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Bureau Report, “‘Rumi’s a bridge between east & west’” - The Times Of India - India
The maker of the all-time classic Umrao Jaan is all set to end his over-a-decade-long hiatus from filmmaking.
Posts Tagged ‘Rumi’
When compassion fills my heart
I am happy
when I am sad
I am together
when fallen apart
like earth
when I am silent
I have thunder
hidden inside
– Translation by Nader Khalili
“Rumi, Dancing the Flame”
Cal-Earth Press, 2001
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: mystic, poem, Poetry, Rumi, spiritual, sufi, Sufism
What is this?
One day Rumi was sitting in his personal library with a group of his
students gathered around him for his lecture. Suddenly, Shems
entered uninvited. He pointed to the books that were stacked in a
corner and asked Rumi, “What are these?”
Rumi, who judged Shems from his appearance to be a beggar,
answered, “You would not understand.” He had not even finsihed his
sentence when flames of fire started to rise from the books in the
corner. Frightened, Rumi cried out, “What is this?”
Shems replied calmly, “Nor would you understand this,” So
saying, he left the room.
***** Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: mystic, Rumi, sufi, Sufism
I am only the house of your beloved
Rumi again…
“I am only the house of your beloved,
not the beloved herself:
true love is for the treasure,
not for the coffer that contains it.”
The real beloved is that one who is unique,
who is your beginning and your end.
When you find that one,
you’ll no longer expect anything else:
that one is both the manifest and the mystery.
That one is the lord of the states of feeling,
dependent on none:
month and year are slaves to that moon.
When He bids the “state,”
it does His bidding;
when that one wills, bodies become spirit. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: poem, Poetry, Rumi, sufi, Sufism
In this game of chess
I was first seduced by love
then put in a fire of agonies
as i won the mastery
of the beloved
the beloved dropped me
and was gone
–Translation by Nader Khalili
Rumi, Dancing the Flame
Cal-Earth Press, 2001
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First, he tempted me
with infinite caresses.
He burnt me in the end
with pain and sorrow.
In this game of chess
I had to lose myself
in order to win Him.
– Translation by Azima Melita Kolin
and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 1999
Tags: Love, Poetry, Rumi, sufi, Sufism
The Breeze at Dawn
Courtesy Isa Daudpota
Tags: Poetry, Rumi, sufi, Sufism
This Love — Quatrain from Rumi
This Love is the king,
yet a throne cannot be found.
It is the essence of the Koran
yet a verse cannot be found.
Any lover hit by the Hunter’s arrow
will bleed all over,
yet a wound cannot be found.
– Version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva
“A Garden Beyond Paradise”
Bantam Books, 1992 Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Divine, God, Love, mystic, Poetry, Rumi, sufi, Sufism
The Verge of Tears
You make our souls tasty like rose
marmalade. You cause us to fall flat
on the ground like the shadow of
a cypress still growing at its tip.
Rainwater through a mountain forest,
we run after you in different ways.
We live like the verge of tears inside
your eyes. Don’t cry! You trick some Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: poet, Poetry, Rumi, sufi, Sufism
Thou art the sky and the deep sea (Rumi)
When you fall asleep,
you go from the presence of yourself
into your own true presence.
You hear something
and surmise that someone else in your dream
has secretly informed you.
You are not a single “you.”
No, you are the sky and the deep sea.
Your mighty “Thou,” which is nine hundredfold,
is the ocean, the drowning place
of a hundred “thou’s” within you.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: mystic, mystical, poem, Poetry, Rumi, sufi, Sufism
Know the true definition of yourself
Rumi on knowing ourselves
Suppose you know the definitions of all substances
and their derivatives,
what good is this to you?
Know the true definition of yourself.
That is indispensable.
Then, when you know your own definition, flee from it,
that you may attain to the One who cannot be defined,
O sifter of the dust.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: mystic, poem, Poetry, Rumi, sufi, Sufi poetry, Sufism
“Better than Cabbage Soup”
Rumi on the deeper meanings of fasting in Ramzan
What sweetness lies in an empty stomach!
Man is like a lute: no more, no less.
If the lute is full
it cannot sing a high or low note.
If your mind and stomach
burn with the fire of hunger
it will be like a heavenly song for your heart.
In each moment that fire rages
It will burn away a hundred veils
And carry you a thousand steps
toward your goal. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: fasting, Islam, Muslim, mystic, Poetry, ramadan, ramzan, Rumi, sufi, Sufi poetry, Sufism
Miniatures make for a commentary on the Sufi spirit
Nicholas Cranfield considers work that draws deeply on traditional Islamic art
FATIMA ZAHRA HASSAN has been teaching in London for more than a decade, and is an accomplished artist. Dr Hassan’s little show of some 17 works happily fits the commercial gallery in St John’s, Notting Hill, in London, where the blank white walls draw the eye by their rich palette. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: art, FATIMA ZAHRA HASSAN, Miniatures, Rumi
A Wild Lover Of God - Rumi
A Wild Lover Of God
Tags: Cinema, film, Muzaffar Ali, Rumi, sufi, Sufism
A special message for Jahane Rumi
Sometimes I am most touched by such messages concerning my blog. I am posting this message not because I want to beat my own drum but to share the beauty of this email and how Sufism connects the world and humans estranged from each other:
Subject: The Birth of the Spirit out of the Agonies and Yearnings of the Flesh
“You have no idea how hard I’ve looked for a gift to bring You.
Nothing seemed right. What’s the point of bringing gold to the gold mine, or water to the Ocean. Everything I came up with was like taking spices to the Orient. It’s no good giving my heart and my soul because you already have these. So- I’ve brought you a mirror. Look at yourself and remember me!”Salaam, Peace & Blessings Dear Brother,
My name is Felix and I’m from Israel. My journey brought me to Sufism some many years ago, as a direct result of my interest in Dervishes, Sadhus and Wandering Mystics. As a Humanist, I was amazed to find out how rich and infinite the spirit of Sufism is…
Life is not easy where I am right now. The middle-east is burning in fire of hatred and disillusions. But - One day, this dark age will be over & I truthfully hope to see the world become a much better place to raise our children based on values of Love, Respect and Brotherhood.
I’ve found your outstanding blog + photographs on the web the other day, and would like to kindly thank you for your priceless & beautiful deeds. Wonderful & Kindhearted people like you give me great hope for a much better & brighter future for humanity.
Your journey is an inspiration - may peace, love and light be upon you.
While our background is very different, I humbly feel as if we are all interconnected - we are all brothers, come what may - the whole world is connected through an infinite life line. The human spirit is eternal.
“We are the flute, our music is all Yours;
Your wind invisible sweeps us through the world”
Tags: human, humanism, mystic, Mysticism, Rumi, sufi, Sufism
Let us fall in love again
Rumi’s lilting chant..
Let us fall in love again
and scatter gold dust all over the world.
Let us become a new spring
and feel the breeze drift in the heavens’ scent.
Let us dress the earth in green,
and like the sap of a young tree
let the grace from within sustain us.
Let us carve gems out of our stony hearts
and let them light our path to Love.
The glance of Love is crystal clear
and we are blessed by its light. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: poem, Poetry, Rumi, sufi, Sufism
Nahaj ul Balagha - Looking back to Get Ahead
Fahmida Riaz is Pakistan’s premier female poet. She became a sensation in the early 1970s when her bold, feminist poetry created a stir in the convention ridden world of Urdu poetry. Riaz was expressive, sometimes explicit, and politically charged. She created a completely new genre in Urdu poetry with a post-modern sensibility. Later, she remained prominent with her defiance of General Zia’s martial law, her exile to India and the continuous evolution of her fiction and poetry.
Since the late 1990s, Fahmida Riaz has discovered Jalaluddin Rumi, the 12th century Turkish poet and jurist, and now an international celebrity. Her recent publication – Yeh Khana-e aab-o-gil – is a unique translation of Rumi’s ghazals in the same rhyme and meter. Since her navigation of the Rumi universe, she has explored another dimension of her individual and cultural consciousness, where the influence of Islamic scholars and Sufis is paramount.
Last winter, she read a letter by Hazrat Ali bin Abi Talib (AS), the fourth Caliph and son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), while browsing a translation of Nahaj ul Balagha (a collection of sermons, letters and sayings of the Caliph). Later, in an email, she related to her friends across the globe how angry she felt for not knowing about this letter all her life, and how the real jewels of Muslim history were concealed “generation after generation.” Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: ALi, Fahmida RIaz, governance, Hazrat Ali bin Abi Talib, Islam, Muhammad, Nahaj ul Balagha - Looking back to Get Ahead, Nahajul Balagha, Rumi
A World with No Boundaries
With every breath the sound
of love surrounds us,
and we are bound for the depths
of space, without distraction.
We’ve been in orbit before
and know the angels there.
Let’s go there again, Master,
for that is our land. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: ghazal, Love, poem, Poetry, Rumi, sufi
Rumi’s Quatrain - Our drunkenness does not come from wine
Rumi’s Quatrain -
Our drunkenness does not come from wine.
The joy of our gathering
does not come from the harp or rubaab.
With no celestial beauty to fill our cup,
Without friends, without singing, without wine,
We burst out like madmen,
rolling drunk on the floor.
– Version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva
A Garden Beyond Paradise
Bantam Books, 1992
Two more versions of this Quatrain
Read the rest of this entry »