O breath of spring breeze, O springtime,
I understand from the flowers
that you are also drunk thanks to Him. Continue reading “When Someone Becomes Mortal (4/7/2024)”
O breath of spring breeze, O springtime,
I understand from the flowers
that you are also drunk thanks to Him. Continue reading “When Someone Becomes Mortal (4/7/2024)”
O heart, what kind of stories, what kind of adventures
are you looking for?
O heart, if you are looking for Me,
don’t you know that I am with you?
If you haven’t seen Me,
how can you look for the unknown, the unseen?
If you have seen Me, why are you still looking?
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 4, page 433.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, the Ergin Translations (pub.2024), Volume 3, Rubai 1100.
O One who reminded me last night,
reminded me of that moment of exuberance,
reminded me of the forgotten treasure!
How could I ever forget such a blessing?
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 1, page 424.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub.2024), Volume 3, rubai 1090.
I felt the enemy’s nonsensical talk
down deep in my heart.
I learned what he was thinking about me. Continue reading “I am the One to be Blamed (2/25/2024)”
Sometimes you get tired of living with His sorrow
and so you reject life.
Sometimes you tell His story with the ache in your heart.
Why are you turning so dizzily around the world?
The One whom you search for
is not out there, but inside of you.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 2, page 471.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations, Rubai 1077, Volume 3 (apprx.pub.spring2024).
Leave to others the endless job
of the improvement of this Earth.
This whole world
is worth less than a ruined caravanserai,*
less than a small coin,
less even than a grain of barley.
*A roadside inn along a caravan route.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 2, page 441.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (pubwinter2024), Rubai 1079, Volume 3.
I wonder if your eyes are sleepy or evasive.
No, I swear, you are trying to deceive God.
You close your eyes like a merchant
who reaches his gold once he falls asleep.
You have extended a chain, setting up endless traps.
You tightly restrain some, while you loosen the bondage of others.
As a good deed, you kill your innocent lovers
and pray in front of your martyrs’ graves.
Sometimes, like a cupbearer, you take the mind away from the head.
Sometimes, like a musician, you fill that head with melodies.
You play the ney of separation.
You play Iraq’s ney, making Buselik similar to Hicaz.*
You make the hearts and souls of poor ones
and the wounded hearts of captive ones
treasures of supplication
just with the alms of your beauty.
You tear the curtain of the firmament.
You are coy with the coyness of the Sultan.
You live with the great splendor of Eyaz,,**
stealing the crowns of sultans.
You are my love.
Does Love have any shape or form?
You dress in this shape. You are just joking.
You are an endless treasure.
No sultan’s seal could be put on such a treasure.
Even if a seal were put on one side,
you would quickly cut through it.
Submerge into this wealth and be silent.
How long will you be screaming,
clinging to hope and greed
while you sit next to this treasure?
*Iraq/ Buselik/ Hicaz Tunes of Near Eastern music.
**Eyaz The name of the slave of Gazne’s Mahmut, used symbolically to mean auspicious.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 21, Ghazal 114, verses 1236-1246, pages 253-254.
Sometimes You rip the curtain.
Sometimes You repair it.
Sometimes You get along with me.
Sometimes You break me apart and burn me.
I am learning about youth in my old age.
O people of the world, I can advise you about old age.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 2, page 481.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (approx.pub.fall2023), Rubai 1030, Volume 3.
You spilled the Water of Life
in order to save water to wash your face.
You wasted sugar and honey
and put poison in your mouth. Continue reading “It is Not Worth It (8/27/2023)”
If you become God’s prey, you will be freed from sorrows.
If you run after your desires, you will be a slave to yourself.
You should know this very well:
your being is the curtain which conceals God from you.
Do not stay with you, or you will get hurt all the time.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 2, page 474.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (apprx.pub.fall2023), Rubai 1018, Volume 3.