There is a place beyond faith and heresy
which is not for all the ones
who are just starting out young and fresh.
There is a price to be paid:
One has to give up one’s life and sacrifice one’s heart.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations, Volume 3, rubai 1271, page 182.
How long will I be suffering because of this donkey of a body?
It keeps asking constantly for straw and barley.
Yet in the sky, the galaxy of the Milky Way is full of nourishment.
A donkey can’t have a share of that glory.
It is the soul, that peerless one, who has a share of that kingdom.
You have seen the body. Now, look at the soul.
You have seen jewels. Now, look at the mine.
Meaning constantly says,
“Don’t dress me in those old clothes.”
Words are really nothing more than old shirts,
the kind of old shirts which everyone makes fun of.
I say, “O meaning, come.
Come in a form like the soul,
so that old shirts can become silk with soul’s light.”
Quit washing clothes, so no one will hear.
Don’t mind how others react or what they say.
This soul is tired.
This soul wants privacy, even from the angels who are close to God.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 1, ghazal 45, verses 615-620, page 117.
Rain poured down on a man’s head.
The rain kept coming, so he took shelter in his home.
A duck seeing this fluttered its wings.
“Give all the rain to me,” the duck said, “to the one
who was created out of water!”
And, water became his shelter, his home.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations, Volume 3, rubai 1256, page 174.
Be lost in grief, O soul.
Patience is the key to suffering.
Be lost in grief so that in the end,
He will show His face to you.
Patience is the key to suffering. Continue reading “Patience is the Key to Suffering (3/30/2025)”
O brother, don’t hurt yourself.
Don’t hit your head against the stones.
You cannot fight with that burned, inflamed self. Continue reading “Give Us Patience (3/16/2025)”
See the bloody tears, the hundreds of torn shirts caused by Your grief.
Listen to all the yelling and screaming.
Look at the blood of my lungs,
smeared all over my face, my back, my front. Continue reading “See the Bloody Tears (1/12/2025)”
The one who cuts through your neck
is the one who suffers your sorrow.
The one who crowns you
is the one who deceives you and robs you of your modesty.
The one who loads you with goods
is the one who burdens you.
Your real Friend is the one who takes you away from You.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations, Volume 3, rubai 1227, page 160.
You are in the place of sorrow, struggle and cruelty.
When you plunge into us and annihilate yourself,
you will have peace, kindness and abundance.
If you remain true, everything we have will be yours.
If not, still, we will accept your wrongs as being right.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations, Volume 3, rubai 1211, page 152.
He kept me burning despite my yelling and crying out to Him.
When I kept silent, He burned me like the silent ones.
He drove me beyond all boundaries,
brought me back to the center, then set me on fire again.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations, Volume 3, rubai 1202, page 147.
Look at my business, my occupation;
I have none.
I never reach out to others;
You are the only One. Continue reading “Confide in Me (8/18/2024)”