Man’s heart is like a candle; It should be lit and allowed to shine.
There is a void in your soul because of the separation from the Beloved.
That void needs repair.
Know, O ignorant one
who knows none of what makes or breaks a heart, who avoids pain and burning,
Love is something to be encountered, not knowledge to be learned.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 4, page 468
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub.fall2023), Rubai 1002, Volume 3.
The Beloved said to me,
“Since you are buying kisses from every beauty,
why don’t you buy one from Me?”
I asked, “With gold?”
“No,” He said. “What can I do with gold?”
So I tried again, “With my life?”
“Yes, yes,” He said. “That’s what I want, yes.”
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 1, page 464.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (fall2023), Volume 3, Rubai 988.
What is it that is attracting me to Him in every breath?
It is not ambergris. It is not musk.
It is His fragrance, His fragrance. Continue reading “From the Sun of Soul (5/21/2023)”
You will be purified from bad habits
by fasting.
You will follow the ascent of the attained ones to the sky
by fasting.
You will be burned like a candle
by the fire of fasting.
Become divine light.
The darkness of a bite makes you a morsel for the ground.
Rubailer (2016), 4ubai 4, page 461.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations, Volume 3, rubai 982.
The Beloved is holding my harness,
pulling me like a camel again.
His business is to pull the one who chooses to be pulled.
Mine is to carry the load. Continue reading “My Patience Will Win (4/23/2023)”
When it comes to reaching the heart of the Beloved,
there is no room for patience.
Don’t talk about patience.
When Love rattles its chain,
the minds of Plato and Abul Hasan* become befuddled. Continue reading “When Love Rattles Its Chain (4/9/2023)”
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.
O my heart-catching, life-taking Beauty
whose face is more beautiful than the moon,
since You have become my friend,
the light of my heart has burst out of my mouth flame after flame. Continue reading “Paradise (3/5/2023)”
O one who has been check mated in the game of stars,
choose a horse. Ride toward the King.
Don’t bother with the vizier. Continue reading “Choose Fire (2/19/2023)”
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)”