"From this deliberation"

God brought the earth and the heavenly spheres into existence
through the deliberation of six days—
even though He was able through "Be, and it is"*
to bring forth a hundred earths and heavens.
Little by little until forty years of age
that Sovereign raises the human being to completion,
although in a single moment He was able
to send fifty flying up from nonexistence.
Jesus by means of one prayer could make the dead spring to life:
is the Creator of Jesus unable
to suddenly bring full-grown human beings
fold by fold into existence?
This deliberation is for the purpose of teaching you
that you must seek God slowly, without any break.
A little stream which moves continually
doesn't become tainted or foul.
From this deliberation are born felicity and joy:
this deliberation is the egg;
good fortune is the bird that comes forth.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bâ ta'anni gasht mawjud az Khodâ
tâ be-shesh ruz in zamin o charkh-hâ
Var nah qâder bovad ku "kun fa-yakûn"*
sad zamin o charkh âvordi berun
dami-râ andak andak ân Homâm
tâ chehel sâlesh konad mard-e tamâm
Garcheh qâder bovad k-andar yek nafs
az `adam parân konad panjâh kas
`Isâ qâder bud ku az yek do`â
bi tavaqqof bar-jahânad mordeh-râ
Khâleq-e `Isâ be-na-tavânad keh U
bi tavaqqof mardom ârad tu be-tu
In ta'anni az pay-e ta`lim-e tost
keh talab âhesteh bâyad bi sokost
Ju yeki kuchek keh dâyem mi ravad
nah najs gardad nah gandeh mi shavad
Zin ta'anni zâyad eqbâl o sorur
in ta'anni bayzeh dawlat chon toyur

*Yâ Sin, 82

-- Mathnawi III: 3500-3508
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra)

The media:
http://tinyurl.com/y58epr

"From this deliberation"

The story of the snake catcher and the frozen snake

THE SNAKE CATCHER AND THE FROZEN SNAKE

Listen to this, and hear the mystery inside:
A snakecatcher went into the mountains to find a snake.

He wanted a friendly pet, and one that would amaze
audiences, but he was looking for a reptile, something
that has no knowledge of friendship.
It was winter.
In the deep snow he saw a frighteningly huge dead snake.
He was afraid to touch it, but he did.
In fact he dragged the thing into Baghdad,
hoping people would pay to see it.
This is how foolish
we've become! A human being is a huge mountain range!
Snakes are fascinated by us ! Yet we sell ourselves
to look at a dead snake.
We are like beautiful satin
used to patch burlap. "Come and see the dragon I killed,
and hear the adventures!" That's what he announced,
and a large crowd came,
but the dragon was not dead
just dormant! He set up his show at a crossroads.
The ring of gawking people got thicker, everybody
on tiptoe, men and women, noble and peasant, all
packed together unconscious of their differences.
It was like the Resurrection!

He began to unwind the thick ropes and remove
the cloth coverings he'd wrapped it so well in.

Some little movement.
The hot Iraqi sun had woken
the terrible life. The people nearest started screaming.
Panic! The dragon tore easily and hungrily
loose, killing many instantly.
The snake catcher stood there,
frozen. "What have I brought out of the mountains?" The snake
braced against a post and crushed the man and consumed him.

The snake is your animal soul. When you bring it
into the hot air of your wanting-energy, warmed
by that and by the prospect of power and wealth,
it does massive damage.
Leave it in the snow mountains.
Don't expect to oppose it with quietness
and sweetness and wishing.
The nafs don't respond to those,
and they can't be killed. It takes a Moses to deal
with such a beast, to lead it back, and make it lie down
in the snow. But there was no Moses then,
Hundreds of thousands died.

-- Mathnawi III, 976 - 1067 (Excerpts)
Version by Coleman Barks, with John Moyne
"The Essential Rumi"
HarperSan Francisco, 1994.

The media:
http://tinyurl.com/yyvxwf

The story of the snake catcher and the frozen snake

"Do you have a heart of stone?"

Today, Sunlight offers two presentations of Quatrain 925,
accompanied by a link to mixed media offerings, courtesy of our dear
friend Panevis, in Tehran, whom Sunlight thanks:

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

Every day my heart cries out.
Every night it turns to stone.

The story of my love
is written in blood all over my face.
I asked by Beloved to read it.
He asks me to ignore it.

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

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

With every word, you break my heart
You see my story
written in blood on my face,
why do you ignore it,
do you have a heart of stone?

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

The media:
http://shorl.com/gibrugrafasyvy

"Do you have a heart of stone?"

"Lose your wisdom"

If you wish your misery to end,
seek also to lose your wisdom—
the wisdom born of human illusion,
that which lacks the light
of God's overflowing grace.
The wisdom of this world increases doubt;
the wisdom of Faith releases you into the sky.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gar to khvâhi ki sheqâvat kam shavad
jahd kon tâ az to hekmat kam shavad
Hekmati kaz tab` zâyad az khayâl
hekmati bi fayz-e nur-e Zu al-Jalâl
Hekmat-e donyâ fazâyad zann o shakk
hekmat-e dini parad fawq-e falak

-- Mathnawi, II: 3200-3203
Rumi: Daylight
Threshold Books, 1994
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra

The media:
http://shorl.com/fanebrytapyfry

"Lose your wisdom"

"The blows of suffering"

There is an animal called the porcupine that becomes large and fat if
you beat it with a stick.
The more you beat it, the more it thrives, growing fat on the blows
of the stick.
The believer's spirit is in truth a porcupine, for the blows of
suffering make it large and fat,
That is why the suffering and tribulation inflicted upon the prophets
is greater than that inflicted upon the world's creatures.

-- Mathnawi IV: 97-100
Translation by William C. Chittick
"The Sufi Path of Love"
SUNY Press, Albany, 1983

The media:
http://shorl.com/humabiteprade

"The blows of suffering"