[Sunlight] "The one who earns, gains wealth"

~

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

If anybody goes traveling without a guide,
every two day's journey
becomes a journey of a hundred years.
The one who takes up a profession
without having had a teacher
becomes a laughing-stock,
no matter where he lives.
Except perhaps for a single occurrence,
in all the world, is a descendant of Adam
ever born without parents?
The one who earns gains wealth;
it's a rare event
to find a buried treasure.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Har keh dar râh bi qelâvozi ravad
har do ruzi râh-e sad sâleh shavad
Har keh girad pisheh-ye bi ustâ
rish-khandi shod be-shahr o rustâ
Joz keh nâder bâshad andar khâfeqayn
âdami sar bar zanad bi vâledayn?
Mâl u yâbad keh kasi mi konad
nâderi bâshad keh ganji bar zanad

-- Mathnawi III: 588; 590-592
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:
mailto:Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto: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/

[Sunlight] "The one who earns, gains wealth"

[Sunlight] Layla's dog

~

Here, Sunlight offers the tale of Majnun and Layla's dog, from
the Mathnawi, in a version by Coleman Barks, and in the translation
by Nicholson upon which Barks based his interpretation:

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

Majnun with Layla's* Dog

Majnun saw Layla's dog and began kissing it,
running around like a hajji* circling the Kaaba,
bowing to its paws, holding its head, scratching
its stomach, giving it sweets and rosewater.

"You idiot," said someone passing by.
"Dogs lick their privates and sniff
excrement on the road. This is insane,
the intimate way you treat that dog."

"Look though my eyes," said the lover.
"See the loyalty, how he guards the house
of my Friend, how he's so glad to see us.

Whatever we feel, grief, the simple delight
of being out in the sun, he feels
that with us completely.

Don't look too much at surface actions.
Discover the lion, the rose of his real nature.
Friend, this dog is a garden gate into the invisible."

Anyone preoccupied with pointing out what's wrong
misses the unseen. Look at his face!

-- Mathnawvi, III, 567-575
Coleman Barks
Rumi - Say I Am You
Maypop, 1994

*"Majnun and Layla" -- figures in a traditional and archetypal Persian
tale of love and separation. (Sunlight footnote)
*"hajji" -- a Muslim pilgrim who is making the haj -- pilgrimage -- to
Mecca.
(Sunlight footnote)

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

(They behaved) like Majnun, who was (seen) petting a dog
and kissing it and melting (with fondness) before it:
He was pacing round it, stooping humbly in circumambulation;
he was also giving it pure sugar-julep (to drink).
An idle talker said, "O half-baked Majnun, what hypocrisy is
this that thou art always displaying?
A dog's muzzle is ever eating filth; a dog scrapes its seant
with its lips."
He recounted the dog's faults at some length: no one who perceives
faults (aybdan) has got (even) a scent (inkling) of him that know the
things unseen (ghaybdan*). Majnun said, "Thou art entirely (external)
form and body:
come within, and view it (the dog) through my eyes;
For this (dog) is a talisman sealed by (the hand of) the Lord:
this (dog) is the guardian of the abode of Layla.
Look at its high aspiration and its heart and soul and knowledge;
(consider) where it chose (to lie) and made its dwelling-place.
It is the dog of blessed countenance, (the dog) of my Cave*; nay, it
is the sharer of my grief and woe.

-- 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"

* Either the holy man or God himself.
* Referring to the dog of the Seven Sleepers. Cf. v. 208 supra.

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

~

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:
mailto:Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto: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/

[Sunlight] Layla's dog

[Sunlight] Sudden resurrection, endless bliss

~

Here, Sunlight offers three renderings of Mowlana Rumi's Ghazal
(Ode) One, in a version by Jonathan Star, in a translation by Nader
Khalili, and in a translation by Kolin and Mafi:

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

Alchemist of My Soul

O limitless and compassionate one,
high above the rest,
You have set ablaze the dry weeds of intellect.
You have come with a smile,
and thrown open the gates of my prison.
You have come to the lowly
and given to them with the generosity of God.

You are the call of the rising Sun,
the hope of all people in need.
You are the seeker, the goal,
and seeking itself.
Blazing like fire in every heart,
calming the mind of its restlessness,
you are the seer, the seen, and sight itself.

O Alchemist of my soul, essence of all truth,
once your cure appeared
everything else lost its meaning.

There was a time we lost ourselves in others,
a time we ate the best of foods.
There was time we relied on the intellect,
a time we looked for fortune
but all this had no value in the end.

For a mouthful of food and some bitter herbs
we went everywhere,
we made so many plans
one day it was Rome,
the next day it was Africa.

We entered a raging battlefield, for what?
a few crumbs of bread.

Lose your soul in God's love, I swear
there is no other way.

Stay with that silence.
I once ran toward the knowledge of this world;
now the papers are packed, the pens are broken
O Saaqi, bring on the wine!

-- Version by Jonathan Star, based on a translation
by Shahram Shiva
"A Garden Beyond Paradise: The Mystical Poetry of Rumi"
Bantam Books, 1992

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

you are
a sudden resurrection
an endless bliss
you set a fire
in the meadow
of our dreams

laughing today
you are happy
crashing the prisons
blessing the poor

like God Himself
unveiling the sun
spreading hope
bestowing a quest
beginning a beginning
setting the end
arranging minds
giving desires
and filling desires

to make a meager living
is not worth the suffering
i let go of preaching
and fill myself with sweets

i set the paper aside
break my pen
name myself silence
i see the cup-bearer is arriving now

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

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

You came suddenly like resurrection,
like an infinite blessing
and my thoughts burned like trees on fire.
You came today like God Himself,
generous and full of grace,
holding the key to my freedom in your hands.
Both traveller and the road,
the beginning and the end,
You are the gatekeeper of the Sun.
For so long I have lived in pain, suspended
between my longing and my need for bread.
Now that You have risen in my heart
and taken over my thoughts,
I am breaking the pen and leaving the paper.

My Sun has risen.

-- Translated by Azima Melita Kolin
and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Hidden Music
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 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:
mailto:Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto: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/

[Sunlight] Sudden resurrection, endless bliss

[Sunlight] Destruction and restoration

~

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

When a tailor cuts the cloth for a garment piece by piece,
does anyone strike him,
saying, "Why have you torn this choice satin?"
Whenever the builders repair an old building,
don't they first ruin the old one?
Likewise the carpenter, the blacksmith, and the butcher—
with them too there is destruction before restoration.
The pounding of the myrobalan
becomes the means of restoring the body to health.
Unless you crush the wheat in the mill,
how will there be bread on your table?

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

Pareh pareh kard darzi jameh-ra
kas zanad an darzi allameh-ra
Keh "Chera in atlas be-gozideh-ra
bar daridi cheh konam be-darideh-ra"
Har benâ-ye kohneh k-abadan konand
nah keh avval kohneh-ra viran konand
Hamchonin najjar o haddad o qassab
hasteshân pish az emarat-ha kharab
n halileh o an balileh kuftan
z-an talaf gardand mamuri-ye tan
Ta na-kubi gandom andar asiya
kay shavad arasteh z-an khvan-e ma

-- Mathnawi IV:2348-2353
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:
mailto:Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto: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/

[Sunlight] Destruction and restoration

[Sunlight] "Ask the way to the Spring"

~

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

"When you do things from your soul,
you feel a river moving in you, a joy.

When actions come from another section,
the feeling disappears.

Don't let others lead you. They may be blind,
or worse, vultures. Reach for the rope
of God. And what is that?

Putting aside self-will.

Because of willfulness people sit in jail.
From willfulness, the trapped birds' wings are tied.
From willfulness, the fish sizzles in the skillet.

The anger of police is willfulness. You've seen
a magistrate inflict visible punishment.
Now see the invisible.

If you could leave selfishness, you would see
how your soul has been tortured.

We are born and live inside black water in a well.
How could we know what an open field of sunlight is?

Don't insist on going where you think you want to go.
Ask the way to the Spring.

Your living pieces will form a harmony.

There is a moving palace that floats through the air,
with balconies and clear water running in every part of it,
infinity everywhere, yet contained under a single tent.

-- Mathnawi, VI, 3487-3510
Version by Coleman Barks
"We Are Three,"
Maypop, 1987

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

~

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:
mailto:Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto: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/

[Sunlight] "Ask the way to the Spring"