Hundreds of Sighs (7/5/2020)
On a cloudless summer night when the stars are shining
and the heart of the sky is turning into a rose garden,
there are thousands of signs of Divine Love all around.
Hundreds of sighs rise up from me
which illuminate the mirror of my heart.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #2, page 245.
Songs and Screams (6/28/2020)
Every night, the specter of my Beauty praises the attributes of my Essence
and talks about the Absence of my Essence which proves my Existence.
The Sultan of chess of the seven stars sends a sign
from His ayn*-like eye and cim-like ear which checkmates me.
If I were to pick an apple from that tree and split it in half,
such an amazing Beauty would be born.
Grapes would cover the whole world.
Wine would overflow all around my gardens.
If I took the Quran in my hand and, in confusion, it slipped from my hand,
His face would become ten verses of the Quran
and His lips would turn into a verse for me.
The world is Mount Sinai. I am Moses.
I am out of my self. I have gone beyond my self.
The world keeps shaking, but the only one who knows
is the one who walks that road where I paid my dues.
The soul’s sun rose and said, “O lazy ones, get up.
When I reflect on the mountain, even my smallest particles keep moving.”
Be silent.
I have cried and yelled so much that hundreds of centuries will pass
and the world will still turn along with my songs and screams.
*ayn and cim Letters of the Arabic alphabet.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 15, Ghazal 40, verses 459-465, pages 90-91.
Only a Fool Says… (6/21/2020)
Union with God cannot be achieved
until a person has completely annihilated his self.
Such a Union is not the merging of two to make one.
Union requires your total annihilation.
Absurdity does not turn falsehood into Truth.
Only a fool says, “Everything is God.”
Rubailer (2016, Rubai #2, page 179)
Have You Ever…? (6/14/2020)
Have you ever known a wine which has no hangover?
Have you ever picked a rose which has no thorns? Continue reading
Flutter Your Own Wings (4/2/2020)
O heart, you go nowhere on this road with talk and gossip.
You cannot reach the Beloved unless you pass through the door of Absence.
You have to flutter your own wings where His birds fly, O heart.
They don’t give out wings, O heart.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #2, page 165.
Hold Fast (6/7/2020)
Without the pure water from the sea of Love,
our pearl would turn into stone.
If there were no world to be found inside of our soul,
our soul and that world would shrink and confine us.
Pain from the Beloved polishes your heart and soul.
Hold fast to it and it will clean away all of your dirt and rust.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #1, paghe 176.
Why Do You Worry? (5/31/2020)
Since you are My drunk, O My soul,
don’t worry about the troubles you have.
Since you are My gazelle, O My soul,
don’t worry about the male lion. Continue reading
Being in God’s Vicinity (5/24/2020)
This solitude is better than the company of thousands.
This freedom is sweeter than owning the whole world.
Being in God’s vicinity for even a short time
is worth more than the soul, more than the universe,
more than all of this, more than all of that.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #4, page 167.
Yet, We Still Keep Struggling (5/17/2020)
O beauty, you are a beautiful charmer.
Give up acting with such poor appearance, such poor behavior.
If you are content, luck will be a slave and servant for us. Continue reading
Your Scent (5/10/2020)
Once I got a tiny whiff of Your scent,
I was forced to go Your way.
My color and scent were stolen by Yours.
I was annihilated in the end, so nothing was left of me,
not even a scent. No scent. Nothing.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #3, page 175.
Who Is It? (5/3/2020)
Who is it that gives taste and charm to color and shape?
When He hides, form becomes like a child of the devil. Continue reading
How Could Such Qualities Be Mixed? (4/26/2020)
A human is made by mixing opposite materials.
His shape is drawn on the table of sorrow.
His clay is carved by grief.
Sometimes he is an angel, sometimes a devil.
How could such qualities be mixed?
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 242, page 168, #3.
The Joy of Troubles (4/19/2020)
I will be sad if You give me less grief.
If You pour sorrow and troubles over my head,
I will be embraced by the joy of troubles. Continue reading
This is the Day of Joy (4/12/2020)
This is the day of joy. Why should we be sad?
Today, we should drink wine from the cup of loyalty.
How long will we expect our sustenance
to be from a bread-maker, a water-carrier?
This is the time to be eating and drinking
from the hand of God.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #4, page 205.
If I Miss this Opportunity Now (4/5/2020)
My heart appreciates Beauty.
Why should I run away from the Beloved?
The dagger in my hand is a good one.
Why should I turn my face away from battle? Continue reading
Bitter Grapes
O my soul, they found a way to make sugar out of sugarcane.
They learned how to weave silk from the matter of mulberry leaves.
Be patient.
Bitter grapes become halva with time.
*halva Sweetmeats.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #2, page 157.
The Soul Keeps Flying (3/22/2020)
Come soon, so we can throw off the mantle of our body
and, in that moment, demolish and flatten the house of our existence. Continue reading
Fate is a Means to Reach Absence (3/15/2020)
Fate is not a slave
to our opinions, our thinking, our petty desires.
Existence is a means to reach Absence.
Our nanny is behind the curtain.
In fact, we are not here. What you see is merely our shadow.
Rubailer (2016), Page 130, Rubai #3.
A Sign Has Appeared from Love (3/8/2020)
Just now, ruby-colored tears have started seeping from my eyes.
A sign has appeared from Love, yet a trace of Love’s dust never appears. Continue reading
The Sound of the Key (3/1/2020)
I am a mountain. I am echoing the Beloved.
I am a painting. That Beauty is my painter.
Do you think all these words I say belong to me?
No. They are the sound of the key turning in the lock.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #1, page 128.
Such a Love (2/23/2020)
I need such a Beloved that my soul will hold His stirrup.
I need such a musician that Venus will die in front of Him. Continue reading
Lovers of Love (2/16/2020)
We are the lovers of Love. Love is our salvation.
The soul resembles Hizir.* Love resembles the Water of Life.
Alas to the one who is not decorated by the Sultan of Love.
How could an animal know the soul’s sugar?
*Hizir A legendary Godsend who attained immortality by drinking from the Water of Life and who comes to aid in a critical moment (also known as Khidr).
Rubailer (2016), Rubai, Rubai #2, page 134.
Make Sure You Learn This Sign (2/9/2020)
Something is striking like lightning.
I wonder if that is my heart captivating the Beloved.
What is shining from that corner?
Is that the ruby mine?
What is around that pearl?
Is it the Moon or a star?
It is suspended like a lamp made of divine light.
I wonder. Is it soul’s lamp or perhaps a sacred, bejeweled flag?
Could it be that candle which has no end to its light?
O heart, raise your head. Your eyes are sharp.
Rub your eyes and look carefully.
He is all that you can see.
When you can scatter pearls from Him,
no one will be able to see a trace of you.
Make sure you learn this sign.
It should be a symbol between us.
When you see His blaze and brightness,
go under His wing and be annihilated,
because the valuable egg also stays under the chicken.
When we come forward, He disappears.
But, if we stay away, He appears.
He stands, moves and appears.
But, He doesn’t stand, move or appear in place or time.
He is totally timeless and spaceless.
When you move water,
His light, which is reflected on the water, also moves.
That is the way you can see Him.
But, He is in the sky.
He is not this, not that.
He is the goodness of religion and God.
If you still dare to say He is someone else,
go ahead and say it.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 15, Ghazal 29, verses 353-362, pages 69-70.
Just Look (2/2/2020)
When grief covers everywhere, everything,
the one who grabs Love becomes carefree.
Just look at the particle.
When it touched Love, it turned into a shape
which created universes.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #1, page 116.
O Heart, Be Brave (j1/26/2020)
He is such a Beauty that He teaches endearing behaviors
to the Moon and Venus all night long.
Both of His eyes cover the eyes of the sky with magic.
O religious ones, save your hearts,
because I have merged so much with Him
that my heart cannot join me to anyone anymore.
First, I was born from Love.
Then, I gave my heart to Him,
just like the fruit that comes from the branch.
In the end, it hangs onto that branch.
I am running away from my shadow,
because it is hiding the light.
How could someone who runs away from his own shadow be settled?
His hair says, “Where is that acrobat who plays with rope?
Have him come back soon.”
His face, which resembles a candle, says,
“Where is the moth? Have it come and burn itself.”
O heart, be brave in the game.
Submit yourself.
When His candle flares up, throw yourself into it.
Once you feel the pleasure of His burning,
you will not be able to get enough of it.
Even the fountain of life
will not be able to separate you from that fire.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 15, Ghazal #28, verses 346-352, pages 67-68.
How Can We Escape (1/19/20)
Love came and broke my regret as if it were a bottle.
How can we escape
Love’s constant breaking and repairing?
Who can repair a broken bottle except Love?
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #3, page 112.
How Lucky (1/12/10)
The soul’s Sultan pushes us from one play to another
as if we were pawns in a chess game.
I wonder if He wins. I wonder if He is ever checkmated.
After all, aren’t we the ones on trial?
He picked up our particles, gathered them together,
then kneaded them with the universe to make a paste.
He pierced our noses and inserted reins made of greed and lust
in order to pull us around the world like camels.
Who are we?
He put an oxen’s bell on the neck of the sky
and keeps crushing us under that sky as if we were sesame.
How lucky is that camel who has been tied by the halter of God’s Love.
He makes us drunk and excited while we are among the other camels.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 15, Ghazal 6, verses 48-52, page 11.
There is a Way (1/5/20)
O confused heart, the way to the Beloved is through your soul.
O one who has lost his way, there is a road to the Beloved
which is both known and unknown.
Don’t worry if your way is blocked from all six directions.
There is a way right from the bottom of your heart.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #, page 109. #3
No Place for Water and Earth (12/29/19)
Look at these fragments of soul
which have been chipped off, sparkling in this valley.
Watch this sea. Watch these ships
as they collide with each other. Continue reading
Love Has Arrived (12/22/19)
Love has arrived and become the blood in my skin and veins.
It has emptied me of my self, filling me with the Beloved.
Every part of my body is now occupied by the Beloved.
Only my name has been left to me.
He has become everything else.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #4, page 112.