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
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
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
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
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
See Absence (2/18/18)
Don’t be deceived when destiny raises you high.
Don’t brag, because before you are dropped by destiny,
you must first be raised. Continue reading
Don’t Worry (1/28/18)
Once you become the friend of one whose heart is in God,
don’t pay attention to other people and their customs.
Your soul will fall in Love’s fire like your fate.
Don’t worry. Don’t run away.
Know this well: From now on, you won’t fit in anywhere.
Rubailer, Page 424, Rubai #2