Reading Rumi

Endure (3/12/2023)

Posted on by Millicent
Endure (3/12/2023)

O heart, if you cannot endure the troubles of Love, go away.

If you don’t give up your life, you will never reach the Beloved.

If you haven’t been thrown, as Abraham was, into the fire,

you will never find, as Khidr* did, the Water of Life.

*Khidr  A legendary man who is said to have attained immortality by drinking from the Water of Life and who comes to help those in moments of extreme distress.

Rubailer (2016), Rubai 4, page 449.

The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub.Fall 2023), Rubai 959, Volume 3.

Where Am I Going? (2/26/2023)

Posted on by Millicent
Where Am I Going? (2/26/2023)

You left me nameless like heart and soul.

You made me clap without hands, like joy and pleasure.

I said, “You made me walk out of time and space.

Souls have no place, so where am I going?”

Rubailer (2016), Rubai 1, page 448.

The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub.fall 2023), Rubai 954, Volume 3.

Someday (2/12/2023)

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Someday (2/12/2023)

Someday this branch full of flowers will bear fruit.

Someday this falcon of desire will catch its prey.

Today His image appears and disappears.

But, the time will come when it will stay.

Rubailer (2016), Rubai 4, page 440.

The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub. 11/2023), Rubai 937.

You are Excused (1/29/2023)

Posted on by Millicent
You are Excused (1/29/2023)

O one who wants to experience the world and everything in it,

you are a day laborer.

O one who dreams of heaven, you are far from the Truth.

O one who enjoys both those worlds because of ignorance,

you haven’t tasted the pleasure of His sorrow.

You are excused, and you may leave.

Rubailer (2016), Rubai 2, page 438.

The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub. 7/2023), Rubai 933, volume 3.

Greetings of the Heart (1/22/2023)

Posted on by Millicent
Greetings of the Heart (1/22/2023)

In order to hear the greetings of the heart,

I knocked on its door one night.

 

The glitter of that moonlight reflected on the eye and heart of the road.

After that, the brilliance sparkled endlessly. Continue reading “Greetings of the Heart (1/22/2023)” →

I Will Leave You There (1/15/2023)

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I Will Leave You There (1/15/2023)

O one who is fond of wealth and possessions and deeds,

you get so excited by these things,

even though they come entirely from your imagination.

You become happy or sad over nothing.

I see that you are in the fire,

I will leave you there to cook and mature.

Rubailer (2016), Rubai 2, page 431.

The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub.7/2023), Rubai 929, Vol. 2.

I Won’t Leave You in the Middle of the Road (1/8/2023)

Posted on by Millicent
I Won’t Leave You in the Middle of the Road (1/8/2023)

I came to grab you by the ear and drag you away.
I came to leave you without a heart, without a self.
I came to put you inside of My heart.

O rose sapling, I came to embrace you like a beautiful spring,
to scatter you here and there and everywhere.

I came to charm you in this palace,
to raise you above the sky like the prayers of lovers. Continue reading “I Won’t Leave You in the Middle of the Road (1/8/2023)” →