Boulting related that this was one of the bits of wisdom Shushud shared, with the caveat that his English might need some reconsideration: GRIEF: Our contract with Eternity. Mr. Shushud spoke often about our inborn nostalgia, our longing “to go home,” our separation from our Essence… the source of true grief. Nevit Ergin referred constantly in his translations of Rumi’s poetry to “His sorrow.” When some begin the practice of fasting, they are able to begin to taste that sorrow, and it is one of the greatest gifts. Our self doesn’t want to feel it, which is its impetus for surrounding itself with an infinite number of distractions. As for the contract, it might be more of a promise that we made and need to keep. As Rumi says, “The purpose of Existence is to reach Absence.”
The fragrance of the rose garden and orchard is coming.
The fragrance of that tender-hearted Beloved is coming.
My Beloved has scattered so many pearls
that the sea is now up to my waist. Continue reading “From Beyond Love (12/25/2022)”
My life has passed in the great sweet pain in my heart.
My heart isn’t concerned about that sorrow.
It simply recognizes and accepts it.
I was sitting, waiting, until I came to understand what my heart wanted.
Then, I started leaping with joy.
My heart had been running away from the circle of religion,
because his place is in the curls of Beauties.
I had been turning around the one who spins my heart.
He is the only one who can hear the yells
resulting from my heart’s struggles.
At night He took sleep away.
I waited until morning so I could see the heart’s face.
My body seemed destroyed,
as if it had dried up from bowing its head in prayer.
But then, I saw the height and stature of the heart.
That world is a spark of splendor from the heart’s sun.
This world is a drop from the sea of the heart.
Close your lips, because the yells and screams of my heart
are ascending to the sky without lips or tongue.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 9, Ghazal 74, verses 738-745, page 113.
O heart, you and His troubles are here.
This should be enough for you.
When you fall into the troubles of Love,
the soul becomes your slave and servant.
Once you drink a glass of wine from His hand,
you will no longer care about kingdoms and treasures,
even if the cost is a mere single penny.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 2, page 433.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub.7/2023), Rubai 920, volume 2.
My wish is God. My disciple is God.
I give my old to God. I give my new to God.
I have been laid down
under the feet of fate and accident. Continue reading “His Comfort, His Torture (12/4/2022)”
You are the divine light of the sky.
The place where you belong is the throne.
If you were to go faster on the way to God,
you would rise to the sky.
Aren’t you ashamed of dragging yourself
like a shadow on the ground?
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 2, page 423.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub.7/2023), Rubai 913, volume 2.
O heart, what did you find in all of your lootings,
in those pillagings where you spread out all of your belongings?
What did you find before you closed the door?
In this ruined building, you still keep making webs with your own saliva
in order to catch flies like the spider of greed. Continue reading “Sometimes (11/20/2022)”