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Here, Sunlight offers 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).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
It's only when a drop leaves the ocean ˆ and returns ˆ
that it can find an oyster
and become a pearl.
When Joseph left his father
both were weeping.
Didn't he gain a kingdom and a fortune
in the end?
Didn't the Prophet
gain the world and a hundred empires
by traveling to Medina?
But you have no need to go anywhere ˆ
journey within yourself.
Enter a mine of rubies
and bathe in the splendor of your own light.
O great one,
Journey from self to Self
and find the mine of gold.
Leave behind what is sour and bitter ˆ
move toward what is sweet.
Be like the thousand different fruits
that grow from briny soil.
This is the miracle ˆ
Every tree becomes beautiful
when touched by sunlight;
Every soul becomes God
when touched by the Sun of Tabriz.
-- Version by Jonathan Star
"Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved"
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York 1997
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh, if a tree could wander
and move with foot and wings!
It would not suffer the axe blows
and not the pain of saws!
For would the sun not wander
away in every night ˆ
How could at ev'ry morning
the world be lighted up?
And if the ocean's water
would not rise to the sky,
How would the plants be quickened
by streams and gentle rain?
The drop that left its homeland,
the sea, and then returned ˆ
It found an oyster waiting
and grew into a pearl.
Did Yusaf not leave his father,
in grief and tears and despair?
Did he not, by such a journey,
gain kingdom and fortune wide?
Did not the Prophet travel
to far Medina, friend?
And there he found a new kingdom
and ruled a hundred lands.
You lack a foot to travel?
Then journey into yourself!
And like a mine of rubies
receive the sunbeams' print!
Out of yourself ˆ such a journey
will lead you to your self,
It leads to transformation
of dust into pure gold!
-- Translation by Annemarie Schimmel
"Look! This is Love - Poems of Rumi"
Shambhala, 1991
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If a tree could fly off, it wouldn't suffer the saw.
The sun hurries all night to be back for morning.
Salty water rises in the air, so the garden
will be drenched with fresh rain.
A drop leaves home, enters a certain shell,
and becomes a pearl.
Joseph turns from his weeping father, toward Egypt.
Remember how that turned out!
Journeys bring power and love
back into you. If you can't go somewhere,
move in the passageways of the self.
They are like shafts of light,
always changing, and you change
when you explore them.
-- Version by Coleman Barks,
"These Branching Moments"
Copper Beech Press, 1988
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
XXVII
If a tree might move by foot and sing;
It would not suffer the pain of the saw or the blows of
the axe.
And if the sun did not fare by wing and foot every night,
How would the world be illuminated at morning-tide?
And if the salt water did not go up from the sea* to
the sky,
Whence would the garden be quickened by river and rain?
When the drop departed from its native home and returned,
It found a shell and became a pearl.
Did not Joseph go on a journey from his father, weeping?
Did he not, in the journey, come to fortune and kingdom
and victory?
Did not Mustafa go a-journeying toward Medina,
Gain sovereignty and become lord of an hundred lands?
Tho' you have no feet choose to journey in yourself,*
Like the ruby-mine receive a print from the sunbeams.*
Make a journey out of self into Self, O master,
For by such a journey earth becomes a quarry of gold.*
From sourness and bitterness advance to sweetness,
Even as from briny soil a thousand sorts of fruit spring up.
From the Sun, pride of Tabriz, behold these miracles,
For every tree gains beauty by the light of the sun.
-- Translation by R.A. Nicholson
"Selected Poems from the Divani Shamsi Tabriz"
From Tabriz Edition 33.11a
Cambridge at the University Press, 1952 Edition
Nicholson's Notes:
* "the sea" -- the sea of Absolute Being
* "journey into yourself" -- Cf. the hadis: "He who knows himself
knows his Lord."
* "Like the ruby-mine receives a print from the sunbeams"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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