How can you know the design of the Designer,
the paint of the Painter?
You are mere form and flesh.
How could you possibly know Soul? Continue reading “Mere Form and Flesh (10/10/2021)”
Mere Form and Flesh (10/10/2021)
Tag: Self
About Death (9/19/2021)
Your soul is a guest of your body for only a couple of days.
Yet, you have become so attached to this Earth
that you don’t want to listen when I talk about death.
Your soul is longing for that mansion –
that “death before death.”*
Unfortunately, your body’s donkey
has fallen asleep in the middle of the road.
*Total destruction of the self before the death of the body.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 2, page 80.
The Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (approx. pub. date 3/2022), Rubai 108, Volume 1.
This Dog (8/8/2021)
I thought I could control the dog of my selfishness
by putting on him the chain of repentance.
Although he is getting tired and old,
whenever he sees a carcass,
he breaks the chain and attacks.
What can I do with this dog?
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #2, page 338.
A Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (tent. pub. 12/21), Rubai 717, Volume 2.
Trying to Find Me (7/11/2021)
I stopped over at a tavern one day.
There, I started to tear my patched-up body-cloak into pieces.
While everyone else was busy with their own affairs,
I was busy destroying my self, trying to find Me.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai 3, page 326.
A Rubaiyat of Rumi, The Ergin Translations (tentative pub. date 12/1/21), Vol. 2 of 4, Rubai 691.
Anger (6/6/2021)
All anger comes from pride.
If you don’t fall into contempt, go, purify in humility.
Give up the self. Be dust. Continue reading “Anger (6/6/2021)”
Walk Nicely Now (3/28/2021)
Ascend to the sky from this banal world.
Your soul will be blessed if you do.
Walk nicely now.
Yes, you have jumped out from this town which is so full of sickness and shivering.
Now, make your home the land of happiness and joy.
If the painting of your body is destroyed, return to the Painter.
If your flesh is decayed, be content with being pure soul.
If your face is withered because of death,
settle down in the purple-colored tulip garden.
If they close the door of the house on you,
come up from the roof. Become your own ladder.
If you are separated from friends and relatives,
if you find yourself all alone,
become the King of the Auspicious Conjunction,*
acquainted with God’s friendship.
If you are separated from bread and water,
turn into the kind of bread
which gives power directly to hearts and souls.
*Refers to at least one Mughal king who claimed he was born under the auspicious conjunction of Jupiter and Venus.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 18, Ghazal 189, verses 18821-1887, page 148.
I Will Rise (2/14/2021)
I am not the kind of lion which fights with the enemy.
I fight with my self. That’s enough for me.
I have become dirt for Love’s feet, but am settled in the knowledge
that I will rise from the ground like a rose, like an iris. Continue reading “I Will Rise (2/14/2021)”
“Yes, that is me.” (1/31/2021)
It comes to me that I am out of this world today.
It comes to me that today, I am hidden from my self.
I grabbed the knife and cut off my existence.
Now, I don’t belong to me or anyone else. Continue reading ““Yes, that is me.” (1/31/2021)”
The Light Calling Out (1/3/2021)
I don’t know how I became annihilated from that wine.
I don’t know where I am because of the beauty of placelessness.
Once I was at the bottom of the sea.
but then I rose like the sun. Continue reading “The Light Calling Out (1/3/2021)”
Come Closer So I Can Show It To You (11/29/2020)
Your soul is so close to my soul
that I know whatever you think.
I have even better proof than this.
Come closer so I can show it to you. Continue reading “Come Closer So I Can Show It To You (11/29/2020)”