“Why Don’t You Come, Too?” (9/8/19)
“O heart,” I said, “why are you like this?
How long will you be hanging around Love?
My heart answered, “Why don’t you come, too?
Wouldn’t it be nice if you came and tasted the pleasure of Love? Continue reading
Since we see others, we are not one anymore.
We are in the business of the many.
We identify good and bad, and that is where the trouble starts.
A heart which has not reached ecstasy
will keep getting kicked by the other.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #3, page 64.
Death’s Majesty (8/25/19)
Love passes with the hope of tomorrow,
finishes needlessly with fights and struggles.
Assume your life is the day which you are living right now.
See how you spend it with all of your schemes and empty projects. Continue reading
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
Please Do Me a Favor! (6/23/19)
I was heart and soul without a body before… pure, clean, pleasant.
You built my body as a guest house and put my soul in it.
O my Master, please, do me a favor!
Pardon me. Recreate me as You did before. Bring me back to life.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #2, Page 44.
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
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.
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
Leave Him Alone. Let Him Go. (8/26/18)
I yelled, “Where is that drunk heart going?”
The Sultan of sultans said,
“Be silent. He is coming to our side.” Continue reading
The Secret of This World (8/19/18)
Last night, I secretly asked an old wise mind,
“Open to me the secret of this world.”
He lowered his voice and whispered in my ear,
“Be silent. It cannot be said.
It can be understood only by the heart.”
Rubailer (2016), Page 270, Rubai #3
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
The Pearls in Their Hearts (7/8/18)
Now the tree branches are blooming fresh flowers.
When they lost all their leaves, they could still see the pearls in their hearts,
so they stayed standing up.
They didn’t lose hope. They didn’t break. They didn’t even bend.
Rubailer (2016), Page 211, Rubai #3
The Smell of a Burning Heart (6/24/18)
Troubles for me are cooking in my Beloved’s kitchen of grief.
Every moment hundreds of different meals of sorrow
are being served to my table.
The smell of a burning heart surrounds my table all the time.
I wonder. Where is this smell coming from?
Rubailer, Page 290, Rubai #1
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
“If You Are Looking for a Remedy…” (4/22/18)
I said, “O heart, you are in deep trouble.”
He responded, “I am content with my situation. Are you?”
I answered, “You need a remedy for your mind.”
He said, “If you are looking for a remedy, you are crazy.”
Rubailer, Page 460, Rubai #1
Our Jar Cannot Take Any More (4/15/18)
People were born from the Sea of Soul like water birds.
How do those birds which come from the sea make this place their home?
We are engulfed by the soul’s sea with every breath we take.
If it were not so, why do the waves come one after the other from the Sea of Heart? 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
From the Coast of the Sea of Soul (12/24/17)
O lovers, may all your drinks do you good.
May this world become for you a sugar mine.
O lovers, the sounds of the best wishes have ascended to the Throne.
This caravan has gone beyond the Earth and heaven. Continue reading
The Joy Among Joys (12/17/17)
O head, you are the reason among reasons.
O flesh, you are the stranger among strangers.
O heart, you are the desire among desires.
O soul, you are the joy among joys.
Rubailer, Page 417, Rubai #3
The Difference Becomes Becomes Obvious (12/12/17)
The best journey for me is the journey from existence to Absence.
Existence is the curtain that hides the land of Absence.
Existence is like water. Absence is the sweet sea.
When clean, pure water stays in ponds,
it turns into a swamp, becomes turbid, fetid. Continue reading
The Tree of Contentment (12/3/17)
The one who sees You with his heart becomes ecstatic.
The ones who are lost in thought are blind.
Hundreds of branches scatter roses and flowers to you from the Land of Absence.
Why did you cut down the tree of contentment?
Rubailer, Page 389, Rubai #2
Absence Is for Heroes (11/12/17)
Once more, we have given up our heart, mind and soul.
The Beloved has come. We will stay out of the way.
We have turned our back on existence. Our direction is Absence.
We have found the One whose trace is unseen.
We have given up the trace. Continue reading
Once Love Comes to Talk (10/29/17)
The mind is a bondage to lovers and the ones on the journey, O son.
The road is clear, obvious if you break your ties, O son.
The mind is an impediment. The heart is a deception.
The soul is a curtain. The body is coarse.
The road is hidden because of all this heaviness, O son. Continue reading
Reason Has Become His Fool (8/13/17)
He is such a sultan that reason has become his fool.
He and my heart stay in the same house.
He sent a messenger, saying, “I am yours,”
and with that, hundreds of candles became moths for His light.
Rubailer, Page 359, Rubai #4
There Is No Tomorrow (8/6/17)
My heart has been flying with Love since early dawn,
because the one who sets the trap has plans for me.
I wonder what kind of dream my heart saw last night
that I have such exuberance in my head. Continue reading
Just Think About… (7/2/17)
I have so much excitement in my heart
that it is intolerable even for the sky.
Majnun and Layla* can’t see my exuberance even in their dreams.
All this exaltation is only a small portion of the Beloved’s,
so think about how it is in that heart of His.
*Majnun & Layla Characters in a famous Arabic love story.
Rubailer, Page 349, Rubai #2
His Beauty (5/21/17)
I said to the heart, “When You see the Beloved,
tell Him, if you can, about my situation, my sorrow.”
The heart answered, “When I see the Beloved,
I become so absorbed by His beauty that I can’t talk. I just keep looking at Him.”
Rubailer, Page 337, Rubai #1