Wednesday, October 31, 2012

[Sunlight] In this game of chess

~

Today, Sunlight offers two interpretations of
Quatrain 14:

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

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


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

~












------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Share/Bookmark

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

[Sunlight] One Chapter, One House, One Place of Worship

~

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

If there are a hundred religious books, they are but one chapter:
a hundred different religions seek but one place of worship.
All these roads end in one House:
all these thousand ears of corn are from one Seed.
All the hundred thousand sorts of food and drink
are but one thing if one looks to their final cause.
When you are entirely satiated with one kind of food,
fifty other kinds of food become displeasing to your heart.
In hunger, then, you are seeing double,
for you have regarded as more than a hundred thousand
that which is but One.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sad ketâb ar hast joz yek bâb nist
sad jehat-râ qasd joz yek mehrâb nist
In toroq-râ mokhlesesh yek khâneh ast
in hazârân sonbol az yek dâneh ast
Guneh guneh khvordani-hâ sad hazâr
jomleh yek chizast andar e`tebâr
Az yeki chon sir gashti to tamâm
sard shod andar delet panjeh ta`âm
Dar majâ`at pas to ahval dideh-'i
keh Yeki-râ sad hazârân dideh-'i


-- Mathnawi VI: 3667-3671
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra)

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

~



------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Share/Bookmark

Friday, October 26, 2012

[Sunlight] All people are children to the guide

~

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

For a newborn child, the father babbles,
though his own intelligence encompasses the world.
One must adopt the child's language
to convey knowledge.
All the people, then, are children to the guide:
this the pir remembers
when he attempts to teach.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bahr-e tefl-e naw pedar ti-ti konad
garcheh `aqlesh handaseh-ye giti konad
Kam na-gardad fazl-e ostâd az `olu
gar alf chizi na-dârad guyad u
Az pay-e ta`lim ân basteh dahan
az zabân-e khvod berun bâyad
Dar zabân-e u be-bâyad âmadan
tâ biyâmuzad ze to u `elm o fann

-- Mathnawi II:3315-3318
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Daylight"
Threshold Books, 1994
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra

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

~






















------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Share/Bookmark

Thursday, October 25, 2012

[Sunlight] Story-Water

~

Today, two presentations of Mathnawi V: 228-236 are offered - a poetic version by Coleman Barks and the literal translation by R. A. Nicholson upon which Barks based his interpretation:

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

"Story-Water"


A story is like the water
you heat for your bath.

It takes messages between the fire
and your skin. It lets them meet,
and it cleans you!

Very few can sit down
in the middle of the fire itself
like a salamander or Abraham.
We need intermediaries.

A feeling of fullness comes,
but usually it takes some bread
to bring it.

Beauty surrounds us,
but usually we need to be walking
in a garden to know it.

The body itself is a screen
to shield and partially reveal
the light that's blazing
inside your presence.

Water, stories, the body,
all the things we do, are mediums
that hide and show what's hidden.

Study them,
and enjoy this being washed
with a secret we sometimes know,
and then not.

-- Poetic version by Coleman Barks
"The Essential Rumi"
HarperSanFrancisco, 1995

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

This parable is like an intermediary in the discourse: an
intermediary is required for the apprehension of the vulgar.
Without an intermediary, how should any one go into the fire,
except (one like) the salamander? – for he is independent of the
connecting link.
You need the hot bath as an intermediary, so that you may
refresh your constitution by (the heat of) the fire.
Since you cannot go into the fire, like Khalil (Abraham), the
hot bath has become your Apostle, and the water your guide.
Satiety is from God, but how should the unclean attain unto
satiety without the mediation of bread?
Beauty is from God, but the corporealist does not feel (the
charm of ) beauty without the veil (medium) of the garden.
When the bodily medium is removed, (then) he (who is dis-
embodied) perceives without (any) screen, like Moses, the light
of the Moon (shining) from (his own) bosom.
These virtues possessed by the water bear witness likewise
that its interior is filled with the grace of God.

-- 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"

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

~



------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Share/Bookmark

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

[Sunlight] Take away everything that takes me from you -- Quatrain 1408

~

Today, Sunlight offers three interpretations of Quatrain 1408:

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

O my Beloved!
Take me,
Liberate my soul,
Fill me with your love,
and release me from both worlds.

If I set my heart
On anything but you,
O fire, burn me from inside!

O my Beloved
Take away what I want,
Take away what I do,
Take away everything
that takes me from you.

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

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

take me in my love
take my soul
set me on ecstasy
take both of my worlds
if I rest my heart on
anything but you
throw me with fireball
take everything I hold

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

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

My Friend,
I offer You my life.
Accept me, make me drunk
and save me from both worlds.
Set me on fire
if my heart settles on anything
but You.

-- Translation by Azima Melita Kolin
and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 1999


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

~




------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Share/Bookmark

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

[Sunlight] "Does such a being exist?"

~

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

"I am searching everywhere for a human being who is alive
with the life inspired by divine breath.
Does such a being exist?"
"This bazaar," said the other, "is crowded with human beings."
The sage answered, "I want one
who is a human being on the two-eyed road:
in the moment of anger and at the time of desire.
Where is someone who is a human being
both when anger comes and at the moment of appetite?
From street to street, I search for someone like that.
Where in the world is one who remains human in both these
moments?
I would devote my life to such a human being."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Goft "Mi juyam beh-har su âdami
keh bovad hayy az hayât-e ân dami
Hast mardi?" Goft "In bâzâr por
mard mânand âkhar ay dânâ-ye horr"
Goft "Khvâham mard bar jâdeh-ye do rah
dar rah-e cheshm o be-hangâm-e sharah
Vaqt-e kheshm o vaqt-e shahvat mard ku
tâleb-e mardi-vânam ku beh-ku
Ku darin do hâl mardi dar jahân
tâ fedâ-ye u konam emruz jân"

-- Mathnawi V: 2890-2894
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra)

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

~



------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Share/Bookmark

Monday, October 22, 2012

[Sunlight] Tambourine Feet -- Ghazal 2323

~

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

"Tambourine Feet"

When you are not with me, I sometimes
resemble a fish put live in the skillet,

writhing its little cooking time left,
or the empty eyes of graffiti faces, or

a house with no one home. Other times,
my love for your soul spreads out over

the city like music. Quadrant to quadrant
the jeweled tambourine feet move, palace

to ghetto. The cultured, the craftsman,
the slave, all begin to hum and sing this.

-- Ghazal (Ode) 2323
Version by Coleman Barks, with Nevit Ergin
"The Glance"
Viking-Penguin, 1999

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

~



------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Share/Bookmark

Friday, October 19, 2012

[Sunlight] "By means of union"

~

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

Were it not for the help of the walls,
how should houses and buildings arise?
If each wall were separate from the others,
how would the roof be held up?
Without pen and ink,
how would writing be placed on paper?
If this rush mat were not interwoven,
the wind would carry it away.
Know that since God created pairs of every kind,
all results are produced by means of union.

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

Gar na-bâshad yâri-ye divâr-hâ
kay bar âyad khâneh o anbâr-hâ
Har yeki divâr agar bâshad jodâ
saqf chon bâshad mo`allaq dar havâ
Ga na-bâshad yâri-ye hebr o qalam
kay fotad ba ru-ye kâghaz yâ raqam
In hasiri keh kasi mi gostarad
gar nah payvandad be-ham bâdesh barad
Haqq ze har jensi cho zawjayn âfarid
pas natâyej shod ze jam`iyat padid

-- Mathnawi VI: 519-523
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra

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

~



------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Share/Bookmark

Thursday, October 18, 2012

[Sunlight] What do you think will happen? -- Ghazal 838

~

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

if you can't go to sleep
my dear soul
for tonight
what do you think will happen

if you pass your night
and merge it with dawn
for the sake of heart
what do you think will happen

if the entire world
is covered with the blossoms
you have labored to plant
what do you think will happen

if the elixir of life
that has been hidden in the dark
fills the desert and towns
what do you think will happen

if because of
your generosity and love
a few humans find their lives
what do you think will happen

if you pour an entire jar
filled with joyous wine
on the head of those already drunk
what do you think will happen

go my friend
bestow your love
even on your enemies
if you touch their hearts
what do you think will happen

-- Ghazal 838
Translation by Nader Khalili
"Rumi, Fountain of Fire"
Burning Gate Press, 1992

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

~








------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Share/Bookmark

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

[Sunlight] This madman can be held by no chain -- Ghazal 2509

~


Today, Sunlight presents Ghazal (Ode) 2509, in a poetic version by Jonathan Star, and in literal translations by A.J. Arberry and William C. Chittick:

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

"By the Curl of My Hair"

The King held counsel with a group of madmen.
All at once their tormented souls began to cry out.

My voice was free of its beastly nature
And the King heard it above the rest.
He signaled the guards
to put that madman back in chains.

"O King, if I am mad,
you are the Solomon of every made spirit.
O King, you know the language of the birds
and the spell of magicians.
Why use chains on me?
Can't you cast a spell on this madman?"

An old man approached the King and said,
"Bind him in chains.
This madman will spread havoc
through both worlds."

The King said,
"This madman cannot be held by chains,
only by the curl of my hair.
You do not know him as I do.
He will break a hundred fetters
if they keep him from my hand.
This one knows but three words,
`To Us Return,'
For he is the King's falcon."

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

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

Today the king in secret visited the madmen; a shout went up
from the souls of the spiritual distracted ones.
Amid the cries that king recognized my voice, for my voice
had become purified of animal breaths.
He signaled so royally that the madmen leaped from his
bonds, if I am mad, O king, you are the Solomon of the divs.*
O king, you share the secrets of the birds and the spells of the
divs; now if it is fitting you should recite a spell on this madman.
An elder approached the king saying, "Bind him in chains, for
this madman is causing enough disturbance and disorder in the divan."
My king said, "This madman will accept no chain other than
the chain of my tress; you do not know his character.
"He bursts thousands of bonds to fly to my hand; to us returning
he becomes, for he is a royal falcon."*

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

Arberry's Notes:
*It is said that Solomon had power over the divs and jinns.
*Qur'an 21:93.

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

Today the King came secretly before the
madmen, and their spiritually possessed souls began to lament.
That King recognized my voice among the
shouts, for it was purified from the breath of animality.
He made a royal gesture, meaning, "One of the
possessed has escaped his fetters." O King, if I am possessed,
Thou art the Solomon of all possessing spirits.
Oh King! Thou knowest the mysteries of the
birds and the incantations of the jinn. How fitting if Thou
shouldst also recite a spell over this madman!
An old man came before the King and said,
"Bind him with chains, for this madman has caused a great
deal of uproar and destruction among the devils."
My King said, "This madman can be held by no
chain but My tresses -- you do not know his character.
He will snap thousands of fetters and fly to Our
hand. He will become to Us they shall return (XXI 93), for he
is a royal falcon."

-- Translation by William C. Chittick
" The Sufi Path of Love"
SUNY Press, Albany, 1983

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

~




------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Share/Bookmark

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

[Sunlight] Severed from every other work

~

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

The real work belongs to someone who desires God
and has severed himself from every other work.

The rest are like children who play together until it gets dark
for these few short days.

Or like someone who awakes and springs up, still drowsy,
and then is lulled back to sleep by the suggestion of an evil nurse:
"Go to sleep, my darling, I won't let anyone disturb your slumber."

If you are wise, you, yourself, will tear up your slumber by the roots,
like the thirsty man who heard the noise of the water.

God says to you, "I am the noise of the water in the ears of the thirsty;
I am rain falling from heaven.
Spring up, lover, show some excitement!
How can you hear the sound of water and then fall back asleep?!"

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

Kâr u dârad keh Haqq-râ shod morid
bahr-e kâr-e U ze har kâri borid
Digarân chon kudakân in ruz chand
tâ be-shab tarhâl bâzi mi konand
Khvâbnâki ku ze yaqzat mi jahad
dâyeh-'i vasvâs-e `ashveh-sh mi dehad
"Raw be-khosp ay jân keh na-gozârim mâ
keh kasi az khvâb be-jahânad torâ"
Ham to khvod-râ bar koni az bikh khvâb
hamcho teshneh keh shenud u bâng-e âb
"Bâng âyam Man be-gush-e teshnegân
hamcho bârân mi resam az âsmân
Bar jah ay `âsheq bar âvor ezterâb
bâng-e âb o teshneh va ângâh khvâb?!"

-- Mathnawi VI: 586-592
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra

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

~



------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Share/Bookmark

Monday, October 15, 2012

[Sunlight] Refuge -- Ghazal 122

~


Here, Sunlight offers Ghazal (Ode) 122, in a poetic version by
Professor Coleman Barks and in literal translation by Professor A.J.
Arberry:

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

Refuge

I see the lamp, the face, the eye,
an altar where the soul bows, a

gladness and refuge. My loving says,
"Here. I can leave my personality

here." My reason agrees! "How can
I object when a rose makes the bent

backs stand up like cypresses?" Such
surrender changes everything. Turks

understand Armenian! Body abandons
bodiness. Soul goes to the center.

Rubies appear in the begging bowl.
But don't brag when this happens.

Be secluded and silent. Stay in
the delight, and be brought the

cup that will come. No artfulness.
Practice quiet and this new joy.

-- Version by Coleman Barks
"The Soul of Rumi"
HarperCollins, 2001

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

I beheld the lovely rosebower face, that eye and lamp of all
brightness,
That altar before which the soul prostrates, that gladness and
place of security.
The heart said, "I will yield up my soul there, I will let go
of being and selfhood."
The soul also joined in the concert and began to clap hands.
Reason came and said, "What shall I say regarding this good
fortune and sublime felicity,
This scent of a rose that made upright as a cypress every back
that was curved and bent double?"
In love all things are transformed; Armenian is changed to
Turk.
Soul, you have attained to the Soul of the soul; body, you have
abandoned bodihood.
The ruby is the alms of our Beloved; the dervish eats the gold
of the Rich;
That Mary in anguish discovers anew dates fresh and ripe.
Lest the eye of a stranger should fall upon it, do not show off
your good deed to men;
If your desire from faith is security, seek your security in
seclusion.
What is the place of seclusion? The house of the heart;
become habituated to dwell in the heart;
In the heart's house is delivered that bowl of wholesome and
everlasting wine.
Be silent, and practise the art of silence; let go all artful
bragging;
For the heart is the place of faith, there in the heart hold fast
to faithfulness.

-- Translation by A.J. Arberry
Mystical Poems of Rumi 1
The University of Chicago Press 1968/1991

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

~



------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Share/Bookmark

Friday, October 12, 2012

[Sunlight] "The sword of Nothingness"

~

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

Love is the flame which, when it blazes,
consumes everything other than the beloved.
The lover wields the sword of Nothingness*
in order to dispatch all but God:
consider what remains after Nothing.
There remains but God: all the rest is gone.
Praise to you, O mighty Love, destroyer of all other "gods."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

`Eshq ân sho`leh-st ku chon bar forukht
harcheh joz ma`shuq-e bâqi jomleh sukht
Tigh-e Lâ* dar qatl-e ghayr-e Haqq borânad
dar negar zân pas keh ba`d-e Lâ cheh mânad
mânad illâ Allâh bâqi-ye jomleh raft
shâd bâsh ay `Eshq-e sherkat-suz-e zaft

*The "Lâ" of "Lâ ilâha illâ Allâh" (There are no gods but God).
Qur'ân 47:19 The Lâ written in Arabic is shaped like a sword.

-- Mathnawi V: 588-590
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra)

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

~



------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Share/Bookmark

Thursday, October 11, 2012

[Sunlight] Each sleepless night -- Quatrain 36

~

Today, Sunlight offers three presentations of Quatrain 36:

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

I cannot sleep in your presence.
In your absence, tears prevent me.
You watch me My Beloved
on each sleepless night and
only You can see the difference.

-- Translation by Azima Melita Kolin
and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Hidden Music
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2001

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

When I am with you, we stay up all night.
When you're not here, I can't go to sleep.

Praise God for these two insomnias!
And the difference between them.

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

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

as long as I'm with you
I can't sleep
having you
as long as you are away
I can't sleep
crying for you
dear God
I'm sleepless
both nights
but look at the
difference in the
two insomnias

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

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

~




------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Share/Bookmark

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

[Sunlight] I will become -- Ghazal 1400

~

Here, Sunlight offers Ghazal 1400, in translations
from Nader Khalili, Maryam Mafi and Azima Melita Kolin,
and William Chittick:

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

running and leaping nonstop
till i catch up
with the fastest rider

annihilating forever
vanishing for good
till i reach the soul of the world

very happy i've become
ever since i changed
to a piece of fire

and with this fire
i'll burn my house and
dwell in the desert

i'll soften and humble
i'll change to earth
till i grow your flowers in me

i'll crawl and flow
i'll change myself to water
till i can reach your paradise garden

without pain no healer
will tend me
or give me potions

i'll change to
total pain
till i get total healing

ever since i was born
i was thrown into this world
helpless and shivering
like a speck of dust in the air

but as soon as i reach
the end of this journey
and settle down
i'll be secured and tranquil forever

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

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


I will run fast and will keep running until
I catch up with the riders.
I will dissolve into air and become nothing
So I can reach my Beloved.
I will become fire, burn my house
And head for the desert.
I will become all pain, so I can be healed.
I will become humble and turn into soil
So your flowers can grow in me.
I will kiss the ground and become water
So I can flow to your rose garden.
I will make my face shine like a gold coin
So I can become worthy of my Beloved.
I came in this world helpless and fearful
But at the end of this journey I will find safety.
The blessing of truth is like water
It flows downstream.
I came to this earth so that I can find the way back
To my Beloved.

-- Translation by Azima Melita Kolin
and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Hidden Music
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2001

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

I will run quickly, quickly, to reach the riders; I will
become nonexistent, nothing, to reach the Beloved.
I have become joyful, joyful – I am a spark of
fire. I will burn my house and travel to the Desert.
I will become dust, dirt, so that Thou canst make
me verdant. I will become water and prostrate myself all
the way to the Rosegarden.
Fallen from the heavens, I waver like a dustmote –
I will attain security and stop my trembling when I reach
the Goal.
The spheres are a place of honor, the earth a place
of destruction – I will escape from these two dangers
when I reach the Sultan.
This world of earth and air is the substance of
unbelief and annihilation – I have entered the heart of unbelief
in order to reach faith.
That balanced and harmonious King of the world
seeks a balanced lover – my face is as yellow as gold coin
so that I may be placed in His Balance.
God's Mercy is water – it moves only towards low
ground. …I will become dust and Mercy's object in order to
reach the All-Merciful.
No physician gives pills and medicine without an
illness – I will become totally pain so that I may reach the
Remedy.

-- Translation by William C. Chittick
"The Sufi Path of Love- The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi"
State University of New York Press, Albany, 1983

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

~








------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Share/Bookmark

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

[Sunlight] Shatter your egoism to pieces

~

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

The ship of self-consciousness, when utterly wrecked,
becomes like a sun in a bright blue sky.
Since you haven't died, your agony
has been prolonged, O candle of Tiraz!
Know that the Sun of the world is hidden if our stars can be seen.
Wield the mace against yourself; shatter your egoism to pieces,
for what you take to be "seeing" is like cotton in your ear.

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

Âftâb-e gonbad-e azraq shavad
kashti-ye hosh chonkeh mostaghraq shavad
Chon na-mordi gasht jân kandan darâz
mât shaw dar sobh ay shama`-e Terâz
Tâ na-gashtand akhtarân-e mâ nehân
dân keh panhânast Khvorshid-e jahân
Gorz bar khvod zan mani dar ham shekan
zânkeh panbeh-ye gush âmad cheshm-e tan

-- Mathnawi VI:729-732
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra

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

~









------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Share/Bookmark

Monday, October 08, 2012

[Sunlight] Out in Empty Sky -- Ghazal 2931

~

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

Out in Empty Sky

If you catch a fragrance of the unseen,
like that, you won't be able to be

contained. You'll be out in empty sky.
Any beauty the world has, any desire,

will easily be yours. As you live
deeper in the heart, the mirror gets
clearer and cleaner. Shams of Tabriz
realized God in himself. When that

happens, you have no anxieties about
losing anyone or anything. You break

the spells that human difficulties cause.
Interpretations come, hundreds, from

all the religious symbols and parables
and prayers. You know what they mean,

when God lives through you like Shams.

-- Ghazal (Ode) 2931
Version by Coleman Barks, with Nevit Ergin
"The Glance"
Viking-Penguin, 1999

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

~



------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Share/Bookmark

Thursday, October 04, 2012

[Sunlight] This world is all war

~

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

When you look carefully, this world is all war:
Mote fights with mote, like belief with unbelief. . . .
But in the light of the spiritual eye, our war
and our peace are not from ourselves: They are "between His
two fingers."
The war of nature, the war of acts, the war of
words--in the midst of the individual parts a frightful war.
The world subsists through this war: Look at
the four elements and resolve this difficulty.
The four elements are four sturdy pillars,
through which the roof of the heavens is kept in place.
But each pillar destroys the other: Water's pillar
destroys that of fire.
So creation is built upon opposites: Inevitably
we are warring over profit and loss. . . .
But that world is naught but everlasting and
flourishing, since it is not compounded of opposites.
Each opposite inflicts reciprocal annihilation
upon its opposite; when opposition disappears, subsistence
alone remains. . . .
Colorlessness is the root of all colors, peace
the root of all wars.
That world is the root of this abode full of
heartaches; union is the root of every parting and separation.
Why are we in such opposition, oh friend? Why
does Unity give birth to this multiplicity?
Because we are the branch, and the four
opposite elements the root. The root has engendered
its qualities in the branch.
Since the substance of the spirit is beyond
separation, it does not partake of these qualities: Its qualities
are those of the divine Majesty.

-- Mathnawi VI: 36, 45-50, 56-57, 59-63
Translation by William C. Chittick
"The Sufi Path of Love"
SUNY Press, Albany, 1983

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

~



------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Share/Bookmark

Wednesday, October 03, 2012

[Sunlight] My soul's comfort, my spirit's treasure -- Ghazal 207

~

Today, Sunlight offers Ghazal (Ode) 207, in an interpretive version by Jonathan Star, and in literal translations by Arberry and Nicholson, both footnoted:

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

"All My Youth Returns"

You are the comfort of my soul
in the season of sorrow.
You are the wealth of my spirit
in the heartbreak of loss.

The unimaginable,
The unknowable -
that is what you give my soul
when it moves in your direction.

By your grace
my eyes have looked upon eternity.
O King, how could this crumbling empire
ever take me from you?

The voice that sings your name
is sweeter than midnight sleep
more graceful than the song of a royal poet.

When deep in prayer
my faith is bound by the thought of you,
not the seven verses of faith.

You greet sinners with mercy,
You melt stone hearts with love.

If I were offered a kingdom,
And the world's riches were placed at my feet,
I would bow with my face low and say,
"This does not compare to His love!"

Union is the pure wine.
My life is the cup.
Without your wine
what use is this cup?

I once had a thousand desires,
But in my one desire to know you
all else melted away.
The pure essence of your being
has taken over my heart and soul.
Now there is no second or third,
only the sound of your sweet cry.
Through your grace I have found
a treasure within myself.
I have found the truth of the Unseen world.
I have come upon the eternal ecstasy.
I have gone beyond the ravages of time.
I have become one with you!
Now my heart sings,
"I am the soul of the world."

From my first breath I have longed for Him -
This longing has become my life.
This longing has seen me grow old. . . .

But one mention of Shams-e Tabriz
and all my youth comes back to me.

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

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

You who are my soul's repose in the time of pain, you who
are my spirit's treasure in the bitterness of poverty,
That which imagination never conceived, reason and under-
standing never perceived, has entered my soul from you; there-
fore to you alone I turn in worship.
Through your grace I gaze boldly upon eternal life; O king,
how should a perishing empire beguile me?
The melody of that person who brings me glad tidings of you,
even if it be in sleep, is better than all poets' songs to me.
In the genuflections of prayer your image, O king, is as
necessary and obligatory to me as the seven oft-repeated verses*.
When unbelievers sin, you are all compassion and interces-
sion; to me you are the chief and leader of the stonyhearted.
If everlasting bounty should offer all kingdoms and place
before me every hidden treasure,
I would prostrate myself with all my soul and lay my face on
the earth, I would say, "Out of all these, the love of a certain one
for me!"
For me the time of union is eternal life, for in that moment no
time contains me.
Life is a vessel, and in it union is a pure wine; without you, of
what avail to me is the labour of the vessels?
Before this, twenty thousand desires were mine; in my passion
for him, not one single aspiration has remained to me.
Through the succor of his grace, I have become secure from
the Monarch of the Unseen saying to me, "Thou shalt not see me*."
The essence of the meaning of "He" my heart and soul has
filled; he is -- even though he said he is not -- the third and the
second to me*.
Union with him transported my spirit; my body paid not
attention, though disengaged from the body he became visible to
me.
I have become old in grief for him; but when you name
Tabriz, all my youth remains.

-- Translation by A.J. Arberry
Mystical Poems of Rumi 1
The University of Chicago Press 1968/1991

Footnotes from A.J. Arberry:

* "The seven oft-repeated verses" -- Sura I of the Koran, to be
recited in every prayer.
* "Thou shalt not see me" -- as God said to Moses on Sinai,
see Koran 7:139
* "...the third and the second..." -- Rumi has realized the Muslim
Unity of God, the Christian Trinity, and the Magian Duality.


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


VI.

O thou who art my soul's comfort in the season of
sorrow,
O thou who art my spirit's treasure* in the bitterness* of
dearth!*
That which the imagination has not conceived,* that
which the understanding has not seen,
Visiteth my soul from thee, hence in worship I turn
toward thee.*
By thy grace I keep fixed on eternity my amorous gaze,
Except, O king, the pomps that perish lead me astray.
The favour* of that one, who brings glad tidings of thee,
Even without thy summons, is sweeter in mine ear that
songs.
In the prostrations of prayer* thought of thee, O lord,
Is necessary and binding on me as the seven verses.*
To thee belongs mercy and intercession for the sin of
infidels:
As regards me, thou art chief and principal of the stony-
hearted.
If a never-ceasing bounty should offer kingdoms,
If a hidden treasure should set before me all that is*,
I would bend down with my soul, I would lay my face
in the dust,
I would say, Of all these the love of such a one* for
me!'
Eternal life, me thinks, is the time of union,
Because time, for me, hath no place there.
Life is the vessels*, union the clear draught in them;
Without thee what does the pain of the vessels* avail me?
I had twenty thousand desires ere this;
In passion for him not even (care of) my safety remained*.
By the help* of his grace I am become safe, because
The unseen king saith to me, Thou art the soul of
the world*.'
The essence of the meaning of "He"* has filled my heart
and soul;
"Au" cries the street-dog*, and neither have I third* or
second".
The body, at the time of union with him, paid no regard
to the spirit*;
Tho' incorporeal, he became visible unto me.
I aged with his affliction, but when Tabriz*
You name, all my youth comes back to me.

-- T.134.5, From the Tabriz Edition of the
Divani Shamsi Tabriz
"Selected Poems from the Divani Shamsi Tabriz"
Edited and translated by Reynold A. Nicholson
Cambridge, At the University Press, 1898, 1952

Footnotes by Reynold Nicholson:

* "my spirit's treasure" "according to the Burhani Qati'
this is the name of Qarun's treasure: it is said to be in
perpetual motion under the ground.' Qarun (Korah) points
to Mohammedans the moral of riches that grow in hell' and
pride that goes before destruction. See Koran XXVIII. 76-81,
with Sale's notes."

* "Bitterness" "like bala'ye nafye' in Gulshani Raz,' 402,
the mortification of all desires, whether sensual or intellectual.
True spirituality (to quote Juan de la Cruz) seeks in God the
bitter more than the agreeable, prefers suffering to solace,
would rather lack all good for God's sake than possess it, is
better pleased with dryness and affliction than with sweet
communications: knowing that in this it follows Christ and
denies self, instead of peradventure seeking self in God,
which is against Love.

* "dearth" "Mohammed said: Poverty is my pride, and
again, Poverty is blackness of face (dishonor) in both worlds
(see his own explanation of the inconsistency in Malcolm's
History of Persia,' Vol. II. P. 268, note). The Sufis have given
these sayings a mystical turn. "Dearth" becomes poverty of self',
i.e., self-annihilation, and by sava'd'ol vajhe' they mean the
darkness which is nothing but excess of light betokening the
proximity of Being (cf. Golshani Raz,' 123 seq.). I tell you
by the eternal Truth, that ye are not rightly poor while ye have
a will to perform the will of God, or any desire of God and
eternity; for the poor man is he who wills, knows, and desires
nothing' (Eckhart, Deutsche Mystiker,' Vol. II. P. 281)."

* "which the imagination has not conceived"-- "cf. 1 Corinthians,
ch. Ii. 9: Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for
them that love him."

* "That which the imagination has not conceived, that
which the understanding has not seen" "What eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the
heart of man, are quoted from an hadis, which is a mere
translation of the passage in I. Corinthians."

* "hence in worship I turn toward thee" "the Moslem turns
his face in prayer towards the Ka'ba, the mystic directly to God."

* "the favour"-- " in the next line suggests the emendation
nemat' (sweet voice, melody). Nemat,' however, does not
seem to occur, and the change from naghmeh', as the word
is commonly written in Persian, to nemat' is less easy.

* "in the prostrations of prayer" "cf. T. 231. 9a seq.

Unless I have the face of my heart towards thee,
I deem prayer unworthy to be reckoned as prayer.
If I turned my face to the qibla,' twas for love of thine;
Otherwise, I am weary both of prayer and qibla'.

* "the seven verses" " there are various interpretations of these
words: the most probable is that which makes them refer to the
seven verses of the opening Sura of the Kor'an."

* "If a never-ceasing bounty should offer kingdoms,
If a hidden treasure should set before me all that is"
"Perhaps it is better to regard this couplet as
complete in itself, and translate:

If a never-ceasing bounty should offer kingdoms
And lay the universe before me, thou art still my
hidden treasure.

* "Love of such a one" "the love of God."

* "Life is the vessels" "cf. T. 252.2).

Our celestial spirit is free to eternity,
Tho' for a short while we have the shape and figure
of man.
Know that phenomenal forms are pitchers: with draughts
of the Ideal,
Like a pitcher, we all are being filled and emptied
continually.
The draught is not derived from the pitcher, it comes
from another source;
Like the pitcher we are ignorant of the springs which
replenish it."

* "pain of the vessels" "The tribulation which the soul
suffers in the world." cf. (T. 203. 13).

Prize not at all life that has passed without love;
Love is the Water of Life: receive it in thy heart
and soul."

* "not even (care of) my safety remained" "literally:
not even an aman' (cry for quarter) remained to me, i.e.
for love's sake I was prepared to sacrifice all. Prof. Bevan
suggests that amini' here may be a plural of amniyat',
object of desire. . ."

* "help" "this term is employed by Jalalu'ddin to
denote the perpetual replenishment of the phenomenal
world by a succession of emanations from the Absolute."

* "the soul of the world" "as God is all, and all is God,
he who is absorbed in the divine essence becomes identical
with it. Hence Anal Haq', I am God, of Mansur Hallaj and
the sobhayanei', Praise be to me!, of Bayazid. And this is
what our poet means when he says, e.g.:

I am the theft of rogues, I am the pain of the sick,
I am both cloud and rain, I have rained in the gardens.
(T. 258. 4)."

* "The essence of the meaning of He" "at first sight these
words seem to defy the rules of grammar. Obviously the sense is:
My soul and my heart are filled with the treasure of His meaning',
and this can be obtained from the text only by treating the treasure
of his meaning' as a compound adjective. In such formations "filled"
is usually prefixed, but cf. Attar, Mantiqu'ttair, 525. . ."

* "Au" cries the street-dog" "a play on oo', He (God), and oo'
or au', the sound of a dog's bark."

* "third" "alluding to the doctrine of the Trinity (see Kor'an
IV. 169, with Sale's note, v. 77)."

* "second" "as in the Magian relegion."

* "paid no regard to the spirit" "during this life the body
is conscious of the soul's superiority, but not in the divine
presence, for then it is non-existent."

* "Tabriz" "The poet puns on the double meaning of
Tabriz: (1) the city of that name, and (2) manifestation
(from Arabic baraza'), with a reference to gasht aya'ni'."

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

~
























------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Share/Bookmark

Tuesday, October 02, 2012

[Sunlight] Kept alive by Love

~

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

My religion is to be kept alive by Love:
life derived from this animal soul and head alone is a disgrace.
The sword of Love sweeps away the dust from the lover's soul,
for this sword clears sins.
When the bodily dust is gone, my moon shines:
my spirit's moon finds an open sky.
For so long, O adored one, I've been beating this drum of love for you
to the tune of "See, my life depends upon my dying."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Din-e man az `eshq zendeh budanast
zindegi zin jân o sar nang-e manast
Tigh hast az jân-e `âsheq gard rub
zânkeh sayf oftâd mahhâ' al-dhunûb
Chon ghobâr-e tan bashad mâham be-tâft
mâh-e jân-e man havâ-ye sâf yâft
`Omr-hâ bar tabl-e `eshqet ay sanam
"Inna fî mawtî hayâtî" mi zanam

-- Mathnawi VI:4059-4062
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra)

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

~



------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Share/Bookmark

Monday, October 01, 2012

[Sunlight] The Verge of Tears -- Ghazal 2950

~

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

"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

people with gold ropes, tie them up and
leave them. Others you pull near at dawn.

You're the one within every attraction.
All silence. You are not alone, never

that, but you must be distracted, because
look, you've taken the food you were

going to give Jesus out to the stable
and put it down in front of the donkey.

-- Ghazal (Ode) 2950
Version by Coleman Barks, with Nevit Ergin
"The Glance"
Viking-Penguin, 1999

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

~



------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Share/Bookmark