Reading Rumi

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.