Thursday, August 31, 2006

"The intellect of intellect"


The philosopher is a slave of intellectual pretensions;
the pure saint rides the Intellect of intellects like a prince.
The Intellect of intellect is your kernel;
the intellect is only a husk.
The belly of animals keeps seeking husks.
The intellect blackens books with writing;
the Intellect of intellect fills the universe
with light from the moon of reality.
It is free from blackness or whiteness:
the light of its moon rises and shines
upon the heart and the soul.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Band-e ma`qulât âmad falsafi
shahsavâr-e `Aql-e `aql âmad safi
`Aql-e `aqlet maghz va `aql-e tost pust
me`deh-ye hayavân hamisheh pust just
`Aql daftar-hâ konad yeksar siyâh
`Aql-e `aql âfâq dârad por ze mâh
Az siyâhi vaz sapidi fâreghast
nur-e mâhesh bar del o jân bâzeghast

-- Mathnawi III: 2527-2528; 2530-2532
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyل Monastra)

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Wednesday, August 30, 2006

A parable of God's gift


Here, Sunlight offers Ghazal (Ode) 765, from the Diwan-e
Shams, in poetic translation by Nader Khalili, in a version by
Jonathan Star, and in translation by A.J. Arberry:

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

my dear friend
never lose hope
when the beloved
sends you away

if you're abandoned
if you're left hopeless
tomorrow for sure
you'll be called again

if the door is shut
right in your face
keep waiting with patience
don't leave right away

seeing your patience
your love will soon
summon you with grace
raise you like a champion

and if all the roads
end up in dead ends
you'll be shown the secret paths
no one will comprehend

the beloved i know
will give with no qualms
to a puny ant
the kingdom of Solomon

my heart has journeyed
many times around the world
but has never found
and will never find
such a beloved again

ah i better keep silence
i know this endless love
will surely arrive
for you and you and you

-- Translation by Nader Khalili
"Rumi, Fountain of Fire"
Burning Gate Press, Los Angeles, 1994

(Sunlight note: "Fountain of Fire" incorrectly cites this Ghazal as
Furuzanfar's number 965, when it is actually Furuzanfar's number
765.)

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

Do not despair
if the Beloved pushes you away.
If He pushes you away today
it's only so He can draw you back tomorrow.

If he closes the door on your face,
don't leave, wait --
you'll soon be by His side.
If He bars every passage,
don't lose hope --
He's about to show you
a secret that nobody knows.

A butcher cuts off a sheep's head for food,
not just to throw away.
When the sheep no longer has breath
the butcher fills it
with his own breath.
O what life
God's breath will bring to you!

But the likeness ends here -
For God's bounty is much greater than the butcher's.
God's blows don't bring death but eternal life.
He gives the wealth of Solomon to a single ant.
He gives the treasure of both worlds to all who ask.
He gives and gives
yet does not startle a single heart.

I've traveled to all ends of the earth
and have not found anyone like Him.
Who can match Him?
Who can hold a candle to His glory?

Silence already!
He gives us the wine to taste,
not to talk about . . . .

He gives to taste.
He gives to taste.
He gives to taste.

-- Version by Jonathan Star
"Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved "
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York 1997

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

Say, do not despair because the Beloved drives you away; if
He drives you away today, will He not call you back tomorrow?
If He shuts the door on you, do not go away; be patient
there, for after patience He will seat you in the place of
honour.
And if He bars against you all ways and passages, He will
show you a secret way, which no man knows.
Is it not the case that when the butcher cuts off the head of
a sheep with his knife, he does not abandon what he has slain,
but first slays, and then draws?
When no more breath remains to the sheep, he fills it with
his own breath; you will see whither God's breath will bring
you!
I spoke this as a parable; else, His generosity slays no man,
rather it rescues him from slaying.
He gives all the kingdom of Solomon to a single ant; He
bestows both worlds, and does not startle a single heart.
My heart has travelled round the world and found none
like Him; whom does He resemble? Whom does He resem-
ble?
Ah, silence! For without speech He gives to all of this wine
to taste, He gives to taste, He gives to taste, He gives to taste.

-- Translation by A. J. Arberry
"Mystical Poems of Rumi 1"
The University of Chicago Press, 1968

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Tuesday, August 29, 2006

"Everything except love is devoured by Love"


The wild beast wouldn't dare to devour the flesh of the lover:
Love is recognized both by the corrupt and by the good;
and if the beast should attempt to rip the lover apart with words,
the lover's flesh will become a fatal poison.
To the beak of Love the two worlds are but a single grain.
Everything except love is devoured by Love.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lahm-e `âsheq-râ niyârad khvord dad
`eshq ma`rufast pish-e nik o bad
Var khvord khvod fi al-masal dâm o dadesh
gusht-e `âsheq zahr gardad be-kashadesh
Harcheh joz `eshqast shod ma'kul-e `Eshq
do jahân yek dâneh pish-e nul-e `Eshq

-- Mathnawi V: 2724-2726
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyل Monastra)

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Monday, August 28, 2006

"The Shine in the Fields"


The shine in the fields and in the orchard
has become the light of your face. No

home now, no loved occupation, no belongings,
no figuring profits and loss. When this

love comes, it's impossible to worry about
honor or reputation, what the community

gives, the more and the less. There's no
longer any demarcation line between "the

worlds." Hats fly off. A pack of dogs snarl
and bite each other around a carcass. We're

not those dogs. Only God knows our secrets,
and that's enough. We have no more dicussions

about God or arguments over doctrine. What is
planted in each person's soul with sprout.

We surrender to however that happens.
Companions used to be magnets that drew us

together to talk. No more. No more even
the sun! It has turned itself into the face

of Shams-i Tabriz, the sanctity and praise.

-- Ghazal (Ode) 1710
Version by Coleman Barks, with Nevit Ergin
"The Glance"
Viking-Penguin, 1999

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Friday, August 25, 2006

"The Mirror Between Us"


The mirror between us is breath
mist when I speak. Your face

in water: I reach, the work
grows muddy. Even friend and

beloved are wrong words for this.
Even ahhhhh retreats back into

my mouth, the same if the moon's
behind cloud or being released.

A pure silent look is better.

-- Ghazal (Ode) 1453
Version by Coleman Barks, with Nevit Ergin
"The Glance"
Viking-Penguin, 1999

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Thursday, August 24, 2006

"You are nearer to me than my jugular vein"


You are my face; no wonder I don't see You:
such closeness is a mystifiying veil.
You are my reason; it's no wonder I don't see You,
because of all this perplexity of thought.
You are nearer to me than my jugular vein.

~ ~ ~ ~

Anta wajhî lâ `ajab an lâ arâh
ghâyat al-qurb hijâb al-ishtibâh
Anta `aqlî lâ `ajab an lâ arak
min wufûr al-iltibâs al-mushtabak
Ji'ta aqrab Anta min habl al-warîd
kam aqul yâ, yâ nidâh lil-`abîd

-- Mathnawi: VI: 666-668
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyل Monastra)

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Wednesday, August 23, 2006

"Stop Struggling!"


Since you saw this spring, why didn't
you become water?
Since you saw the Friend near, why do
you still have love for yourself?
Since you are in the shop of the sweet-seller,
why this bitter look?
Since you are swimming in the river of life,
why are you dry and miserable?
Don't be stubborn, do not flee from happiness.

You are imprisoned in a net from which
you can't escape,
Stop struggling! Stop struggling!

-- Ghazal (Ode) 638
"Breathing Truth - Quotations from Jalaluddin Rumi"
Selected and Translated by Muriel Maufroy
Sanyar Press - London, 1997

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Tuesday, August 22, 2006

"All that beauty, power, virtue, and excellence"


The servant for whom the world lovingly wept
the world now rejects: what did he do wrong?
His crime was that he put on borrowed clothes
and pretended he owned them.
We take them back, in order that he may know for sure
that the stock is Ours and the well-dressed are only borrowers;
that he may know that those robes were a loan,
a ray from the Sun of Being.
All that beauty, power, virtue, and excellence
have arrived here from the Sun of Excellence.
They, the light of that Sun, turn back again,
like the stars, from these bodily walls.
When the Sunbeam has returned home,
every wall is left darkened and black.
That which amazed you in the faces of the fair
is the Light of the Sun reflected in the three-colored glass.
The glasses of diverse hue cause the Light to appear colored to us.
When the many-colored glasses are no more,
then the colorless Light amazes you.
Make it your habit to behold the Light without the glass,
so that when the glass is shattered you may not be left blind.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shâhedi kaz `eshq-e u `âlam geryest
`âlamesh mi-rânad az khvod jorm chist
Jorm ânke zoyur-e `âriyeh bast
kard da`vâ kin holal melk-e manast
Vâ satânim ân keh tâ dânad yaqin
kharman ân-e Mâst khubân dâneh chin
Tâ be-dânad k-ân holal `âriyeh bud
partavi bud ân ze Khvorshid-e Vojud
n jamâl o qodrat o faazl o hona
ze ftâb-e Hosn kard in su safar
Bâz mi gardand chon estâr-hâ
nur-e ân Khvorshid zin divâr-hâ
Partaw-e khvorshid shod vâ jâyegâh
mând har divâr târik o siyâh
nke kard u dar rokh-e khubânet dang
Nur-e Khvorshidast az shisheh-ye seh rang
Chon na-mând shisheh-hâ-ye rang rang
Nur bi ranget konad ângâh dang
Khui kon bi shisheh didan Nur-râ
tâ cho shisheh be-shekanad na-bovad ghamâ

-- Mathnawi V: 981-991
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyل Monastra)

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Monday, August 21, 2006

Symbols and Realities


Sunlight offers Ghazal (Ode) 2449, from the Diwan-e Shams, in
versions by Coleman Barks and Kabir Helminski, and in literal
translation by A.J. Arberry:

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

"No Flag"

I used to want buyers for my words.
Now I wish someone would buy me away from words.

I've made a lot of charmingly profound images,
scenes with Abraham, and Abraham's father, Azar,
who was also famous for icons.

I'm so tired of what I've been doing.

Then one image without form came,
and I quit.

Look for someone else to tend the shop.
I'm out of the image-making business.

Finally I know the freedom
of madness.

A random image arrives. I scream,
"Get out!" It disintegrates.

Only love.
Only the holder the flag fits into,
and wind.
No flag.

-- Version by Coleman Barks
"The Essential Rumi"
HarperSanFrancisco, 1995

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

"Buy Me From My Words"

Before now I wanted
to be paid for what I said,
but now I need you
to buy me from my words.
The idols I used to carve
charmed everyone. Now I'm drunk
on Abraham and tired of idols.
An idol with no color or scent
ended my whole career.
Find someone else for the job.
A happy madman without a thought,
I have swept the shop clean.
If something enters my mind,
I say, "Leave. You're a distraction. "
Whatever is coarse and heavy, I destroy.
Who should be with Layla?
Someone who can be Majnun.
The man holding up this waving flag
actually belongs to the other side.

-- Version by Kabir Helminski
"Love is a Stranger"
Threshold Books, 1993

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

Before this I sought a purchaser for my discourse, and now I
wish of you to buy me from my words.
I have carved idols enough to beguile every person; now I am
drunk with Abraham, I am sated with Azar.*
An idol without color and scent arrived; my hand was put out
of action by him. See another master for the shop of idol-making.
I have cleared the shop of myself, I have thrown away the
idols; having realized the worth of madness, I have become free
of thoughts.
If an image enters my heart I say, "Depart, you who lead
astray!" If it displays grossness, I destroy its composition.
Who is suitable for Leyli? He who becomes Majnun for her.
That man is at the foot of the flag whose soul is on the other side.*

-- Translation by A. J. Arberry
"Mystical Poems of Rumi 2"
University of Chicago Press, 1991

Arberry's notes:
*Azar: the father of Abraham was a famous idol-maker.
*The love of Leyli and Majnun is proverbial in Islamic literatures.

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Friday, August 18, 2006

"If thou fare on the Way"


Mathnawi V:1105-1118

On the meaning of this verse:

"If thou fare on the Way,
the Way will be revealed to thee;
and if thou become non-existent,
(real) existence will be conferred on thee." *

Though Zalikha shut the doors on every side, still Joseph
gained return (to safety) by bestirring himself.
Lock and door opened, and the way (out) appeared: when
Joseph put trust in God, he escaped.
Though the world hath no visible crevice (means of exit),
(yet) one must run (to and fro) recklessly, like Joseph,
In order that the lock may open and the doorway become clear,
and the region of non-spatiality become your dwelling-place.
Thou camest into the world, 0 afflicted one: dost thou ever
see the way of thy coming?
Thou camest from a certain place and abode: dost thou
know the way of thy coming? Nay.
If thou knowest (it) not, (yet) beware of saying that
there is no way: by this wayless way we (all) shall depart.
In dreams thou wanderest happily to left and right: hast thou
any knowledge where the way is that leads to that arena?
Shut that (sensual) eye and give thyself up: thou wilt
find thyself in the ancient City**.
How shouldst thou shut thy (sensual) eye when in this
direction*** a hundred inebriated (languishing) eyes
are (as) a bandage on thine eye because of (thy)
infatuation (with them)?
From love of (having) a purchaser (admirer) thou art
(looking) with four eyes (intently) in the hope of
(gaining) eminence and chieftainship.
And if thou fall asleep thou seest the purchaser in thy dreams:
how should the ill-omened owl dream of aught but
a wilderness? At every moment thou wantest a purchaser
cringing (before thee): what hast thou to sell?
Nothing, nothing.
If thy heart had any (spiritual) bread or breakfast,
it would have been empty of (desire for worldly)
purchasers.

*this verse: the first half of a Persian quatrain, author unknown.
Another manuscript of the Mathnawi adds the second half: "And if you
become humble, you will not be contained by the world; then you will
be shown yourself with (the real) you and without (the false) you!"
(Translation by Ibrahim Gamard).
** i.e. the world of Reality.
*** i.e. the material world.

-- From The Mathnawi of Jalalu'ddin Rumi
Translation and Commentary by Reynold A. Nicholson
Published and Distributed by The Trustees of
The "E.J.W. Gibb Memorial"

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

gar zulaykhâ bast dar-hâ har Taraf
yâft yûsuf ham ze jonbesh munSaraf

bâz shod qufl-o dar-o shod rah padîd
chôn tawakkul kard yûsuf, bar jahîd

garche rakhna nêst `âlam-râ padîd
khîra, yûsuf-wâr mê-bây-ad dawîd

tâ goshây-ad qufl-o dar paydâ shaw-ad
sôy-é bê-jâyî shomâ-râ jâ shaw-ad

âmad-î andar jahân ay mumtaHan
hêch mê-bîn-î Tarîq-é âmadan?

tô ze jâyê âmad-î w-az mawTinê
âmadan-râ râh dân-î hêch? nay

gar na-dân-î tâ na-gôy-î râh nêst
z-în rah-é bê-râha mâ-râ raftanê-st

mê-raw-î dar khwâb shâdân chapp-o râst
hêch dân-î râh-é ân maydân kojâ-st?

tô bo-band ân chashm-o khwad taslîm kon
khwêsh-râ bîn-î dar ân shahr -é kohon

chashm chôn band-î ke Sad chashm-é khumâr
band-é chashm-é tô-st în sû az ghirâr?

châr chashm-î tô ze `ishq-é mushtarî
bar omêd-é mehtariy-o sarwarî

w-ar be-khosp-î, mushtarî bîn-î ba-khwâb
choghdebad kay khwâb bîn-ad joz kharâb?

moshtarî khwâh-î ba-har dam pêch pêch
tô che dâr-î ke forûsh-î? hêch hêch

gar del-at-râ nân bod-y yâ châshtî
az karîdâr-ân farâghat dâsht-y

-- Rumi's Mathnawi V:1105-18
Persian transliteration (C) Ibrahim Gamard

Sunlight thanks Dr. Gamard for his many contributions, and for his
friendship to Sunlight.

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Thursday, August 17, 2006

"Unity is the proper attribute"


The hearty unripe grapes, capable of ripening,
at last become one in heart
by the breath of the masters of heart.
They grow rapidly to grapehood,
shedding duality and hatred and strife.
Then in maturity, they rend their skins,
till they become one:
unity is the proper attribute
for one who is one with others.

~ ~ ~ ~

Ghure-hâ-ye nik k-ishân qâbeland
az dam-e ahl-e del âkher yekdeland
Su-ye anguri hami rânand tiz
tâ doi bar khizad va kin o setiz
Pas dar anguri hami darand pust
tâ yeki gardand vahdat vasf-e ust

-- Mathnawi II: 3723-3725
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Daylight"
Threshold Books, 1994
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyل Monastra

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Wednesday, August 16, 2006

"From Black Soot"


What became of last night's promise? -
You broke it this morning!
But why should I care?
I can conquer the world with a blink,
I can heal a broken heart with a smile.

O heart,
Make your wish -
The gifts are ready,
the King is waiting with open arms.
The light of His Face
is shining upon you.

I never heard a King say,
"Wait till tomorrow,
then I'll give you everything."
Has dim light ever shown from the face of a full moon?

Where are the favors?
Where are the wise men?
Where are the open doors?
Where is the Revealer of Secrets? -
The answer is: "Right here!"
They are here, from the beginning to the end.
So it says,
"You are what you seek."

Enough talk from me.
I have died at the Beloved's feet.
No, I am wrong -
One who gains life through Him
can never die.

When the King's reflection dances upon the earth
Mud and stone come to life,
brittle trees laugh,
barren women give birth.

If His reflection can do this
Imagine what the light of His Face can do!
It is the brightness of every thought,
The light animating every soul,
The source of life
from the Sun to the fourth heaven.

But one can only know the taste of salt
by sprinkling it on his food.

What a wonder!
The Beloved is in love with the lover.
What a miracle!
From black soot grows a paradise.

-- Ode 2290
Version by Jonathan Star
"Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved "
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York 1997

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Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Be one of those who drink the wine of Love


Both the dry and the fresh branch are near to the sun;
how can the sun be screened off from either?
But how much greater is the nearness of the bough
from which you enjoy ripe fruit?
From its nearness to the sun,
let the dry branch, if it can,
get anything besides withering sooner!
O man without wisdom,
don't be the kind of drunkard
who returns to his wits a sorry man.
Be one of those who drink the wine of Love,
and whose drunkenness mature intellects long for.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shâkh-e khoshk o tar qarib-e âftâb
âftâb az har do kay dârad hejâb
Lik ku ân qorbat-e shâkh-e tari
keh semâr-e pokhteh az vay mi-khvori
Shâkh-e khoshk az qorbat-e ân âftâb
ghayr zutar khoshk gashtan gu biyâb
n chonân masti ma-bâsh ay bi kherad
ki be-`aql âyad pashimâni khvord
Balke az ân mastân keh chon may mi khvorand
`aql-hâ-ye pokhteh hasrat mi barand

-- Mathnawi III: 707-711
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyل Monastra)

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Monday, August 14, 2006

"Riotous Clamour"


Today, Sunlight offers Ghazal (Ode) 809, in a version by Coleman
Barks, and in translation by A.J. Arberry:

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

Steam fills the bath and frozen figures on the wall
open their eyes, wet and round, Narcissus eyes
that see enormous distances. And new ears
that love the details of any story. The figures dance
like friends diving into red wine, coming up and diving again.

Steam spills into the courtyard. It's the noise
of resurrection. They move from one corner
laughing across to the opposite corner. No one notices
how the steam opens the rose of each mind,
fills every beggar's cup solid with coins.
Hold out a basket. It fills up so well
that emptiness becomes what you want.

The judge and the accused forget the sentencing.
Someone stands up to speak, and the wood of the table
becomes holy. The tavern in that second is actually "made"
of wine. The dead drink it in.
Then the steam
evaporates.
The figures sink back into the wall, eyes blank,
ears just lines.
Now it's happening again,
outside.
The garden fills with bird and leaf sounds.

We stand in the wake of this chattering and grow airy.
How can anyone say what happens, even if each of us
dips a pen a hundred million times into ink?

-- Version by Coleman Barks
(based on A.J. Arberry's translation)
"These Branching Moments"
Copper Beech Press, 1988

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

Amazing keeper of the hot baths!* When he comes forth from
seclusion, every painted figure of the baths falls into prostration!
The figures, frozen, unconscious, dead - from the reflection of
his eyes their eyes open large as narcissi.
Through his ears their ears become familiar with fables,
through his eyes their eyes become receptive of vistas.
You behold every single bath-figure drunk and dancing, like a
boon companion who from time to time plunges in red wine.
The courtyard of the baths is full of their clamour and shout-
ing; the riotous clamour marks the first day of resurrection.
The figures call one another unto themselves; one figure from
that corner there comes laughing to another figure.
But no form discovers the bath-keeper himself, for all that
form is running hither and thither in search of him.
All are distracted, he behind and before them, unrecognized,
the king of the souls comes at the head of the army.
The rosebed of every mind is filled with roses from his cheeks;
the skirt of every beggar is filled with gold from his hand.
Hold your basket before him, that he may fill it of himself, so
that the basket of your poverty may become the despair of
Sanjar.*
Judge and plaintiff alike flee from less and more, when that
moon for one moment enters drunk into the assembly.
The wine becomes the tavern, the dead become riotous drunk,
the wood becomes the Moaning Pillar* when he enters the pulpit.
He denies them his presence, and their forms freeze, their eyes
vanish, their ears become deaf.
When he appears again their eyes open, the garden becomes
full of birds, the orchard is verdant.
Go to the rosebed and the garden, behold the friends and the
chatter;* in the wake of the _expression the soul comes to that
pass.
How can one tell what was manifested, friend? How can the
pen indite that, for all that it enters the inkholder?

-- Translation by A. J. Arberry
"Mystical Poems of Rumi 1"
The University of Chicago Press, 1968

*"hot baths": for comparison of the world to a bath stove, see
Math. IV:238-56
*Sanjar the Saluq ruler typifies kingship.
*The Moaning Pillar: the palm-trunk in the Prophet's mosque at
Medina which moaned when the Prophet grasped it.
*"The chatter": the meaning of "dastan" is ambiguous, and the
whole verse obscure.

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Friday, August 11, 2006

"Oh heart, be patient"


Here, Sunlight offers Ghazal 2641, in a version by Kabir
Helminski, and in translations by A.J. Arberry:

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

"The Ninth Month"

You watch the sensuous movements of the veil.
Do you know there's a Chinese girl behind it
whose face you can't see?

You see a reflection of the real moon
in all the stones that lie at your feet.

You're a leaf scattered by an invisible wind.
Don't you know something's moving you?

Unless some thought stirs that wind, you don't stir.
If the wind isn't still, you're not.

Constellations, planets, your inmost states
are like camels in a row. You're the last.

Curl up and drink in the blood
like a child in heaven's womb.

You feel a pain in the sphere of your heart,
but when you lift your head it's gone.

Your ninth month is Shams' face,
you, who have been trusted with the secret of both worlds.

O heart, be patient in this blood
until the ninth month.

-- Version by Kabir Helminski
"Love is a Stranger"
Threshold Books, 1993

*(Incorrectly cited by Helminski as Ode 337.)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I grant that you do not see the face of the Chinese girl; do
you not see the moving of this veil proceeds from her moving?
Through the luster of that moon which is hidden in the skies,
you have seen a hundred moons in earthly particles.
O leaf, scattered in the contrary wind, if you do not see the
wind, do you not see that you are so?
If the wind is not stirred by thought, you do not stir; and
if that wind does not sit still, you do not sit still.
The empyrean, heaven and spirit in this revolution of states
are camels in file, and you are the hindermost.
Move upon yourself and drink of this blood, for in the womb
of heaven you are a fetus-child.
In the sphere of your heart suddenly a pain arises; if you
raise your head from the sphere, you know that you are not this.
Your ninth month is the face of Shams-al-Haqq Tabriz, O you
who are the trustee of the trust of both worlds.
O heart, be patient in this blood until the ninth month; you
are that month [moon], O king, for you are Shams-al-Haqq va Din.

-- Translation by A.J. Arberry
"Mystical Poems of Rumi 2"
The University of Chicago Press, 1991

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Thursday, August 10, 2006

"You who are in love with your intellect"


You who are in love with your intellect
considering yourself superior to worshipers of form
that intellect is a beam
of Universal Intellect cast upon your senses;
regard it as gilded gold upon your copper.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ay keh to ham `âsheqe bar `aql-e khvish
khvish bar surat-parastân dideh bish
Partaw-e `Aqlast ân bar hess-e to
`âriyat-e maydân-e zahab bar mess-e to

-- Mathnawi II: 710-711
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Daylight"
Threshold Books, 1994
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra

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Wednesday, August 09, 2006

"You mustn't be afraid of death"


you mustn't be afraid of death
you're a deathless soul
you can't be kept in a dark grave
you're filled with God's glow

be happy with your beloved
you can't find any better
the world will shimmer
because of the diamond you hold

when your heart is immersed
in this blissful love
you can easily endure
any bitter face around

in the absence of malice
there is nothing but
happiness and good times
don't dwell in sorrow my friend

-- Ode (Ghazal) 2594
Translated by Nader Khalili
"Rumi, Fountain of Fire"
Burning Gate Press, Los Angeles, 1994

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Tuesday, August 08, 2006

"Preoccupied with the business of the world"


The lion of destiny is dragging our souls,
preoccupied with the business of the world,
into the jungles of death.
People fear poverty,
plunged as they are up to their necks in briny water.
If they feared the Creator of poverty,
treasures would reveal themselves.
Through fear of affliction,
they sink into the very essence of affliction:
in their quest for life in the world,
they have lost it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mi kashad shir-e qazâ dar bish-hâ
jân-e mâ mashghul-e kâr o pish-hâ
آn chonân kaz faqr mi tarsand khalq
zir-e âb-e shur rafteh tâ halq
Gar be-tarsandi az ân Faqr-آfarin
ganj-hâ-shân kashf gashti dar zamin
Jomleh-shân az khawf-e ghamm dar `ayn-e ghamm
dar pay-e hasti fotâdeh dar `adam

-- Mathnawi III:2204-2207
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyل Monastra)

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Monday, August 07, 2006

"Wooden Walking Stick"


Friend, you are Moses. I the wooden
walking stock. Sometimes that simple use.

Other times, a dragon earth-energy. You
decide. There's no time or place in the air

you inhabit. The days you give me I give
back to you. I have seen your unseeable

beauty and taken report without words to
my heart, which became all eye with the news.

"Long life to eyes," says my heart now over
and over. Hundreds of candles search the

turning sky. No bread in the basket, no
money; home, family, work, in shambles, with

your light shining on the ruin. Crushed
in grief's mortar, let me be medicine for
other eyes. What is the soul? Half a leaf.
What is the heart? A flower opening. I am

not the one speaking here. Even so, I'll
stop. Anything anyone says is your voice.

-- Ghazal (Ode) 2236
Version by Coleman Barks, with Nevit Ergin
"The Glance"
Viking-Penguin, 1999

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Friday, August 04, 2006

"Entirely flame"


Here, Sunlight offers a selection from the Mathnawi, volume V,
verses 672 to 682, in a version by Professor Coleman Barks, and in
the reference translation by Professor Reynold Nicholson, from which
Barks derived his version:

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

"A Just-Finishing Candle"

A candle is made to become entirely flame.
In that annihilating moment
it has no shadow.

It is nothing but a tongue of light
describing a refuge.

Look at this
just-finishing candle stub
as someone who is finally safe
from virtue and vice,

the pride and the shame
we claim from those.

-- Version by Coleman Barks
"The Essential Rumi"
HarperSanFrancisco, 1995

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

When, through (spiritual) proverty, fana (self-naughting)
graces him (such a one), he becomes shadowless like Mohammed.
Fana graced (the Prophet who said) 'Poverty is my pride'*:
he became shadowless like the flame of a candle.
(When) the candle* has become entirely flame from head to
foot, the shadow hath no passage (way of approach) around it.
The wax (candle) fled from itself and from the shadow into
the radiance* for the sake of Him who moulded the candle.
He said, 'I moulded thee for the sake of fana (self-
naughting).' It replied, 'I accordingly took refuge in fana.'
This is the necessary everlasting radiance, not the radiance
of the perishable accidental candle.
When the candle is wholly naughted in the fire (of Divine
illumination), you will not see any trace of the candle or rays
(of its light).
Manifestly, in dispelling the darkness, the external
(material) flame is maintained by a wax candle;
(But) the candle (which is) the body is contrary to the wax
candle, since in proportion as that (the body) dwindles, the light
of the spirit is increased.
This is the everlasting radiance, and that (bodily candle) is
perishable: the candle of the spirit hath a Divine flame.
Since this tongue of fire was (really) light, 'twas far from
it to become a perishable shadow.

-- Translation and Commentary by Reynold A. Nicholson
"The Mathnawi of Jalalu'ddin Rumi
Published and Distributed by
The Trustees of The "E.J.W. Gibb Memorial"

* Or, Fana graced (him who attained to the state denoted by the
Prophet's saying) "Poverty is my pride."
* I.e. the lover of God.
* I.e. the Light of God.

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Thursday, August 03, 2006

"The door of repentance is never closed"


By the mercy of God, Paradise has eight doors —
one of those is the door of repentance, child.
All the others are sometimes open, sometimes shut,
but the door of repentance is never closed.
Come seize the opportunity: the door is open;
carry your baggage there at once.

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

Hast Jannat-râ ze rahmat hasht dar
yek dar tawbeh-st zân hasht ay pesar
n hameh gah bâz bâshad gah farâz
vân dar-e tawbeh na-bâshad joz keh bâz
Hin ghanimat dâr dar bâzast zud
rakht ânjâ kesh be-kuri hasud

-- Mathnawi IV: 2506-2508
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyل Monastra

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Wednesday, August 02, 2006

"One Whisper of the Beloved"


Lovers share a sacred decree –
to seek the Beloved.
They roll head over heels,
rushing toward the Beautiful One
like a torrent of water.

In truth, everyone is a shadow of the Beloved –
Our seeking is His seeking,
Our words are His words.

At times we flow toward the Beloved
like a dancing stream.
At times we are still water
held in His pitcher.
At times we boil in a pot
turning to vapor –
that is the job of the Beloved.

He breathes into my ear
until my soul
takes on His fragrance.
He is the soul of my soul –
How can I escape?
But why would any soul in this world
want to escape from the Beloved?

He will melt your pride
making you thin as a strand of hair,
Yet do not trade, even for both worlds,
One strand of His hair.

We search for Him here and there
while looking right at Him.
Sitting by His side we ask,
"O Beloved, where is the Beloved?"

Enough with such questions! –
Let silence take you to the core of life.

All your talk is worthless
When compared to one whisper
of the Beloved.

-- Ode 442
Version by Jonathan Star
A Garden Beyond Paradise: The Mystical Poetry of Rumi
Bantam Books, 1992

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Tuesday, August 01, 2006

"Be a firm friend"


Firmness of heart is needed for achievement,
but a firm friend does not lack friends.
Be a firm friend, that you may find friends innumerable;
for without friends you will be left helpless.
Generally the wolf seizes his prey at the moment
when a year-old sheep has strayed alone from the flock.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Goft sedq-e del be-bâyad kâr-râ
var nah yârân kam niyâyad yâr-râ
Yâr shaw tâ yâr bini bi `adad
zânkeh bi yârân be-mâni bi madad
Gorg aghlab ângahi girâ bovad
kaz shishak be-khvod tanhâ ravad

-- Mathnawi VI: 497-498; 500
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
Threshold Books, 1996
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyل Monastra

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