The End of My Story (10/17/2021) Once I was a child and followed teachers. Next, I was content watching the faces of my friends. But, see what happened at the end of my story: I came like a cloud and left with the wind. Rubailer (2016), Rubai 2, page 351.
Mere Form and Flesh (10/10/2021) How can you know the design of the Designer, the paint of the Painter? You are mere form and flesh. How could you possibly know Soul? You don’t even hear the sound of the drum. How could you see the signs of the hidden
Not Like Your Halfway Happiness (10/3/2021) We have neither silk garments nor silver, but we are happy. In trouble and fear, we are content. We are drunk on the wine of eternal submission. This is not like your halfway happiness. Rubailer (2016), Rubai 3, page 343 The Rubaiyat of Rumi,
This Heart (9/26/2021) O One who takes the hearts of lovers as hostage, don’t shed the blood of lovers.Go away. Look at the traces of blood on every road. Hear the bloody yells everywhere. I said to this heart, “See His club?” If you are a ball, follow
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,
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. The mind is a bondage. The heart is a trick, a deceit. The soul is a cover and a curtain. The
Only God Knows (9/5/2021) We keep turning like the sky in our longing for the Moon. Only God knows our business. Considering all the things which are happening in this world, we wonder how smart people can keep their minds in their heads. Yet, they wonder about our exuberance. Rubailer (2016),
This Glory (8/29/2021) O Beloved, we are Your guest tonight. Wait! Why did we say, “tonight?” We are Yours day and night, every day and every night. We are at Your table in front of Your bowl, wherever we are, wherever we go. We are the pictures which
The Treasure (8/22/2021) We are the treasure of God’s secrets. We are the endless ocean full of pearls. We are the space between the Moon and the fish. We are the One who sits on the throne of the Sultan. Rubailer (2016), Rubai #2, page 339. A Rubaiyat of Rumi,
See My Generosity? (8/15/2021) Why are you sorry if you lose your profit, your capital? Here I am. See My generosity? Don’t fall into despair. If the world disappears and the sea becomes a drop of dew, who cares? If it passes out and drops to the ground, that
This Dog (8/8/2021) I thought I could control the dog of my selfishness by putting on him the chain of repentance. Although he is getting tired and old, whenever he sees a carcass, he breaks the chain and attacks. What can I do with this dog? Rubailer (2016), Rubai #2,
Like 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. Why are you rolling over the dirt of existence? Go to the furnace and brazier where you used to be.
Secrets Shaken Out with Thunder (7/25/2021) I became exuberant when that pearl emerged in me. I was turned into a rough sea by that storm. I revealed the secrets of the ocean, secrets shaken out with thunder. Then, I slept on the shore like an empty cloud. Rubailer (2016), Rubai
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
Trying to Find Me (7/11/2021) I stopped over at a tavern one day. There, I started to tear my patched-up body-cloak into pieces. While everyone else was busy with their own affairs, I was busy destroying my self, trying to find Me. Rubailer (2016), Rubai 3, page 326. A Rubaiyat
Focus Your Eyes on Absence (7/4/2021) 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? There is
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
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. Even if you make hives like a honey bee, I will still make you homeless like a fly. You want to make people admire
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
Anger (6/6/2021) All anger comes from pride. If you don’t fall into contempt, go, purify in humility. Give up the self. Be dust. Anger is born from contempt and from the self. Use them both as a ladder. Step on them and climb to the sky. Wherever you
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
Your Only Dress Can Be the Light of the Heart (5/23/2021) You are such a moon that You don’t fit in the sky. You are such water that You cannot be contained in a river. You are such a pearl that You exceed the oceans. You are such a
On the way to Love, each lover must either annihilate himself or give up his life in death. Some say, “Love’s goal is to drink water from the Fountain of Life.” These are just empty words, O lover, just empty words. Rubailer (2016), Rubai #3, page 226. A Rubaiyat of
O Sun who rides the horse of the sky! O Beauty who uses deception to turn Himself into a star! Sometimes, You appear like the heart sitting in the middle of the house. At other times You come and sit in a corner. Sometimes, You stay at a
I Am Your Remedy (5/2/2021) 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
As Long As… (4/25/2021) The parrot came to the tree to share sugar’s prayer. The rose asked the nightingale to read poetry. Receiving a revelation, the tall green cypress said, “As long as your soul stays in your body, put a belt on your waist. Serve day and night.
Today, I am on the outside of a circle, as if I am standing on the outside of a door. I have become friends with the door knocker, and I am holding onto it, knocking fearlessly. Once I become a true companion of vision, I will get through that door.
Glory after Glory (4/11/2021) If He destroys hundreds like me, that causes no sorrow for Him. You fall in Love. He doesn’t care. Your heart is broken. He has many others. He asks, “Why can’t your eyes see the wine?” What can they do? They are always wet in
I am happy, but that happiness is not from the reed-flute. I am warm, but that warmth is not from any water or fire. Love has emptied me so much of my self that when I am measured on a scale, I am two batmans* lighter than Nothing. *An historical
Walk Nicely Now (3/28/2021) 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.