All anger comes from pride.
If you don’t fall into contempt, go, purify in humility.
Give up the self. Be dust. Continue reading “Anger (6/6/2021)”
Anger (6/6/2021)
Reading Rumi
From Existence to Nothingness (5/30/2021)
I have twisted and wriggled like a snake
because of someone’s charms.
I have been curled up like the hair of the Beloved.
By God, I don’t know what kind of twist that is.
All I know is that suffering annihilates me,
carrying me from existence to Nothingness.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #2, page 318.
A Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translation (pub. 11/2021), Rubai 673, vol. 2.
Your Only Dress can be the Light of the Heart (5/23/2021)
You are such a moon that You don’t fit in the sky.
You are such water that You cannot be contained in a river.
You are such a pearl that You exceed the oceans.
You are such a mountain that You cannot fit in any valley. Continue reading “Your Only Dress can be the Light of the Heart (5/23/2021)”
Empty Words (5/16/2021)
On the way to Love, each lover must either annihilate himself
or give up his life in death.
Some say,
“Love’s goal is to drink water from the Fountain of Life.”
These are just empty words, O lover, just empty words.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #3, page 226.
A Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translation (pub. 11/2021)
What a Crafty, Deceitful One (5/9/2021)
O Sun who rides the horse of the sky!
O Beauty who uses deception to turn Himself into a star!
Sometimes, You appear like the heart sitting in the middle of the house.
At other times You come and sit in a corner. Continue reading “What a Crafty, Deceitful One (5/9/2021)”
I Am Your Remedy (5/2/2021)
Endure your pain quietly. I am your remedy.
Don’t look at anyone except Me,
because I am your true friend.
Even if I kill you, don’t say, “I have been killed.”
Instead, be grateful,
because I am the compensation for your life.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #3, page 307
A Rubaiyat of Rumi/The Ergin Translation (Nov. 2021), Rubai 654
That Brings Results (4/25/2021)
The parrot came to the tree to share sugar’s prayer.
The rose asked the nightingale to read poetry.
Receiving a revelation, the tall green cypress said,
“As long as your soul stays in your body,
put a belt on your waist. Serve day and night.
That brings results. Continue reading “That Brings Results (4/25/2021)”
Knocking (4/18/2021)
Today, I am on the outside of a circle,
as if I am standing on the outside of a door.
I have become friends with the door knocker,
and I am holding onto it, knocking fearlessly.
Once I become a true companion of vision,
I will get through that door.
I will get into that circle,
and once I get in, I will stay there forever.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #1, page 302.
Glory after Glory (4/11/2021)
If He destroys hundreds like me, that causes no sorrow for Him.
You fall in Love. He doesn’t care.
Your heart is broken. He has many others.
He asks, “Why can’t your eyes see the wine?”
What can they do?
They are always wet in front of Your sun. Continue reading “Glory after Glory (4/11/2021)”
Lighter Than Nothing (4/4/2021)
I am happy,
but that happiness is not from the reed-flute.
I am warm, but that warmth is not from any water or fire.
Love has emptied me so much of my self
that when I am measured on a scale,
I am two batmans* lighter than Nothing.
*An historical unit of weight.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #1, page 298.