From Behind Thousands of Curtains 7/19/2020
Once my soul had turned its face to the Essence
and given up whys, whats and hows,
it started to see eternity.
The secret of Love and the meaning of creation
which had been concealed from it up until then
appeared from behind thousands of curtains.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #1, page 183.
This Fire (7/12/2020)
If you want to enlighten the universe,
if you want to increase the light of this world,
all your body must turn into fire like the sun. Continue reading
Only a Fool Says… (6/21/2020)
Union with God cannot be achieved
until a person has completely annihilated his self.
Such a Union is not the merging of two to make one.
Union requires your total annihilation.
Absurdity does not turn falsehood into Truth.
Only a fool says, “Everything is God.”
Rubailer (2016, Rubai #2, page 179)
Hold Fast (6/7/2020)
Without the pure water from the sea of Love,
our pearl would turn into stone.
If there were no world to be found inside of our soul,
our soul and that world would shrink and confine us.
Pain from the Beloved polishes your heart and soul.
Hold fast to it and it will clean away all of your dirt and rust.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #1, paghe 176.
Your Scent (5/10/2020)
Once I got a tiny whiff of Your scent,
I was forced to go Your way.
My color and scent were stolen by Yours.
I was annihilated in the end, so nothing was left of me,
not even a scent. No scent. Nothing.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #3, page 175.
The Joy of Troubles (4/19/2020)
I will be sad if You give me less grief.
If You pour sorrow and troubles over my head,
I will be embraced by the joy of troubles. Continue reading
The Soul Keeps Flying (3/22/2020)
Come soon, so we can throw off the mantle of our body
and, in that moment, demolish and flatten the house of our existence. Continue reading
Make Sure You Learn This Sign (2/9/2020)
Something is striking like lightning.
I wonder if that is my heart captivating the Beloved.
What is shining from that corner?
Is that the ruby mine?
What is around that pearl?
Is it the Moon or a star?
It is suspended like a lamp made of divine light.
I wonder. Is it soul’s lamp or perhaps a sacred, bejeweled flag?
Could it be that candle which has no end to its light?
O heart, raise your head. Your eyes are sharp.
Rub your eyes and look carefully.
He is all that you can see.
When you can scatter pearls from Him,
no one will be able to see a trace of you.
Make sure you learn this sign.
It should be a symbol between us.
When you see His blaze and brightness,
go under His wing and be annihilated,
because the valuable egg also stays under the chicken.
When we come forward, He disappears.
But, if we stay away, He appears.
He stands, moves and appears.
But, He doesn’t stand, move or appear in place or time.
He is totally timeless and spaceless.
When you move water,
His light, which is reflected on the water, also moves.
That is the way you can see Him.
But, He is in the sky.
He is not this, not that.
He is the goodness of religion and God.
If you still dare to say He is someone else,
go ahead and say it.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 15, Ghazal 29, verses 353-362, pages 69-70.
O Heart, Be Brave (j1/26/2020)
He is such a Beauty that He teaches endearing behaviors
to the Moon and Venus all night long.
Both of His eyes cover the eyes of the sky with magic.
O religious ones, save your hearts,
because I have merged so much with Him
that my heart cannot join me to anyone anymore.
First, I was born from Love.
Then, I gave my heart to Him,
just like the fruit that comes from the branch.
In the end, it hangs onto that branch.
I am running away from my shadow,
because it is hiding the light.
How could someone who runs away from his own shadow be settled?
His hair says, “Where is that acrobat who plays with rope?
Have him come back soon.”
His face, which resembles a candle, says,
“Where is the moth? Have it come and burn itself.”
O heart, be brave in the game.
Submit yourself.
When His candle flares up, throw yourself into it.
Once you feel the pleasure of His burning,
you will not be able to get enough of it.
Even the fountain of life
will not be able to separate you from that fire.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 15, Ghazal #28, verses 346-352, pages 67-68.
Love Has Arrived (12/22/19)
Love has arrived and become the blood in my skin and veins.
It has emptied me of my self, filling me with the Beloved.
Every part of my body is now occupied by the Beloved.
Only my name has been left to me.
He has become everything else.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #4, page 112.
The Situation (12/15/19)
I tried to describe the situation of my heart as I knew it.
The tears and blood of my heart had become rough,
but I couldn’t explain it. Continue reading
Death is Reaching Out to God (12/8/19)
There is a new life in death for the man of faith and justice.
From death, peace and calm come to clean souls.
Death is reaching out to God, not out to fear and cruelty.
The one who refuses to die with that death will die every day.
That is the greatest of all troubles.
Rubailer (2016), Page 101, #2.
Both Worlds Are Submerged in Him (11/24/19)
If you want the Beloved to show His face to you, turn inside.
Give up your flesh and walk to the Essence.
He is such an Essence
that He is surrounded by layers of curtains.
He is submerged in His own Being,
and both worlds are submerged in Him.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 1, page 97.
I Am Right Here (11/17/19)
“I don’t have anything to do with this.”
That’s what you said, looking quite sour.
Words like “vinegar is a nice condiment” were written all over your face. Continue reading
The Beloved is Inside of You (9/29/19)
O one who has been deceived by flesh, who doesn’t know His own essence, put your mind in your head.
The Beloved is inside of you.
Senses are the essence of the body. The essence of your senses is your soul.
If you go beyond body, senses and soul, everything is the Beloved.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #1, page 71.
The Only Way to Reach Eternity (9/22/19)
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. Continue reading
My Religion (8/11/19)
Absence in Nothingness is my religion.
Annihilation from existence is what I worship.
I run towards the side of the Beloved with my feet,
but the green horse of the firmament is under my saddle.
In one breath, I leave hundreds of planets behind me.
Then, I turn back and see
that that was only one step of mine.
Why should I circle around the Earth?
The Beloved is inside of my sweet soul.
Shams of Tebriz, whom all saints praise,
has teeth which resemble sieen.*
They are my Ya Sin.**
*sieen A letter of the Arabic alphabet.
**Ya Sin The title of the sura (section) of the Quran (which has 114 suras). Quran XXXVI.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 9, Ghazal 25, verses 258-262, page 41.
I Did Not Recognize Who I Was (7/21/19)
At first, like others, I preferred being my self.
Although I was aware of my existence, I did not comprehend my being.
Because I could not see, I did not recognize who I was.
I was merely hearing my name.
Finally, and only when I went out of myself completely, I saw my real being.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #4, page 45.
I Have No Constancy, No Peace (6/30/19)
He said, “I am the fire which burns you.”
I answered, “Yes, but Your Love and Your sun are in my heart.
“If I smell one rose without Your Love,
burn me right away like a thorn.” Continue reading
Anger (6/16/19)
If you keep getting angry on your journey,
your exuberance will soon fade away.
You will turn into cold ice. Continue reading
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O one who holds the halter of time,
O one who opens the door of the paradise of meanings!
Your divinity is what makes everything appear and scatter.
Your world of appearances is the ladder of wishes. Continue reading
Once life is ended, God gives another life, a different one.
If this temporary life is annihilated, here is the permanent one:
Love is the Water of Life. Plunge into it.
There is new life in every drop of that sea.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #3, Page 42.
Love for You has killed Turks as well as Arabs.
We are slaves and servants to those martyrs, those generals.
Love for You is saying, “No one escapes Me. I own all souls.”
He is right, O heart. Quit playing.
Rubailer (2016), Page 40, Rubai #4.
Love is flying to the sky
and tearing hundreds of curtains.
Love is to be free from the self in the first breath,
to be lifted above the feet from the first step. Continue reading
First, He pampered me with a thousand favors.
Then, He burned me with a thousand troubles.
He played with me as if I was nothing more than dice in His game of Love.
But, when I died from myself and became Him, He finally threw me out.
Rubailar (2016), Rubai #3, page 31.
From the End to the Beginning (2/24/19)
We are brave, insolent revolutionaries
who play with our own lives.
It is a pity that this muddy flesh
is the peer of our pure, clean soul. Continue reading
I am Happy on this Journey (1/27/19)
I have gone, so one less headache in this world.
I am free from suspense. I have saved my soul.
I said goodbye to the ones I hang out with.
Then, I carried my soul to the land where a trace never appears.
I moved out of this house of six doors,
and took all my belongs to the land of Absence.
I saw the hunting Sultan of the land of Absence.
I flew like an arrow and took my bow.
The club of death came to my side.
I snatched the ball of happiness from the middle.
An amazing moon reflected in my window.
I went to the roof, carrying a ladder.
The dome of that sky where souls are gathered
was much nicer than I used to think.
My rose branch is faded and withered.
I took it back to the rose garden.
Like a customer, I took my money and belongs
to the source of the mine.
I saw a world with no boundary in the land of Absence.
I took my black tent to that place.
Don’t cry for me. I am happy on this journey.
My road reached the place of the heavens.
Engrave these words on my tombstone:
I saved my head from troubles and trials.
O body, sleep nicely in this place.
I have taken your news to the skies.
Close your mouth.
I took all the wailing to the One who created the world.
From now on, don’t talk about the heart’s sorrow,
because I took my heart
to the One who knows all the secrets.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 14, Gazel 132, Pages 29-30, Verses 1464-1479.
As long as a beauty appears in a shape, a form,
there will always be another beauty with a better shape, a better form.
This shaped beauty cannot be my Beloved.
Get rid of forms from your heart.
Then, the only Beauty which has no form or shape will be yours.
Rubailer (2016), Page 135, Rubai #3
If This Were Not So (12/16/18)
Every moment, the Beloved’s kindness follows after sorrow.
If this were not so, no one could stand this suffering. Continue reading
Just Empty Words (11/11/18)
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), Page 226, Rubai #3