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)”
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.”
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)”
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.
We are the reed bed.
He is the fire, and we are waiting to be burned. Continue reading “The Only Way to Reach Eternity (10/23/2022)”
What harm could a cross-eyed one do to beauty such as yours?
Should an insane lover be ashamed of having a bad reputation?
When riding the ambling horse on the way of Love,
who cares about some lame old donkey?
Rubailer (2016), rubai 3, page 418.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub. 7/2023), rubai 904, volume 2.
It’s better to be a fool with Love than to be a wise scholar,
better to become dirt on the road than to be a moon in the sky.
Become one with good and bad, young and old.
Be a pawn, then a vizier, then later, a king.
Rubailer (2016), rubai 4, page 391.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub. 7/2023), rubai 894, volume 2.
Compared to the flesh I have chosen,
everyone else seems to be fine.
Because of my stupidity, I bite my fingers a lot. Continue reading “I Bite My Fingers a Lot (9/25/2022)”
We are the fire of Love which lights that special candle.
Like a candle, we came to burn the oppressed moth.
We attacked bravely like a drunk,
giving up knowledge and reaching into the to-be-known. Continue reading “Look at Us. See Us. Watch Us. (8/4/2022)”
O pilgrim, where are you going? Where?
The Beloved is here, coming, coming.
Your Beloved is your next-door neighbor.
What kind of idea makes you wander around this desert like a vagabond? Continue reading “Were are You Going? (8/21/2022)”
Although you are all slaves behind this curtain,
once you get out, you will all be sultans.
Love’s Water of Life says,
“Die here. Then, you will become immortal.”
Rubailer (2016), rubai 4, page 412
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub. 10/2022), rubai 872, volume 2.