[Sunlight] "Each pillar a destroyer of the other"

~

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The four elements are four strong pillars
that support the roof of this present world.
Each pillar is a destroyer of the other:
the pillar known as water destroys the flames of fire.
The edifice of creation is based upon opposites,
and so we are always at war.
My states of mind and body are mutually opposed:
each one is opposite in its effect.
Since I am incessantly struggling with myself,
how should I act in harmony with someone else?
You cannot escape unless God saves you from this war
and brings you into the unicolored world of peace.
That world is forever flourishing,
because it's not composed of opposites.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Châr `onsor châr ostun-e qavist
keh bedishân saqf-e donyâ mostavist
Har sotuni eshkanandeh-ye ân degar
oston-e âb eshkanandeh-ye ân sharar
Pas benâ-ye khalq bar azdâd bud
lâ jaram mâ jangiyim az zarr o sud
Hast ahvâlam khelâf-e hamdegar
har yeki bâ ham mokhâlef dar asar
Chonkeh har dam râh khvod-râ mi zanam
bâ degar kas sâzgâri chon konam
Yâ magar zin jang Haqqet vâ kharad
dar jahân-e solh-e yek ranget barad
Ân jahân joz bâqi o âbâd nist
zânkeh ân tarkib az azdâd nist

-- Mathnawi VI: 48-52; 55-56
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra)

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~

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[Sunlight] "Each pillar a destroyer of the other"

[Sunlight] I am an empty vessel for your light -- Ghazal 1397

~

Here, Sunlight presents Ghazal (Ode) 1397, in a poetic version by
Coleman Barks, a translation by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi,
and a translation by A.J. Arberry:

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

"Saladin's Begging Bowl"

Of these two thousand "I" and "We" people,
which am I?

Don't try to keep me from asking!
Listen, when I'm this out of control!
But don't put anything breakable in my way!

There is an original inside me.
What's here is a mirror for that, for you.

If you are joyful, I am.
If you grieve, or if you're bitter, or graceful,
I take on those qualities.

Like the shadow of a cypress tree in the meadow,
like the shadow of a rose, I live
close to the rose.

If I separated myself from you,
I would turn entirely thorn.

Every second, I drink another cup of my own blood-wine.
Every instant, I break an empty cup against your door.

I reach out, wanting you to tear me open.

Saladin's generosity lights a candle in my chest.
Who am I then?
His empty begging bowl.

-- Version by Coleman Barks
"The Essential Rumi"
HarperSanFrancisco, 1995

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

I wonder
from these thousands of "me's",
which one am I?
Listen to my cry, do not drown my voice
I am completely filled with the thought of you.
Don't lay broken glass on my path
I will crush it into dust.
I am nothing, just a mirror in the palm of your hand,
reflecting your kindness, your sadness, your anger.
If you were a blade of grass or a tiny flower
I would pitch my tent in your shadow.
Only your presence revives my withered heart.
You are the candle that lights the whole world
and I am an empty vessel for your light.

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

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

Of these two thousand I's and we's I wonder, which one am I?
Give ear to my babble, do not lay your hand on my mouth.
Since I have gone out of control, do not put glass on my path,
for if you do I will stamp and break all that I find.
Because every moment my heart is confused with your fantasy,
if you are joyous I am joyful, if you are sorrowing I am sorrowful.
You give bitterness and I become bitter, you give grace and I
become all grace; with you it is pleasant, O my sugar-lipped,
sweet-chinned idol.
You are the original-what person am I? A mirror in your
hand, whatever you show, that I become, I am a well proved
mirror.
You are like the cypress of the meadow, I am like your
shadow; since I have become the shadow of the rose, I have
pitched my tent beside the rose.
If without you I break off a rose, it will become a thorn in my
hand, and if I am all thorn, through you I am all rose and
jasmine.
Every moment I drain a bloody beaker of the blood of my
heart; every instant I break my own pitcher against the saki's
door.
Every second I reach out my hand towards the skirt of an idol,
that he may scratch my cheek, that he may rend my shirt.
The grace of Salah-i Dil u Din shone in the midst of my heart;
he is the heart's candle in the world; who am I? His bowl.

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

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

~

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[Sunlight] I am an empty vessel for your light -- Ghazal 1397

[Sunlight] Inner Sunrise -- Ghazal 2996

~

Here, Sunlight offers Ghazal (ode) 2996, in a version by Jonathan Star, and in translation by William C. Chittick.

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"Inner Sunrise"

If I were the plaything of every thought
I'd be a fool, not a wise man.
If the Sun of Love was not my own
I'd be mournful like Saturn,
rising and falling in the night sky.

If I were not guided by the fragrance of Love's City
I'd have followed dark spirits
into the endless desert of greed.

If the soul's light had to stay inside its house
I'd open every door and window!

If the garden of the soul
did not comfort those in pain
I could not carry Love's message
on the east wind.

If lovers were not addicted to music and dancing
why would I sing all day and night
like a wailing flute?

If the Saaqi's weight-giving wine
had been kept from my mouth
I'd be like the thin lip of a cup!

If the Garden had no leaves or shade I'd be rootless
like the fortune-trees of deceitful men.

If God's servants were not upon the earth I'd have fallen into
the sin and folly of this world.

If there was no way from the grave to paradise I could not
behold the joyful heavens in this body.

If there was no road from East to West

I would not be dancing through the garden with the North
and South winds!

If the Abundant Garden did not grow my soul would never blossom.
If God's grace were not with me
I'd be a babbling fool!

Go within.

Hear the story of sunrise from the Sun itself.
if there were no sunrise within
I would have set long ago!

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

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

Were I a plaything in the hand of every
heartache, I would not be clever and wise, but a fool.
Did not the sun of Love belong to me, like
Saturn I would sometimes ascend in grief, and sometimes
descend.
Were the fragments of Love's city not my guide,
I would be caught by the ghouls, like those lost in greed's
desert!
If the Sun of the spirits remained sitting in its
house, I would be busy with opening doors and coming and
going.
If the Rosegarden of the spirit did not caress the
afflicted, how could I be a messenger from the Garden of
Faithfulness, like the east wind?
Were Love not a sama-lover and tambourine-
addict, why would I be singing songs like a flute and a harp?
If my Saki did not give me a potion to make me
plump, I would be as thin as the lip of the cup.
Did not the Garden have branches and shade, I
would be without roots, like the trees of fortune of vile men.
Had not God's trust shone upon my earth, I
would be sinful, very foolish, like the earthly temperament.*
Were there no way from grave to paradise,
why am I so joyful and expansive in this grave of the body?
And were there no road from left to right, why
am I the companion of the north and south winds like the
garden?
Were there no Garden of Generosity, how could
I have blossomed? If not for God's Gentleness and Bounty, I
would be a meddlesome bore!
Enough! Listen to the story's sunrise from the
Sun! If there were no such sunrise, I would have set!

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

* Chittick refers readers to an earlier section of the same volume,
a section which discusses the creation of God's viceregent, man.

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

~

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

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[Sunlight] Inner Sunrise -- Ghazal 2996

[Sunlight] "As the Infinite doesn't have limits, how can you apply a mean?"

~

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

You may be tired by ten cycles of prayer;
I may not be worn out by five hundred.
One goes barefoot all the way to the Ka`bah,
and another is totally exhausted
just going as far as the mosque.
One in utter self-devotion gives away his life,
while another agonizes over the gift of a loaf.
This middle way belongs to the realm of the finite,
for that finite has a beginning and an end.
A beginning and end are necessary
to conceive of the middle point.
As the Infinite doesn't have limits,
how can you apply a mean to it?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

To be-dah rak`at-e namâz âyi malul
man be-pânsad dar niyâyam dar nohul
Ân yeki tâ Ka`beh hâfi mi ravad
v-ân yeki tâ masjed khvod mi shavad
Ân yeki dar pâk bâzi jân be-dâd
v-ân yeki jân konad tâ yek nân be-dâd
In vasat dar bâ-nehâyat mi ravad
keh mar ân-râ avval o âkher bovad
Avval o âkher be-bâyad tâ dar ân
dar tasavvor ganjad awsat tâ miyân
Bi-nehâyat chon na-dârad do taraf
kay bovad u-râ miyâneh monsaraf

-- Mathnawi II: 3537-3542
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Daylight"
Threshold Books, 1994
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra

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

~

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

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[Sunlight] "As the Infinite doesn't have limits, how can you apply a mean?"

[Sunlight] "Live in the nowhere that you came from"

~

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

TENDING TWO SHOPS

Don't run around this world
looking for a hole to hide in.

There are wild beasts in every cave!
If you live with mice, the cat claws will find you.

The only real rest comes
when you're alone with God.

Live in the nowhere that you came from,
even though you have an address here.

That's why you see things in two ways.
Sometimes you look at a person
and see a cynical snake.

Someone else sees a joyful lover,
and you're both right!

Everyone is half and half,
like the black and white ox.

Joseph looked ugly to his brothers,
and most handsome to his father.

You have eyes that see from that nowhere,
and eyes that judge distances,
how high and how low.

You own two shops,
and you run back and forth.

Try to close the one that's a fearful trap,
getting always smaller. Checkmate,
this way. Checkmate that.

Keep open the shop
where you're not selling fishhooks anymore.
You are the free-swimming fish.

-- Mathnawi II: 590-93, 602-13
Version by Coleman Barks
"The Essential Rumi"
HarperSanFrancisco, 1995

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

~

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

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[Sunlight] "Live in the nowhere that you came from"