In a group meeting with Hasan Shushud back in the 1970’s, Jonathan Boulting related that this was one of the bits of wisdom Shushud shared, with the caveat that his English might need some reconsideration: GRIEF: Our contract with Eternity. Mr. Shushud spoke often about our inborn nostalgia, our longing “to go home,” our separation from our Essence… the source of true grief. Nevit Ergin referred constantly in his translations of Rumi’s poetry to “His sorrow.” When some begin the practice of fasting, they are able to begin to taste that sorrow, and it is one of the greatest gifts. Our self doesn’t want to feel it, which is its impetus for surrounding itself with an infinite number of distractions. As for the contract, it might be more of a promise that we made and need to keep. As Rumi says, “The purpose of Existence is to reach Absence.”
Reading Rumi
From Beyond Love (12/25/2022)
The fragrance of the rose garden and orchard is coming.
The fragrance of that tender-hearted Beloved is coming.
My Beloved has scattered so many pearls
that the sea is now up to my waist. Continue reading “From Beyond Love (12/25/2022)”
Heart (12/18/2022)
My life has passed in the great sweet pain in my heart.
My heart isn’t concerned about that sorrow.
It simply recognizes and accepts it.
I was sitting, waiting, until I came to understand what my heart wanted.
Then, I started leaping with joy.
My heart had been running away from the circle of religion,
because his place is in the curls of Beauties.
I had been turning around the one who spins my heart.
He is the only one who can hear the yells
resulting from my heart’s struggles.
At night He took sleep away.
I waited until morning so I could see the heart’s face.
My body seemed destroyed,
as if it had dried up from bowing its head in prayer.
But then, I saw the height and stature of the heart.
That world is a spark of splendor from the heart’s sun.
This world is a drop from the sea of the heart.
Close your lips, because the yells and screams of my heart
are ascending to the sky without lips or tongue.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 9, Ghazal 74, verses 738-745, page 113.
This Should Be Enough for You (12/11/2022)
O heart, you and His troubles are here.
This should be enough for you.
When you fall into the troubles of Love,
the soul becomes your slave and servant.
Once you drink a glass of wine from His hand,
you will no longer care about kingdoms and treasures,
even if the cost is a mere single penny.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 2, page 433.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub.7/2023), Rubai 920, volume 2.
His Comfort, His Torture (12/4/2022)
My wish is God. My disciple is God.
I give my old to God. I give my new to God.
I have been laid down
under the feet of fate and accident. Continue reading “His Comfort, His Torture (12/4/2022)”
You are the Divine Light (11/27/2022)
You are the divine light of the sky.
The place where you belong is the throne.
If you were to go faster on the way to God,
you would rise to the sky.
Aren’t you ashamed of dragging yourself
like a shadow on the ground?
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 2, page 423.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub.7/2023), Rubai 913, volume 2.
Sometimes (11/20/2022)
O heart, what did you find in all of your lootings,
in those pillagings where you spread out all of your belongings?
What did you find before you closed the door?
In this ruined building, you still keep making webs with your own saliva
in order to catch flies like the spider of greed. Continue reading “Sometimes (11/20/2022)”
Why Do You Cry? (11/13/2022)
O One who keeps me awake with Love,
O One who is the light in the darkness of this life,
I am a harp in Your hands.
You keep plucking my strings, asking,
“Why do you cry?”
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 4, page 431.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub.7/2023), Rubai 914, Volume 2.
Hear the Shouts (11/6/2022)
The One who sees everything as permissible
is the soul who has tasted that Divine Wine.
********
The only one who tastes such Wine
is the one who has long shed his own blood.
He bleeds from his lungs, while that Wine rejuvenates them. Continue reading “Hear the Shouts (11/6/2022)”
Eat Less (10/30/2022)
If you eat less, you will become alert and bright.
If you eat more, you will become foolish and lazy.
Your misery comes from your gluttony.
If you want respect, eat less.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 3, page 420.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub. 7/2023), Rubai 906, volume 2.