Break the Seal. Free Love (9/29/2024)

Break the Seal. Free Love. (9/29/2024)

That divine gift, the Water of Life,

is invisible, concealed in this clay body.

The self has put a seal on your heart,

and Love stays imprisoned there.

Break the seal. Free Love. What are you afraid of?

There is a secret path in your heart.

Follow that path to find the Beloved.

The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations, Volume 3, rubai 1197, page 145.

One Moment for Me (7/21/2024)

One Moment for Me (7/21/2024)

When my Essence turns into a sea of infinity,

the faces of my particles shine.

I burn like a candle on the way of Love

so that all moments can become one moment for me.

Rubailer (2026), Rubai 1, page 31

The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations, Volume 3 Rubai 1153, page 123.

When You Become a Friend… (6/9/2024)

When You Become a Friend… (6/9/2024)

When you become a friend of One whose heart is in God,

know that, just like your fate,

your soul will fall into Love’s fire.

Don’t worry. Don’t run away.

Know well that from then on,

it will be impossible to contain you anywhere.

Rubailer (2016), Rubai 1, page 444.

The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (pubJuly2024), Rubai 1130, Volume 3.

The Land of Truth (5/19/2024)

The Land of Truth (5/19/2024)

Hey, night guard, what kind of guard are you anyway?

A thief stole all of our belongings last night.

 

Slap cold water on your face.

Yell and scream.

Our gains became a loss because of your sleep. Continue reading “The Land of Truth (5/19/2024)”

Beyond the Hot & Cold of this World (2/11/2024)

Beyond the Hot & Cold of this World (2/11/2024)

As Hodja is my witness,

I swear I will not make any vows again.

The glass of the vow is broken

as soon as I drink Love’s wine.

 

I swear to Your peerless beauty,

Your wine which defeats and ruins lions.

I won’t even get close to repentance.

 

I swear to Your sweet lips,

to Your heart which knows the secrets,

I am neither fond of this world

nor obliged to colors, to red and yellow.

 

I swear to Your sun-like face

and to the true value of Your words

that I am a thousand years

beyond the hot and cold of this world.

 

I swear to Your mind

which resembles a dark chestnut horse,

Your insignia which offers Soul,

that no one knows what kind of man I am

except You.

 

I swear to the blessedness of Your morning

and the uproar which comes after morning wine

that I will roll up the sky before I go.

 

O immortal Sultan, tell the cupbearer

that if someone comes to the assembly with a sour face,

he should serve him the sedimented wine of my sorrow.

 

That way, duality will disappear.

So will the difference between old and new.

Because at the sacred place of drinking,

I am separated from the crowd.

I am all by myself.

 

The cupbearer should offer so much wine

that that person becomes drunk, becomes a lover.

That way, he won’t be bothered

by either the echo of my voice or my cool reception.

 

When he becomes like that,

neither self nor envy will remain within him.

He will come to my playground pure and clean.

 

He will fly outside of time.

He will free himself from bait and trap.

He will turn himself into a witness

at this gambling place, without quarrel.

 

He will play with a clean heart like Venus.

He will submit himself to fate like dice,

saying neither, “I won,” nor “I lost.”

 

I will remain silent from now on.

I am neither nightingale nor parrot.

I am sugar.

I am a rose sapling.

Divan-i Kebir, Volume 22, Ghazal 24, verses 216-228, pages 51-53.

On the Way to the Beloved’s Love (1/21/2024)

On the Way to the Beloved’s Love (1/21/2024)

You won’t taste ecstasy as long as you are sober.

You won’t know the soul if you stay in your body.

You will never reach the Truth

if you are not annihilated

like fire and water mixed together

on the way to the Beloved’s Love.

Rubailer (2016), Rubai 2, page 450.

The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (ApprxPubSpring2024), Rubai 1083, Volume 3.

If I were to become Him (1/7/2024)

If I were to become Him (1/7/2024)

I am not Me.

And, if I were to become Me for even a moment,

I would crush this world to pieces.

If I were to merge with the One who took my heart,

if I were to become Him,

like a tree, I would uproot myself from this world.

Rubailer (2016), Rubai 4, page 486.

The Rubailer of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub.spring2024) Volume 3, Rubai 1081.