Flutter Your Own Wings (4/2/2020)
O heart, you go nowhere on this road with talk and gossip.
You cannot reach the Beloved unless you pass through the door of Absence.
You have to flutter your own wings where His birds fly, O heart.
They don’t give out wings, O heart.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #2, page 165.
If I Miss this Opportunity Now (4/5/2020)
My heart appreciates Beauty.
Why should I run away from the Beloved?
The dagger in my hand is a good one.
Why should I turn my face away from battle? Continue reading
A Sign Has Appeared from Love (3/8/2020)
Just now, ruby-colored tears have started seeping from my eyes.
A sign has appeared from Love, yet a trace of Love’s dust never appears. 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.
There is a Way (1/5/20)
O confused heart, the way to the Beloved is through your soul.
O one who has lost his way, there is a road to the Beloved
which is both known and unknown.
Don’t worry if your way is blocked from all six directions.
There is a way right from the bottom of your heart.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #, page 109. #3
No Place for Water and Earth (12/29/19)
Look at these fragments of soul
which have been chipped off, sparkling in this valley.
Watch this sea. Watch these ships
as they collide with each other. Continue reading
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
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
“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