[Sunlight] Don't set your heart on bones

~

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Little by little God takes away human beauty:
little by little the sapling withers.
Go, recite "To whomever We give a length of days,
We also cause them to decline."
Seek the spirit;
don't set your heart on bones.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Andak-e andak mi setânad ân jamâl
andak-e andak khoshk mi gardad nehâl
Raw "nu`ammiruhu nunakkis'hu" be-khvân
del talab kon del ma-neh bar estekhvân

-- Mathnawi, II:714-715
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
Rumi: Daylight
Threshold Books, 1994
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra

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[Sunlight] Don't set your heart on bones

[Sunlight] A glimpse of that beauty

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My body pulled my soul from the higher planes
and I lost the company of saints and prophets.
Now wrapped in my prison I've met a Moon
that fills my heart with dreams and visions.
Most people want to escape from prison
but why should I run away when my love is inside,
where else could I be alone with love?
I look at myself and see such painful longing
I look at love and see how pleased she is watching me.
Once you are in that house of Beauty
abundant grace awaits you.

I overhead the stars whispering
that if ever one of them
caught a glimpse of that Beauty,
to tell the others at once.
But the lovers guard their secrets jealously
for they know that when the Moon rises
everything will set.

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

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[Sunlight] A glimpse of that beauty

[Sunlight] Occupy yourself with your own inward self!

~

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Oh heart, place no honey in the mouth of the
ill! Speak not of entrancing eyes in the assembly of the blind!
Although God is nearer to His servant than his
jugular vein (Koran L 16), He is far from those who are far
from Him.
Occupy yourself with your own inward self!
Then like moons the concealed maidens will come out in
theophany from behind their veils!
Although in this work you will be lost to
yourself and the world, outside of yourself and the world you
will be famous.
If you are the moon of union, give a sign of
your union! Tell of the arms, the silver breasts, and the faces
of the houris!
And if you are yellow gold from separation's
heartache, where is separation's burning brand? Only the coins
of the wretched are so dull and tarnished.
Since you have no love, at least perform the
duties of servanthood, for God will never neglect the wages of
the wage earners.
Know that love for god is Solomon's seal-how
should Solomon's income be related to the wages of ants?
Throw away the garments of thought and
cogitation, for the sun only shines upon the naked!
Seek refuge in the locks of Shams-i Tabrizi, for
they rain down musk and will protect you from tyrants.

-- Ghazal (Ode 2073)
Translation by William C. Chittick
"The Sufi Path of Love"
SUNY Press, Albany, 1983

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[Sunlight] Occupy yourself with your own inward self!

[Sunlight] From whom comes this self-conceit of mine?

~

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If I had any judgment and skill of my own,
my consideration and plans would all be under my control.

At night my consciousness would not leave against my will,
and the birds of my senses
would be secured within my own cage.

I would be aware of the stages journeyed by the soul
in unconsciousness, in sleep, and in times of trouble.

But since my hand is made empty
by His sovereign power to loosen and to bind,

O, I wonder,
from whom comes this self-conceit of mine?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gar be khvisham hich rây o fann bodi
rây o tadbiram beh-hokm-e man bodi
Shab na-rafti hush bi farmân-e man
zir-e dâm-e man bodi morghân-e man
Budami âgah ze manzel-hâ-ye jân
vaqt-e khvâb o bihoshi o emtehân
Chon kaffam zin hall o `aqd-e U tohist
ay `ajab in mo`jebi-ye man ze kist

-- Mathnawi VI: 2324-2327
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra)

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[Sunlight] From whom comes this self-conceit of mine?

[Sunlight] A Great Rose Tree -- Ghazal 1348

~

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A Great Rose Tree

This is the day and the year
of the rose. The whole garden

is opening with laughter. Iris
whispering to cypress. The rose

is the joy of meeting someone.
The rose is a world imagination

cannot imagine. A meessenger from
the orchard where the soul lives.

A small seed that points to a great
rose tree! Hold its hand and walk

like a child. A rose is what grows
from the work the prophets do.

Full moon, new moon. Accept the
invitation spring extends, four

birds flying toward a master. A rose
is all these, and the silence that

closes and sits in the shade, a bud.

-- Ghazal (Ode) 1348
Version by Coleman Barks, with Nevit Ergin
"The Glance"
Viking-Penguin, 1999

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[Sunlight] A Great Rose Tree -- Ghazal 1348