Reading Rumi

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 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.

Endure (3/12/2023)

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.

Where Am I Going? (2/26/2023)

Where Am I Going? (2/26/2023)

You left me nameless like heart and soul.

You made me clap without hands, like joy and pleasure.

I said, “You made me walk out of time and space.

Souls have no place, so where am I going?”

Rubailer (2016), Rubai 1, page 448.

The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub.fall 2023), Rubai 954, Volume 3.

Someday (2/12/2023)

Someday (2/12/2023)

Someday this branch full of flowers will bear fruit.

Someday this falcon of desire will catch its prey.

Today His image appears and disappears.

But, the time will come when it will stay.

Rubailer (2016), Rubai 4, page 440.

The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub. 11/2023), Rubai 937.

You are Excused (1/29/2023)

You are Excused (1/29/2023)

O one who wants to experience the world and everything in it,

you are a day laborer.

O one who dreams of heaven, you are far from the Truth.

O one who enjoys both those worlds because of ignorance,

you haven’t tasted the pleasure of His sorrow.

You are excused, and you may leave.

Rubailer (2016), Rubai 2, page 438.

The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub. 7/2023), Rubai 933, volume 3.