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)”
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.
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
Ascend to the sky from this banal world.
Your soul will be blessed if you do.
Walk nicely now.
Yes, you have jumped out from this town which is so full of sickness and shivering.
Now, make your home the land of happiness and joy.
If the painting of your body is destroyed, return to the Painter.
If your flesh is decayed, be content with being pure soul.
If your face is withered because of death,
settle down in the purple-colored tulip garden.
If they close the door of the house on you,
come up from the roof. Become your own ladder.
If you are separated from friends and relatives,
if you find yourself all alone,
become the King of the Auspicious Conjunction,*
acquainted with God’s friendship.
If you are separated from bread and water,
turn into the kind of bread
which gives power directly to hearts and souls.
*Refers to at least one Mughal king who claimed he was born under the auspicious conjunction of Jupiter and Venus.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 18, Ghazal 189, verses 18821-1887, page 148.
How long will I be satisfied by the shapes and appearances of time?
How long will I watch and smell of existence?
I am tired of the materials and creatures of the present.
It is time to see that Beauty of Beauties.
But, when I look at Him, I see my image.
When I look at my image, I see His.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #2, page 316.
I rejoice when I suffer.
I flourish when I am ruined.
I look quiet and silent like the earth,
but my wailing reaches the sky like thunder.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #1, page 294.
I have traveled from town to town,
but I haven’t seen any city like the city of Love.
At the beginning, I didn’t appreciate the value of that city,
and because of my ignorance, I suffered much in exile. Continue reading “Scared (1/17/2021)”
Absence is Essence. Everything else is an attribute.
Absence is health. Everything else is an illness.
This world is a big headache, a grand illusion.
Absence is the real treasure.
To reach it is the purpose of this world.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai#1, page 277.
O soul who has been caught in the hook of the body,
look at the fisherman.
Don’t look at the fish hook. Continue reading “Look (11/1/2020)”
One has to be singular and sincere on the way of imploring.
One has to embrace troubles.
It is not bravery to run towards Union.
One has to be brave on the day of separation.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #1, page 363