Rumi « Jahane Rumi

11Mar/100

the two insomnias

“When I am with you, we stay up all night.

When you're not here, I can't go to sleep.

Praise God for those two insomnias!

And the difference between them.”

* Jalal ad-Din Rumi

Tagged as: insomnia, Jalaluddin Rumi, poem, Poetry, Rumi, sufi No Comments

9Mar/100

Rumi – Guest House

This being human is a guest house

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them

all!

Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture,

still treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,

meet them at the door laughing,

and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond.

Tagged as: Guest House, poem, Poetry, Rumi No Comments

3Mar/100

Lovers have nothing to do with existence

The lover's food is the love of the bread;

no bread need be at hand:

no one who is sincere in his love is a slave to existence.

Lovers have nothing to do with existence;

lovers have the interest without the capital.

Without wings they fly around the world;

without hands they carry the polo ball from the field.

That dervish who caught the scent of Reality

used to weave baskets even though his hands had been cut off.

Lovers have pitched their tents in nonexistence;

they are of one quality and one essence, as nonexistence is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tagged as: bread, Konya, Love, lover, mystic, poet, Poetry, Rumi, spiritual, sufi, Turkey Continue reading

27Feb/102

I become like a pen

Ghazal 2530 from the Diwan-e Shams, in a version by Coleman Barks, in translation by Annemarie Schimmel, and in translation by A.J. Arberry:

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I become a pen in the Friend's hand,

tonight writing "say," tomorrow "ray."

He trims the pen for fine calligraphy.

The pen says, "I am here, but who am I?"

He blackens the pen's face.

He wipes it in his hair. He holds it upside down.

Now he begins to use it.

On one sheet he cancels everything.

On another he adds a dangerous conjunction.

The writing depends entirely on the scribe,

who knows how to split the head of the pen.

Galen knows what a patient needs.

The pen cannot speak for itself, or know what

to disapprove of in its own nature.

Whether I say "pen" or "flag", it is with this wonderful

conscious unconsciousness: the mind unable to include

its own description, composing blindly.

Held in a hand, yet free.

-- Version by Coleman Barks

(Based on the translation by A.J. Arberry)

"These Branching Moments"

Copper Beech Press, 1988

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26Feb/100

No sound of clapping comes from only one hand.
The thirsty man is moaning, "O delicious water!"
The water is calling, "Where is the one who will drink me?"
This thirst in our souls is the magnetism of the Water:
We are Its, and It is ours.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hich bâng-e kaff zadan na-âyad beh dar
az yeki dast to bi dasti degar
Teshneh mi nâlad keh "Ay âb-e govâr"
âb ham nâlad keh "Ku ân âb khvâr"
Jazb-e âbast in `atash dar jân-e mâ
mâ az ân-e U va U ham ân-e mâ

-- Mathnawi III: 4397-4399
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra

Tagged as: poem, Poetry, Rumi No Comments

25Feb/100

His form has passed away and he has become a mirror (Rumi)

Sunlight has recently offered two versions/translations of Rumi's Mathnawi story of the dervish Bayazid Bestami

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BESTAMI

That magnificent dervish, Bayazid Bestami,

came to his disciples and said,

"I am God."

It was night, and he was drunk with his ecstasy.

Tagged as: Barks, Bayazid, Bestami, dervish, Divine, God, light, Mathnawi, mystic, Nicholson, poem, Poetry, Rumi, story, sufi, translation Continue reading

21Feb/100

Sources of nourishment

The heart eats a particular food from every companion;

the heart receives a particular nourishment

from every single piece of knowledge.

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Del ze har yâri ghezâyi mi khvord

del ze har `elmi safâyi mi khvord

-- Mathnawi II: 1089

Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski

"Rumi: Daylight"

Threshold Books, 1994

Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra

Tagged as: heart, nourishment, Rumi No Comments

20Feb/100

Ask us about the lion of God

This caravan is not bringing our baggage -- it has

none of the fire of our Friend.

Though the trees have all turned green, they

have caught no scent of our spring.

Your spirit may be a rosegarden, but its heart

has not been wounded by our thorn.

Your heart may be an ocean of realities, but its

boiling does not compare with that of our shore.

Although the mountains are very steady -- by

God, they do not have our steadiness.

The spirit drunk with the morning wine has not

even caught a scent of our winesickness.

Venus herself, the minstrel of heaven, has not

the capacity for our work.

Ask us about the lion of God -- every lion has

not our backbone.

Show not Shams-I Tabrizi's coin to him who

has not our fineness!

-- Ghazal (Ode) 695

Translation by William C. Chittick

"The Sufi Path of Love"

SUNY Press, Albany, 1983

Tagged as: God, Lion, poem, Poetry, Rumi, Shams, sufi No Comments

19Feb/103

I am enslaved to fate, of all else say no more – Rumi

" I am enslaved to fate, of all else say no more

With a sweet tongue speak, else I plea say no more

Speak not of troubles, of treasures, tell me more

And if of this you know not, be not troubled, say no more

I have gone insane, Love found me, then whispered in my ear

'I am here, cry not aloud, curse yourself not, say no more'

I said ' O Love it is other than Thee that I fear'

Said ' it may thus appear, yet it is not so, say no more

I speak in you ear, to you bring secrets near

Speak with your head, confirm a nod, say no more'

I asked, ' What do I see? Is it an angel or a man? '

Said ' no more an angel than a man, is another, say no more'

'Tell me what it is, why withhold, why the flames of my torment fan'

Said ' just be tormented, confused, say no more

For leaving this colorful and false abode, you have made no plan

Rise up and just depart, leave this home, say no more'

Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi

Tagged as: Jalaluddin Rumi, Love, poet, Poetry, Rumi, sufi 3 Comments

17Feb/100

When you dance

Sunlight's interpretation of Rumi's Quatrain 784:

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When you dance

the whole universe dances.

What a wonder,

I've looked

and now I cannot look away!

Take me or do not take me,

both are the same –

As long as there is life in this body,

I am your servant.

***

-- Version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva

A Garden Beyond Paradise

Bantam Books, 1992

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16Feb/100

On the bank of the river

On the bank of the river,

water is grudged by that one alone

who is blind to the flowing stream.

~~~~~~~~~~

Bar lab-e ju bokhl-e âb ân-râ bovad

ku ze ju-ye âb nâ-binâ bovad

-- Mathnawi II:894

Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski

"Rumi: Daylight"

Threshold Books, 1994

Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra

On the bank of the river,water is grudged by that one alonewho is blind to the flowing stream.
~~~~~~~~~~
Bar lab-e ju bokhl-e âb ân-râ bovadku ze ju-ye âb nâ-binâ bovad
-- Mathnawi II:894Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski"Rumi: Daylight"Threshold Books, 1994Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra

Tagged as: mystic, poet, Poetry, Rumi, sufi, verse No Comments

4Feb/100

Who is looking out?

Who sees inside from outside?
Who finds hundreds of mysteries
even where minds are deranged?

See through his eyes what he sees.
Who then is looking out from his eyes?

-- Version by Coleman Barks
Open Secret
Threshold Books, 1984

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

who is the one
who sees the external
right from within
who is the one
who casts a hundred magic spells
when watching the insane in love
try your own eyes
see how they see
who is the one
who is looking out
through your eyes for you

--Translation by Nader Khalili
Rumi, Dancing the Flame
Cal-Earth Press, 2001

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3Feb/100

I have returned, like the new year (Rumi)

I am posting Sunlight translations of Rumi's Ghazal (Ode) 1375, from "Diwan-e-Shamsi" ("The Collection of Shams"), rendered by Nader Khalili, and Prof. William Chittick:

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i've come again

like a new year

to crash the gate

of this old prison

i've come again

to break the teeth and claws

of this man-eating

monster we call life

Tagged as: ghazal, mystic, mystical, Poetry, Rumi, sufi, Sufism, Sunlight Continue reading

28Nov/090

Love is a mirror

With love you cannot bargain
there, the choice is not yours.
Love is a mirror, it reflects
only your essence,
if you have the courage
to look in its face.

-- Translation by Azima Melita Kolin
and Maryam Mafi

Filed under: All My Posts, Poetry, Rumi, Sufi poetry Continue reading

16Oct/090

To that Beloved

To that Beloved,

flower and thorn are one;

A verse of the Koran

And a Brahmin's thread are one.

Don't try to impress Him –

To that Beloved,

hero and fool are one.

-- Version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva

A Garden Beyond Paradise

Bantam Books, 1992

Filed under: All My Posts, Poetry, Rumi No Comments

1Oct/090

On Rumi’s birthday

I am addicted to the translations of Rumi that appear on the Sunlight group's website. My evening became quite delightful when I found out the new post on Rumi's birthday. I am therefore posting all these translations here, thanks to Sunlight.

Mawlana Jalal-ad-Din Muhammad Rumi was born on September 30, 1207

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In memory of the birth of Maulaana Jalalludin Balkhi, known as Rumi, Sunlight has published the first verses from his Mathnawi, the story of The Song of the Reed, in an interpretive version by Jonathan Star, in translation by Dr. Franklin Lewis, and in translation by Dr.

Ibrahim Gamard, accompanied by a Persian transliteration.

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The Song of the Reed

Listen to the song of the reed,

How it wails with the pain of separation:

"Ever since I was taken from my reed bed

My woeful song has caused men and women to weep.

Tagged as: 30, birthday, poem, Poetry, reed, Rumi, september, song Continue reading

29Sep/091

Journey in yourself, journey out of self

Sunlight has compiled a several version of Ghazal (Ode) 1142, from Rumi's "Diwan-e-Shams-e Tabrizi"*, in a version by Star, a translation by Schimmel, a version by Barks, and a translation by Nicholson (from which the Barks version is derived).

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If a tree could run or fly

it would not suffer from the teeth of a saw

or the blows of an axe.

If the Sun did not run across the sky

the world would not see

the colors of morning.

If water did not rise from the sea

plants would not be quickened

by rivers or rain.

Tagged as: poem, Poetry, Rumi, translation Continue reading

28Sep/090

Don’t talk about the journey (Rumi)

come come come

my endless desires

come come come

come my beloved

come my sweetheart

Tagged as: beloved, Divine, journey, Love, Rumi, sufi Continue reading

26Sep/091

Take simplicity as your companion

O, how often have knowledge and wit

become as deadly to the wayfarer as any demon or bandit!

Most of those destined for Paradise are simple-minded,

so that they escape from the mischief of philosophy.

Strip yourself of useless learning and vanity,

so that every moment Divine mercy may descend upon you.

Tagged as: Islam, Muslim, mystic, Persian, poem, Poetry, Rumi, simplicity, sufi, translation Continue reading

22Sep/090

Ramadan came to the heart’s temple

Rumi on Eid

Ramadan came, but Bairam is with us.
The lock came, but the key is with us.

Mouth is closed. Eyes are opened.
That brilliance that the eyes see is with us.

Tagged as: bairam, eid, poem, Poetry, ramadan, Rumi Continue reading

15Sep/091

What a fine, broad kingdom

Another fine poem by Rumi - translation followed by the original

In the world there are invisible ladders,

leading step by step to the summit of heaven.

There is a different ladder for every group,

a different heaven for every path.

Each one is ignorant of the other's condition in this wide kingdom which

has no end or beginning.

Tagged as: broad, Divine, kingdom, ladder, Love, mystic, poem, Poetry, Rumi, sufi, Turkey Continue reading

27Aug/090

A Sacred Blasphemy

Rumi once again...

Be off and know
That the way of lovers is opposite all other ways.
Lies from the Friend
Are better than truth and kindness from others.

For Him
The impossible is commonplace,
Punishment is reward,
Tyranny is justice,
Slander is the highest praise.

Tagged as: blasphemy, Divine, Rumi, sacred Continue reading

10Aug/090

Live a fresh story

A quatrain by Rumi
happiness is to reach
the next post every day
like flowing water
free from stillness
and melancholy
yesterday is gone and
took away its talk
today we must live
a fresh story again

Filed under: All My Posts, Arts & Culture, Poetry, Rumi, Sufi poetry, Sufism, World Artists, World Literature Continue reading

15Jun/092

Spinning with your love

I am filled with splendor,
spinning with your love.

It looks like I'm spinning around you,
but no – I'm spinning around myself!

Rumi's Quatrain 1118

-- Version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva
A Garden Beyond Paradise
Bantam Books, 1992

Tagged as: Love, poet, Poetry, Rumi, spinning 2 Comments

12Jun/090

All the precious words

all the precious words
you and I have exchanged
have found their way
into the heart of the universe
one day they'll pour on us
like whispering rain
helping us arise
from our roots again

-- Quatrain 1112
Translation by Nader Khalili
Rumi, Dancing the Flame
Cal-Earth Press, 2001

Tagged as: poem, Rumi No Comments

10Jun/090

Thou art wine and I am water

Before such spirit-bestowing Beauty, how should
I not die? How should I not go mad and seize hold of Thy
chainlike tresses?
When I drink Thy wine, how should I not be
obliterated? Thou art wine and I am water, Thou art honey
and I am milk.

Tagged as: ghazal, Love, mystical, poem, Poetry, Rumi, Sufism Continue reading

8Jun/090

Polish your heart for a day or two

Stop talking!
What a shame you have no familiarity
with inner silence!
Polish your heart for a day or two:
make that mirror your book of contemplation.

Tagged as: poet, Poetry, Rumi, Sufism Continue reading

6Jun/093