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Here, Sunlight offers Ghazal (Ode) N32 (in the Nicholson numbering
system; number 1690 in the more commonly used Furuzanfar numbering
system), in three presentations -- a translation by Annemarie Schimmel,
and versions by Jonathan Star and James Cowan:
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I've seen no joy without You in both
worlds,
I've seen their wonders nothing was like
You.
I've put the soul's ear at the window
"Heart"
I've heard some words but never seen the
lips!
You've lavished grace abundant on Your
slave
I've seen no reason but Your endless grace.
Cupbearer, dearer than my eyes, I have
Not seen one like You in Iran, Iraq!
Pour out such wine that I may leave
myself
I've only seen fatigue in my existence.
You're milk and You are sugar, sun and
moon
I've seen no family like You, my parent!
O endless Love, Divine manifestation
I've seen no name thats worthy of You,
Helper!
We are like iron scraps Your love: the
magnet.
You, without seeking, are the source of
seeking!
-- Translation by Annemarie Schimmel
"Look! This is Love - Poems of Rumi""
Shambhala, 1991
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When All You Had Was Him
O my Beloved,
I searched both worlds
but never found joy without you.
I have seen many wonders
but never a wonder like you.
I pressed my soul's ear
against countless doors
But never heard words as sweet as yours.
O what grace you pour upon your servants!
From our view the ocean looks so small!
O Saaqi, sweet sight of my eyes,
I've never seen one like you
in all of Persia or Arabia.
Pour the wine that takes me beyond myself,
for this petty existence
brings nothing but fatigue.
You are the endless Love,
You are the heavenly song,
You are the mother and father,
You are the one I will always know.
We are scraps of iron.
Your love is the magnet that draws us near.
Why should I seek?
All I need do is love . . . .
Rest now my soul,
Leave behind your religion
and your empty show of faith.
Remember when you had no religion?
Remember when all you had was Him?
-- Version by Jonathan Star
"Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved"
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York 1997
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Apart from you, my Beloved, I've found no joy in the two
worlds.
Though I've seen many wonders, none compare with you.
They say that a fire blazing is the unbeliever's lot:
I've seen none, except Abu Lahab*, excluded from your
fire.
Many times I've laid the ear of the spirit near the heart's
window:
Long conversations I heard, yet those lips remained
invisible.
Suddenly you lavished grace upon your servant:
There was no reason for it but your infinite kindness.
O chosen cup-bearer, apple of my eye, your like
Have I never seen in Persia or Arabia.
Pour out wine until I become absent from myself:
In selfhood and existence I've felt only fatigue.
O you who are milk and sugar, sun and moon,
O you who are mother and father, no other kin have
I known.
O indestructible Love, O divine Minstrel,
You are both stay and refuge: no other name equals you.
We are but iron filings, your love the magnet:
You are source of all aspiration, myself I have seen none.
Silence, O Brother! Put learning and culture aside:
Until culture was named, I knew no culture but you.
-- Version by James Cowan
Rumis Divan of Shems of Tabriz, Selected Odes
Element Books Limited 1997
*"Abu Lahab" -- An uncle of the Prophet, who was an enemy of early Islam.
His nickname translates from the Arabic as "The Father of Flame". Abu
Lahab is a literary symbol of one who will suffer physical flame, as he has
no knowledge of the Divine Flame. (Koran CXI) (Sunlight footnote, with thanks
to Eliza Tasbihi.)
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