Category Archives: Gazel (longer poem)

Songs and Screams (6/28/2020)

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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.

Make Sure You Learn This Sign (2/9/2020)

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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.

O Heart, Be Brave (1/26/2020)

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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 Lucky (1/12/20)

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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.

The Only Way to Reach Eternity (9/22/19)

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The Only Way to Reach Eternity (9/22/19)

Every moment, Your kindness follows after sorrow.

If this were not so, no one could stand this suffering.

 

Make me constantly drunk with the wine which gives no hangover.

I don’t want any other wine. Continue reading →

“Why Don’t You Come, Too?” (9/8/19)

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“Why Don’t You Come, Too?” (9/8/19)

“O heart,” I said, “why are you like this?

How long will you be hanging around Love?

 

My heart answered, “Why don’t you come, too?

Wouldn’t it be nice if you came and tasted the pleasure of Love? Continue reading →

My Religion (8/11/19)

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My Religion (8/11/19)

Absence in Nothingness is my religion.

Annihilation from existence is what I worship.

 

I run towards the side of the Beloved with my feet,

but the green horse of the firmament is under my saddle.

 

In one breath, I leave hundreds of planets behind me.

Then, I turn back and see

that that was only one step of mine.

 

Why should I circle around the Earth?

The Beloved is inside of my sweet soul.

 

Shams of Tebriz, whom all saints praise,

has teeth which resemble sieen.*

They are my Ya Sin.**

*sieen  A letter of the Arabic alphabet.

**Ya Sin  The title of the sura (section) of the Quran (which has 114 suras). Quran XXXVI.

Divan-i Kebir, Volume 9, Ghazal 25, verses 258-262, page 41.