There is a sea which is not far from us.
It is unseen, but it is not hidden.
It is forbidden to talk about.
Yet, at the same time,
it is a sin and a sign of ungratefulness not to.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 1, ghazal 97, verse 1205, page 230.
Is there a lip from which the smell of soul isn’t coming right now?
Is there a particle of the heart in which a trace of Him doesn’t reside?
If there are no provisions coming from that famous table,
why is every particle chewing cud like a camel? Continue reading “Not Even a Small Part of This Comes from the Sky (11/21/2021)”
When the enemy heard about the Sun of Absence,
he made plans to cut it down.
That Sun rose, sat and watched.
The enemy looked everywhere, but could not see Him.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 3, page 351.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations, Rubai 757, Volume 2.
O Beloved, we are Your guest tonight.
Wait! Why did we say, “tonight?”
We are Yours day and night, every day and every night. Continue reading “This Glory (8/29/2021)”
Why are you sorry if you lose your profit, your capital?
Here I am. See My generosity?
Don’t fall into despair.
If the world disappears
and the sea becomes a drop of dew, who cares?
If it passes out and drops to the ground,
that doesn’t mean it has left My hand.
The world is a fish. Absence is an ocean.
There are so many fights in the heart of the fish.
But, I fish without a line.
Even if a fish disappears, I will still catch it.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 15, Ghazal 98, verses 1116-1118, page 221.
O heart, go. Go.
Turn to blood like you used to be.
Go to the valley and plain where you used to be. Continue reading “Where You Used to Be (8/1/2021)”
I became exuberant when that pearl emerged in me.
I was turned into a rough sea by that storm.
I revealed the secrets of the ocean,
secrets shaken out with thunder.
Then, I slept on the shore like an empty cloud.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 2, page 329.
A Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (tent. pub. 12/1/2021), Volume 2, Rubai 696.
O Beloved, You flew away from this narrow cage.
You freed Yourself from this dungeon of robbers and pickpockets.
You cleaned the dirt and dust from the surface of the mirror.
You saw whatever was in that mirror.
You had been hearing, here and there, some news.
You went to that exalted world
and saw that news with Your own eyes.
You left earth and water to the Earth and water.
Then, You took the substance of the soul
and pulled it to the sky.
You became tired of being around the body.
You preferred to go with the soul.
You freed Yourself from the mother womb
which is this world
and ran to the father of intelligence.
Drink the wine which sweetens the soul with every breath
in exchange for the suffering we gave You.
Since You left, the whole Universe has chosen us.
Now, take anything You choose.
You went from this Earth’s saucepan
to the table of the other world,
because You were cooked.
The egg became empty, without a bird,
because you got out of this Earth’s egg
and flew away.
From now on, You will never fit in this world.
Keep flying through it. You like to fly.
Be silent. Go away.
They opened Your lock.
Death matched You for the key.
Divan-i Kebir, Ghazal 230, verses 2350-2361, pages 52-53.
You cut me off like an umbilical cord in the name of drunkenness.
Even then, O Cupbearer, why did You leave me?
You create such Love with every breath.
O One who makes everything appear,
why are You not apparent? Continue reading “Focus Your Eyes on Absence (7/4/2021)”
Once this Love arrived, all other loves disappeared.
Because of my longing for You,
I was burned and turned into ashes.
My ashes scattered and disappeared.
Then, they came back, forming thousands of shapes again.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 3, page 220.
A Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translation, Volume 1 (pub. Nov. 2021), Rubai 430.