The one to whom the secret of Love appears
loses his being,
becomes annihilated in the Beloved. Continue reading “Even If You Can’t See It (1/23/2022)”
Even If You Can’t See It (1/23/2022)
Tag: Annihilation
Burn That Thing (12/19/2021)
O my Beloved, accept me. Take my soul.
Let me pass through both worlds.
If I settle down with anything other than You,
throw me into the fire and burn that thing.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 3, page 353.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx. pub. 5/2022), Rubai 761, Volume 2)
About Death (9/19/2021)
Your soul is a guest of your body for only a couple of days.
Yet, you have become so attached to this Earth
that you don’t want to listen when I talk about death.
Your soul is longing for that mansion –
that “death before death.”*
Unfortunately, your body’s donkey
has fallen asleep in the middle of the road.
*Total destruction of the self before the death of the body.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 2, page 80.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (approx. pub. date 3/2022), Rubai 108, Volume 1.
This is Expected of You (9/12/2021)
The mind is a roadblock on the journey, O son.
The road is wide open.
Untie this bond. Tear it, O son. Continue reading “This is Expected of You (9/12/2021)”
Where You Used to Be (8/1/2021)
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)”
Because You Were Cooked (7/18/2021)
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.
Because of My Longing (6/27/2021)
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.
Be Silent. I Will Read (6/20/2021)
If you fall in Love with me,
I will make you utterly confused.
Don’t construct anything,
because in the end, I will destroy you. Continue reading “Be Silent. I Will Read (6/20/2021)”
I was Amazed (6/13/2021)
When I was drinking wine in Your tavern one day,
I ripped off this cloak of mine, this cloak made of clay.
In Your now-ruined tavern,
I saw the harmony in its workings
and in the workings of the universe.
There was such balance of creation and destruction.
I was amazed.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 2, page 326.
A Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (November 2021), Rubai 692 (Volume 2)
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.