Nothing Except the Beloved (11/10/19)
“As long as I live, I won’t stray from the right way.”
I gave that oath to myself.
But later, I looked to my right, then to my left,
then to my right, then to my left.
Each time, I saw nothing except the Beloved.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #1, page 91.
Who Has… (11/3/19)
Who has seen a trace of that charmer?
In whose house is that full moon hidden?
Who has seen without eyes His Beauty?
Who has seen that world beyond this one? 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
Not for Everyone (9/15/19)
Not everyone looks for You.
Nor do You ask that everyone does.
Not every mill wheel turns by the water coming from Your river.
Drawing a strong, tight bow is not for everyone.
For that, one has to be a hero.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #2, page 77.
Don’t Open the Door of Thought (8/18/19)
Like every other day, we are desperately in Love today.
Don’t open the door of thought.
Play the rebab whose sound makes us forget everything.
There are a hundred different prayers
for the one whose alter is the face of the Beloved.
Rubailer (2016), Rubia #4, page 46.
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 am Absent (8/4/19)
He is inside and outside of my heart.
He is the soul of my body.
He is my blood and my veins.
How could faith or heresy fit here?
I am absent. He is all of my existence.
Rubailer (2016), page 68, Rubai #4
You are the Antidote…You are the Bait (7/28/19)
What is life without You?
Life without You is forbidden.
Living without Your beautiful face is nothing but death,
that thing which was given the name, “life.” Continue reading
Stay for Awhile (7/14/19)
A sugar buyer comes, saying,
“A caravan has arrived from Egypt.”
Hundreds of camels come loaded with sugar cane.
O my God, what a beautiful gift. 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.
The Waves Become Exuberant (3/10/19)
Our heart feels good today,
because You drank its blood yesterday.
May it do You good. Continue reading
Slave and Servant (2/3/19)
I am drunk with the wine that Love has engraved on His glass.
I ride a horse. Its reins are Love.
Falling in Love with my moon-faced Beloved is great,
but I am a slave and servant to the One who made Love a slave-servant to Him.
Rubailar (2016), Page 108, Rubai #3
Come to the Source of Your Source (12/30/18)
How long will you be going backwards?
Come forward. Don’t stay with heresy. It is time to come to faith.
See poison as sherbet. Grab the poison.
At last, come to the Source of your source.
********
You are on the Earth as a form.
But, you are the threat of the pearl of certainty.
You have become the custodian of the storage of God’s grace.
At last, come to the Source of your source.
********
If you give yourself to ecstasy,
it is certain that you will be saved from yourself.
You have jumped out of the bonds of thousands of traps.
At last, come to the Source of your source.
********
You came from the sperm of a prince.
Open your eyes to the truth of this ordinary world.
Pity how joyful you are.
At last, come to the Source of your source.
********
Although you are a spell of the Earth,
You are a mine inside.
Open both your eyes.
At last, come to the Source of your source.
********
You are the son of light and greatness.
You have an auspicious fate and good fortune.
How long will you be crying over illusory things?
At last, come to the Source of your source.
********
You are a ruby, hidden among hard rocks.
How long will you be deceiving us?
O my friend, He appears to your eyes openly.
At last, come to the Source of your source.
********
You come like that,
your beautiful eyes full of fire, drunk,
from the arms of the unruly Beloved,
At last, come to the Source of your source.
********
That cupbearer, Shams of Tebriz, is offering you a glass of the wine of immortality.
It is pure and clear.
“Glory be to God.”
At last, come to the Source of your source.
Divan-i Kebir, Meter 13, Gazel 7, Pages 13-15 Verses 79-96.
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
No One Is a Stranger There (11/18/18)
Every mind becomes confused when it sees Your face.
Every face is scratched by Your Absence.
I have become drunk because of Your reproach.
I don’t even know if Your pure wine is better than a sedimented one. Continue reading
The Dust Raised Up by Words (11/4/18)
Don’t give water to me. I want to be Your thirsty one.
Make me Your lover. Take away my sleep.
O One whose beautiful image has become the Mihrab* for me,
I will keep doing Namaz** every day and night. Continue reading
The Signs of My Beloved (10/28/18)
Every particle of my body shows the signs of my Beloved.
Every part of my body is the expression of Him.
I lean towards Him as a lyre,
my crying song created by His hand.
Rubailer (2016), Page 102, Rubai #3
Crying and Wailing (10/14/18)
I know how easily my Beloved gets tired of me.
Even the thought that I love Him seems to hurt Him a lot.
But, no one can go far on the road to the Beloved with fear and shyness.
If the road I take becomes difficult for walking, I will ride a horse.
Rubailer (2016), Page 299, Rubai #4
Hundreds of Jars of Wine (9/23/18)
Your Love has made me drunk.
I am so drunk and out of myself that I keep clapping my hands.
How could I possibly know what I am doing? Continue reading
Submerged in the Heart (7/29/18)
Is there anyone who is not involved in my daily work?
Who is the one who hasn’t given his soul to the Beloved’s way?
Is there any head like mine which doesn’t become drunk?
Is there any heart like mine which doesn’t cry, moan and groan? Continue reading
God’s Light (7/15/18)
The falcon said to the goose, “The valley is beautiful.”
“Have a good night,” answered the goose, then continued,
“This place is much better for me. Continue reading
Suffering and the Cure (7/1/18)
Who is the one who is not a servant, a slave of Your order?
Who is the one who is not drunk after seeing Your face?
Show me someone who is in trouble whose trouble is not Yours.
Or, show me a joy which has been created without Your hope. Continue reading
One Day… (6/3/18)
One day your heart will take you to the One who caught your heart.
One day your soul will take you to the Beloved.
Don’t let go of the skirt of your pain.
One day your pain will take you to the Remedy.
Rubailer, Page 474, Rubai #3
The One Who Exists Is Not Me (5/20/18)
“O Sultan of the Earth,” I said in the early dawn,
“I swear to God that there is no one who matches You.
No one is Your peer. Continue reading
Nothing But Longing… (5/13/18)
My life has become nothing but longing.
O Beloved, what a beauty, what a charm is that?
I don’t clap my hands if You are not the player.
I don’t drink wine if You are not the cupbearer.
Rubailer, Page 471, Rubai #2
Our Peace is No Good (5/6/18)
There is a Beauty whose face resembles the Sun.
The nicest curtain is the shadow cast by Him.
He rises like the Sun. Particles become restless.
For goodness sake, don’t keep that Spring-like face behind the curtain. Continue reading
It Should Be Lit (3/11/18)
Man’s heart is like a candle: It should be lit and shine.
There is a void in man’s soul because of his being separated from the Beloved. That void needs to be repaired.
Know, O ignorant one who understands none of what makes or breaks a heart, who neither smiles nor cries,
Love isn’t knowledge to be learned, but something to be encountered,
Rubailer, Page 449, Rubai #2
Don’t Worry (1/28/18)
Once you become the friend of one whose heart is in God,
don’t pay attention to other people and their customs.
Your soul will fall in Love’s fire like your fate.
Don’t worry. Don’t run away.
Know this well: From now on, you won’t fit in anywhere.
Rubailer, Page 424, Rubai #2
It Will Stay With You (1/14/18)
The branch that is full of flowers today will grow lots of fruit tomorrow.
The falcon of desire will go on the hunt one day.
The image of the Beloved comes and goes now,
but the time will come when it stays with you.
Rubailer, Page 421, Rubai #2