When grief covers everywhere, everything,
the one who grabs Love becomes carefree.
Just look at the particle.
When it touched Love, it turned into a shape
which created universes.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #1, page 116.
Just Look (2/2/2020)
Tag: Suffering
O Heart, Be Brave (1/26/2020)
He is such a Beauty that He teaches endearing behaviors
to the Moon and Venus all night long.
Both of His eyes cover the eyes of the sky with magic.
O religious ones, save your hearts,
because I have merged so much with Him
that my heart cannot join me to anyone anymore.
First, I was born from Love.
Then, I gave my heart to Him,
just like the fruit that comes from the branch.
In the end, it hangs onto that branch.
I am running away from my shadow,
because it is hiding the light.
How could someone who runs away from his own shadow be settled?
His hair says, “Where is that acrobat who plays with rope?
Have him come back soon.”
His face, which resembles a candle, says,
“Where is the moth? Have it come and burn itself.”
O heart, be brave in the game.
Submit yourself.
When His candle flares up, throw yourself into it.
Once you feel the pleasure of His burning,
you will not be able to get enough of it.
Even the fountain of life
will not be able to separate you from that fire.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 15, Ghazal #28, verses 346-352, pages 67-68.
How Can We Escape (1/19/20)
Love came and broke my regret as if it were a bottle.
How can we escape
Love’s constant breaking and repairing?
Who can repair a broken bottle except Love?
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #3, page 112.
How Lucky (1/12/20)
The soul’s Sultan pushes us from one play to another
as if we were pawns in a chess game.
I wonder if He wins. I wonder if He is ever checkmated.
After all, aren’t we the ones on trial?
He picked up our particles, gathered them together,
then kneaded them with the universe to make a paste.
He pierced our noses and inserted reins made of greed and lust
in order to pull us around the world like camels.
Who are we?
He put an oxen’s bell on the neck of the sky
and keeps crushing us under that sky as if we were sesame.
How lucky is that camel who has been tied by the halter of God’s Love.
He makes us drunk and excited while we are among the other camels.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 15, Ghazal 6, verses 48-52, page 11.
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 “No Place for Water and Earth (12/29/19)”
That is the Sacrifice (10/13/19)
O heart, here you are, sitting in the middle of His sorrow.
To suffer is the cure. Do not complain. That is the order.
When you step on the head of your desire, your dog-self will be suffocated.
That is the sacrifice.
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #1, page 73.
Look at Souls (10/6/19)
Clean souls ascend to the sky.
Turbid souls descend to the valley, are buried in the ground.
Open the eye of your soul and look at souls.
How did they get here?
What happens to them?
Where and how do they go? Continue reading “Look at Souls (10/6/19)”
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 “The Only Way to Reach Eternity (9/22/19)”
Since We See Others… (9/1/19)
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.
I Have No Constancy, No Peace (6/30/19)
He said, “I am the fire which burns you.”
I answered, “Yes, but Your Love and Your sun are in my heart.
“If I smell one rose without Your Love,
burn me right away like a thorn.” Continue reading “I Have No Constancy, No Peace (6/30/19)”
All the World’s Sorrows (6/9/19)
My Beloved whose scattered hair makes everyone confused,
whose sweet ruby lips scatter sugar and honey,
that Beloved asked me, “Are you sorry about our separation?”
I answered, “O my soul, so much so that all the world’s sorrows are in that sorry.”
Rubailer (2016), Rubai #3, page 33.
Don’t Talk So Much (6/2/19)
O one who holds the halter of time,
O one who opens the door of the paradise of meanings!
Your divinity is what makes everything appear and scatter.
Your world of appearances is the ladder of wishes. Continue reading “Don’t Talk So Much (6/2/19)”
How Wonderful is the Kingdom of Love! (4/21/19)
O Kingdom of Love which opens hearts in the world!
O one who has had good fortune, been honored
by the secret of “God does what He pleases!”
O the joy that is hidden in the torment of Love!
How wonderful, how wonderful is the Kingdom of Love! Continue reading “How Wonderful is the Kingdom of Love! (4/21/19)”
The Summit of His Sorrow (3/17/19)
Nothing, not even rose or basil had helped me.
I said to myself, “Be silent. His bow doesn’t match my shield.”
Then, I was shot from that bow like a three-winged arrow.
Even so, I reached the summit of His sorrow without the help of those three wings!
Rubailar. Rubai #2, Page 223.
Our Voices and Screams (2/10/19)
We have gone. Best wishes to the rest.
Those born here on this planet always die here.
The One who lives above
knows that falling rock will surely hit the ground. Continue reading “Our Voices and Screams (2/10/19)”
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.
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 “If This Were Not So (12/16/18)”
For Whom Are You Searching? (12/9/18)
Sometimes you get tired of living with His sorrow and reject life.
Sometimes you tell His story with the troubles in your heart.
Why are you dizzily turning around the world?
He is not outside of you. For whom are you searching?
Rubailer (2016), Page 471, Rubai #2
What’s the Use of That? (12/2/18)
O player, play this music. Play this tune.
Alas for the ones who block the road!
Mercy especially for the one who waylays us on our road!
O player, you learned that other music from that other brigand,
because the student has the teacher’s accent. Continue reading “What’s the Use of That? (12/2/18)”
I am at Peace with Him (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 “I am at Peace with Him (11/18/18)”
Fear and Shyness (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 “Hundreds of Jars of Wine (9/23/18)”
God’s Halter (9/9/18)
A small fox stealthily grabbed the fat tail of a lion and ran.
I wonder. Was the lion sleeping?
Surely that blind, lame fox couldn’t have saved his own life
if the lion had been awake! Continue reading “God’s Halter (9/9/18)”
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
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 “Suffering and the Cure (7/1/18)”
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… (6/10/18)
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 Shrill Pipe of Love (6/3/18)
You are coming our way. You are a decent person.
We are also nice.
In appearance we look like fire,
but we are the Fountain of Life for you.
You are a small pigeon. You were born in this nest.
If you don’t come this way on your own, we will pull you by force.
Be in our temple. We are in the temple of that Beauty,
becoming drunk on His wine, the wine that comes only from Him.
We stand at our place like a mountain, but we flow like a torrent.
We keep silent like that, but sometimes yell and scream like thunder.
Although like fate we kill people for no reason,
you have a soul that resembles the sea.
Put it in your palm and come to us.
Our part of ownership of these five senses is only a short five days.
But, there are six dimensions and we are a sultan in each one of them.
We are following the shrill pipe of Love.
Our breath is sharp. Our voice caresses the soul,
because we keep playing the vessel of the soul, crying for you.
You concern yourself with the matters of Love.
If you are sincere, don’t look for a bed and a pillow.
We have welcomed this illness caused by our desire to reach the Mine.
We haven’t welcomed it out of love for a bed and pillow.
The light of the sky, the praise of Tebriz is our Shamseddin.
Because of that Sun, our insides have turned out to be the sky
and the self has become the Moon.
Divan-i Kebir, Meter 10, Gazel 71, Verses 749-757, Pages 155-156.
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 “Our Peace is No Good (5/6/18)”
Your Being is the Curtain (3/25/18)
If you become prey to God, you will be freed from sorrows.
If you run after your desires, you will stay a slave to your self.
You should know this very well: Your being is the curtain that conceals God from you.
Don’t stay with your self. If you do, you will be hurt time after time.
Rubailer, Page 454, Rubai #4