Apr 2006 - Part II

April 18th, 2006


* "The Mathnawi" (also spelled "Masnavi") : the six volume
masterpiece written in Rumi's mature years, consisting of over
25,000 lines of stories and teachings. The term "mathnawi" means
rhymed couplets.


The animal soul, the intellect, and the spirit

The animal soul is Nimrod*;
the intellect and spirit are Abraham, the friend of God.
The spirit is concerned with reality itself,
the ego with the proofs.
These signposts on the way
are for the traveler who at every moment
becomes lost in the desert.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nafs Namrudast va `aql o jân Khalil
ruh dar `ayn ast va nafs andar dalil
In dalil-râ rah-raw-râ bovad
ku be-har dam dar biyâbân gom shavad

-- Mathnawi II: 3311-3312
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Daylight"
Threshold Books, 1994
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra

*Nimrod -- According to tradition, Nimrod set out to establish an
empire, and began by conquering the cities which had become
established in Mesopotamia. Among these were Babel, Erech, Akkad, and
Calneh in Sumeria, and in Assyria the cities of Rehoboth, Calah, and
Resen. Besides conquering these seven cities he also founded Ninevah.
The Bible is specific in stating that he was the first man after the
flood to become an emperor. He seems to have been impelled and
empowered by super-human force and his onslaught was irresistible.
Genesis 10 describes Nimrod as a "mighty hunter before the LORD." The
term is not complimentary, but implies ruthlessness and a lust for
power. -- Sunlight Ed.

The Persian image:
http://tinyurl.com/etv7r

and the Persian recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/k7xhx

==============================

April 19th, 2006


my secret beloved
sent me a secret message

"give me your soul
give me your life

wander like a drifter
go on a journey

walk into this fire with grace
be like a salamander

come into our source of flame
fire transmutes to a rose garden

don't you know that my thorn
is better than the queen of roses

don't you know my heresy
is the essence of spirituality

then surrender your spirit
surrender your life"

oh God I know
a garden is better than a cage

I know a palace
is better than a ruin

but I'm that owl in this world
who loves to live in the ruins of love

I may be that poor wandering soul
but watch all the aspiration and light

watch the glow of God
reflecting from my face

-- Ghazal 2508
Translation by Nader Khalili
"Rumi, Fountain of Fire"
Cal-Earth Press, 1994

The Persian image:
http://tinyurl.com/mjb4k

and the Persian recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/lfshr

==============================

April 20th, 2006


In the well of this world there are optical illusions,
the least of which is that stones appear to be gold.
To the fantasy of children playing
the debris with which they play appears as gold and riches.
Yet through the alchemy God's gnostics practice,
to their eyes, mines of gold become worthless.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hast dar châh en`ekâsât-e nazar
kamtarin ânkeh namâyad sang zar
Vaqt-e bâzi kudakân-râ ze ekhtelâl
mi namâyad ân khazaf-hâ zar o mâl
`refânesh kimiyâgar gashteh-'and
tâ keh shod kân-hâ bar ishân nezhand

-- Mathnawi IV: 675-677
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra)

The Persian image:
http://tinyurl.com/jarkw

and the Persian recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/htdvz

==============================

April 21st, 2006


Oh brother! For a time cling fast to your intellect:
Moment by moment spring and autumn are within you.
Behold the garden of the heart, green and fresh and
new, full of rosebuds and cypress and jasmine -
So many leave that the branches are hidden, so many
roses that the plain and pavilion are concealed!
These words - which derive from the Universal Intellect -
are the fragrance of that rosebud and cypress and hyacinth . . . .
The meaning of dying is need: Make yourself dead in need
and poverty,
So that Jesus' breath may bring you to life and make it
like itself: beautiful and auspicious.
When did stones ever become green through spring?
Become dust, so that you may grow up as multicolored roses.
For years you have been heart-scratching stone - try for
a time being dust!

-- Mathnawi I: 1896-99, 1909-12
Translation by William C. Chittick
"The Sufi Path of Love"
SUNY Press, Albany, 1983

The Persian image:
http://tinyurl.com/f7taf

and the Persian recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/zpjrj

==============================

MONDAY, APRIL 24


The sleeper dreams of the sore pangs of thirst"


Today, Sunlight offers verses from the Mathnawi, in an interpretive
version by Professor Coleman Barks, and in the translation by Professor
Nicholson, upon which Professor Barks based his version:


^ ^ ^ ^ ^

The Water You Want

Someone may be clairvoyant, able to see
the future, and yet have very little wisdom.

Like the man who saw water in his dream,
and began leading everyone toward the mirage.

"I am the one with heart-vision.
I’ve torn open the veil."

So they set out with him inside the dream,
while he is actually sleeping beside a river
of pure water. Any search moves away from
the spot where the object of the quest is.

Sleep deeply wherever you are on the way.
Maybe some traveler will wake you.

Give up subtle thinking,
the twofold, threefold

multiplication of mistakes.
Listen to the sound of waves
within you.

There you are,
dreaming your thirst,
when the water you want
is inside the big vein on your neck.

-- Mathnavi IV: 3226-3241
Version by Coleman Barks
"Say I Am You"
Maypop, 1994

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

The eye and spirit that sees (only) the transient falls on its face
continually wherever it goes.
A far-seeing man who lacks knowledge may see far, just as
(one has)far sight in dreams.
You are asleep with parched lips on the bank of the river, and (in
your dream) are running in search of water towards the mirage.
You see the mirage far away and run (towards it): you become in love with
your own sight.
In the dream you boast to your friends, saying, "I am the one
whose heart possesses vision, and (I am) the one that rends the veil.
Lo, I see water yonder: hark, make haste that we may go
there" – and it is (only) the mirage.
At every step you hurry farther away from the water, whilst
you keep running on towards the perilous mirage.
Your very setting-out has become the barrier (which prevents you) from
(seeing) this that has come close to you.
Oh, many a one sets out to some place from the spot where the object of
his quest is (to be found).
The (far) sight and boasting of the sleeper is of no avail; it is
naught but a phantasy: hold aloof from it.
Thou art sleepy, but anyhow sleep on the Way (i.e., do not abandon the
Way and sleep elsewhere): for God’s sake, for God’s sake, sleep on the Way
of God,
That perchance a Traveller (on the Way) may attach himself to thee and
tear thee from the phantasies of slumber.
(Even) is the sleeper’s thought become (subtle) as a hair, he
will not find the way to the Abode by the subtlety.
Whether the sleeper’s thought is twofold or threefold, still it is error
on error on error.
The waves are beating upon him without restraint, (whilst) he asleep is
running in the long wilderness.
The sleeper dreams of the sore pangs of thirst, (whilst) the water is
nearer unto him than the neck-vein.

-- Mathnawi IV: 3226-3241
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"

The Persian image:
http://tinyurl.com/eldxc

the Persian recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/kkber

==============================

TUESDAY, APRIL 25


I am amazed at the seeker of purity
who when it's time to be polished
complains of rough handling.
Love is like a lawsuit:
to suffer harsh treatment is the evidence;
when you have no evidence, the lawsuit is lost.
Don't grieve when the Judge demands your evidence;
kiss the snake so that you may gain the treasure.
That harshness isn't toward you, O son,
but toward the harmful qualities within you.
When someone beats a rug,
the blows are not against the rug,
but against the dust in it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Man `ajab dâram ze juyâ-ye safâ
ku ramad dar vaqt-e sayqal az jafâ
`Eshq chon da`vâ jafâ didan gavâh
chon gavâhet nist shod da`vâ tabâh
Chon gavâhet khvâhad in qâzi ma-ranj
buseh deh bar mâr tâ yâbi to ganj
n jafâ bâ to na-bâshad ay pesar
balke bâ vasf-e badi andar to dar
Bar namad chubi keh ân-râ mard zad
bar namad ân-râ na-zad bar gard zad

-- Mathnawi III: 4008-4012
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra)

The Persian image:
http://tinyurl.com/j7ovb

the Persian recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/jgssy

==============================

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26


Here, Sunlight offers Ghazal (Ode) 1393, in versions by Coleman
Barks and Jonathan Star, and in translations by Nader Khalili and
A.J. Arberry:


"Sublime Generosity"

I was dead, then alive.
Weeping, then laughing.

The power of love came into me,
and I became fierce like a lion,
then tender like the evening star.

He said, "You're not mad enough.
You don't belong in this house."

I went wild and had to be tied up.
He said, "Still not wild enough
to stay with us!"

I broke through another layer
into joyfulness.

He said, "It's not enough."
I died.

He said, "You're a clever little man,
full of fantasy and doubting."

I plucked out my feathers and became a fool.
He said, "Now you're the candle
for this assembly."

But I'm no candle. Look!
I'm scattered smoke.

He said, "You are the sheikh, the guide."
But I'm not a teacher, I have no power.

He said, "You already have wings.
I cannot give you wings."

But I wanted his wings.
I felt like some flightless chicken.

Then new eventws said to me,
"Don't move. A sublime generosity is
coming toward you."

And old love said, "Stay with me."

I said, "I will."

You are the fountain of the sun's light.
I am a willow shadow on the ground.
You make my raggedness silky.

The soul at dawn is like darkened water
that slowly begins to say "Thank you, thank you."

Then at sunset, again, Venus gradually
changes into the moon and then the whole nightsky.

This comes of smiling back
at your smile.

The chess master says nothing,
other than moving the silent chess piece.

That I am part of the ploys
of this game makes me
amazingly happy.

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

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

"My King"

I was dead and now I am alive.
I was in tears and now I am laughing.
The power of love swept over my soul
and now I am that eternal power.

My eyes are content.
My soul is fulfilled.
My heart is roaring.
My face glows like Venus.

He said, "But you are not mad with love.
You don't belong in this house."
I went and became mad.
I put chains round my neck.

He said, "But you are not drunk with love.
You don't belong at this party."
I went and became drunk.
I rolled on the floor with joy.

He said, "But you have not tasted the sweetness of death."
I sipped the wine of death
and fell before His life-giving face.

He said, "But you are a worldly man,
you have so many clever questions."
I went and became a fool,
babbling at every street-corner. . . .

He said, "Now you are a candle.
Everyone in the gathering has turned toward you."

"No, I don't belong here.
I am not a candle,
I am a wisp of smoke."

He said, "You are a Shaykh and a Master,
A guide of lost souls."

"No, I am not a Shaykh nor a guide,
I am slave to your every word."

He said, "You can fly.
Why should I give you feathers and wings?"

"For "your" feathers and wings
I would clip my own
and crawl upon the ground. . . ."

You are the majestic fountain of the Sun
that pours upon my head.
I am the shadow of a willow tree
bent over and melting.

When my heart was warmed by your radiant Sun
I took off my torn clothes
and put on fine silk.
My soul was once a slave and a donkey-driver,
Now it swaggers down the street
like a kingly lord.

The knowledge of you has lifted me up,
Now I am a star shining above the seventh heaven.
I was a glitter in the night sky,
Now I am the Moon and the two hundred folds of heaven.
I was Joseph at the bottom of a well,
Now I am Joseph the King!

O famous Moon, shine on me.
A ray of your light
would turn my world into a rosegarden.

Now I will move in silence,
Like a chess piece,
Watching as my whole life
revolves around
the position of my King.

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

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

i was dead
i came alive
i was tears
i became laughter

all because of love
when it arrived
my temporal life
from then on
changed to eternal

love said to me
you are not
crazy enough
you don't
fit this house

i went and
became crazy
crazy enough
to be in chains

love said
you are not
intoxicated enough
you don't
fit the group

i went and
got drunk
drunk enough
to overflow
with light-headedness

love said
you are still
too clever
filled with
imagination and skepticism

i went and
became gullible
and in fright
pulled away
from it all

love said
you are a candle
attracting everyone
gathering every one
around you

i am no more
a candle spreading light
i gather no more crowds
and like smoke
i am all scattered now

love said
you are a teacher
you are a head
and for everyone
you are a leader

i am no more
not a teacher
not a leader
just a servant
to your wishes

love said
you already have
your own wings
i will not give you
more feathers

and then my heart
pulled itself apart
and filled to the brim
with a new light
overflowed with fresh life

now when the heavens
are thankful that
because of love
i have become
the giver of light

-- Translation by Nader Khalili,
"Rumi, Fountain of Fire"
Cal-Earth Press, 1994

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

I was dead, I became alive; I was weeping, I became laughing;
the power of love came, and I became everlasting power.
My eye is satiated, my soul is bold, I have the heart of a lion, I
have become shining Venus.
He said, "You are not mad, you are not appropriate to this
house"; I went and became mad, I became bound in shackles.
He said, "You are not intoxicated; go, for you belong not to
this party"; I went and became intoxicated, I became overflowing
with joy.
He said, "You are not slain, you are not drenched in joy";
before his life-giving face I became slain and cast down.
He said, "You are a clever little man, drunk with fancy and
doubt"; I became a fool, I became straightened, I became
plucked up out of all.
He said, "You have become a candle, the qibla of this assem-
bly"; I am not of assembly, I am not candle, I have become
scattered smoke.
He said, "You are shaikh and headman, you are leader and
guide"; I am not shaikh, I am not leader, I have become slave
to your command.
He said, "You have pinions and wings, I will not give you
wings and pinions"; in desire for his pinions and wings I became
wingless and impotent*.
New fortune said to me, "Go not on the way, do not become
pained, for out of grace and generosity I am now coming to you."
Old love said to me, "Do not move from my breast"; I said,
"Yes, I will not, I am at rest and remain."
You are the fountain of the sun, I am the shadow of the
willow; when You strike my head, I become low and melting.
My heart felt the glow of the soul, my heart opened and split,
my heart wove a new satin, I became enemy of this ragged one.
The form of the soul at dawn swaggered insolently; I was a
slave and an ass-driver, I became king and lord.
Your paper gives thanks for your limitless sugar, for it came
into my embrace, and I dwelt in it.
My darkling earth gives thanks for my bent sky and sphere,
for through its gaze and circling I became light-receiving.
The sphere of heaven gives thanks for king and kingdom and
angel, for through his generosity and bounty I have become
bright and bountiful.
The gnostic of God gives thanks that we have outraced all;
above the seven layers* I have become a shining star.
I was Venus, I became the moon, I became the two hundred-
fold sky; I was Joseph, henceforth I have become the waxing
Joseph*.
Famous moon, I am yours, look upon me and yourself, for
from the trace of your smile I have become a smiling rosegarden.
Move silently like a chessman, yourself all tongue, for through
the face* of the king of the world I have become happy and
blissful.

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

* "Impotent": i.e. "plucked clean of feathers."
* "The seven layers": the seven heavens.
* Joseph, after coming up from the well, waxed in beauty and
power.
* "The face": a pun on "rukh", which also means "rook".


The Persian image:
http://tinyurl.com/hgt2s

the Persian recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/fjypw

the Persian music:
http://tinyurl.com/ej7z2

==============================

THURSDAY, APRIL 27


You were the inspirer

Since this house has been emptied of my furniture,
nothing great or small in the house belongs to me.
You have caused the prayer to flow forth from me like water:
give it reality accordingly and let it be granted.
You were the inspirer of the prayer in the beginning:
accordingly, be the hope for its acceptance in the end.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chon ze rakht-e man tohi gasht in vatan
tar o khoshk-e khâneh na-bud ân-e man
Ham do`â az man ravân kardi cho âb
ham sabâtesh bakhsh va dâresh mostajâb
Ham To budi avval ârandeh-ye do`â
ham To bâsh âkher ejâbat-râ rajâ

-- Mathnawi V: 4161-4163
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra)

The Persian image:
http://tinyurl.com/zjpty

the Persian recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/fglqe

==============================

FRIDAY, APRIL 28


"Harvest"

As the sun goes down in its well,
lovers enter the seclusion of God.

Late at night we meet like thieves
who have stolen gold, our
candlelit faces.

A pawn has become a king.
We sit secretly inside presence
like a Turk in a tent among the Hindus,

and yet we're traveling past
a hundred watchmen, nightfaring,
drowned in an ocean of longing.

Sometimes a body rises to the surface
like Joseph coming out of his well
of abandonment to be the clarity

that divides Egypt's wheat fairly
and interprets the royal dreaming.

Some people say about human beings,
"Dust to dust", but can that be true of
one who changes from road dust to doorway?

The crop appears to be all one thing,
while it's still in the field.

Then a transformation-time arrives,
and we see how it is:
half chaff, half grain.

-- Ghazal (Ode) 524
Version by Coleman Barks
(from a translation by John Moyne)
"Say I Am You"
Maypop, 1994

The Persian image:
http://tinyurl.com/jbw3r

the Persian recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/hlehn

==============================

Apr 2006 - Part II

Apr 2006 - Part I

April 3rd, 2006


"I Throw It All Away "

You play with the great globe of
union, you that see everyone so

clearly and cannot be seen. Even
universal intelligence gets blurry

when it thinks you might leave.
You came here alone, but you create

hundreds of new worlds. Spring is
a peacock flirting with revelation.

The rose gardens flame. Ocean
enters the boat. I throw it all

away, except this love for Shams.

-- Ode (Ghazal) 2368
Version by Coleman Barks
"The Soul of Rumi"
HarperSanFrancisco, 2001

The image:
http://tinyurl.com/mwsw2

The Persian recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/hvak6

==============================

April 4th, 2006


The Prophet said, "My eyes sleep,
but my heart is not asleep to the Lord of created beings."
Your eyes are awake,
and your heart is sunk in slumber;
my eyes are asleep,
but my heart is contemplating the opening
of the door of Divine grace.
My heart has five other senses than the physical:
both worlds are the theater
for the senses of the heart.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Goft Payghambar keh "`Aynâya tanâm
lâ yanâmu qalb `an Rabb al-anâm"
Cheshm-e to bidâr va del khofteh be-khvâb
cheshm-e man khofteh delam dar fath-e bâb
Mar delam-râ panj hess digarast
hess-e del-râ har do `âlam manzarast

-- Mathnawi II: 3549-3551
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Daylight"
Threshold Books, 1994
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra

The image:
http://tinyurl.com/nlp4b

The Persian recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/lb5zt

==============================

April 5th, 2006


Sunlight offers Ghazal 2730, from the Divan-e Shams, in a translation
by William Chittick, and in an interpretive version by Coleman Barks:

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

A sugar lipped sweetheart brought news, "A caravan
has come from Egypt!
A hundred camels, all sugar and candy oh
Lord, what a fine gift!
A candle has come at midnight! A spirit has entered
a corpse!"
I said, "Speak plainly!" She said, "You-know-who
has come."
My heart flew up in joy and placed a ladder at the
intellects edge.
It rushed to the roof in its love, seeking a tangible
sign of that good news.
Suddenly from the housetop it saw a world outside
of our world
An all-encompassing ocean in a jug, a heaven in
the form of dust.
Upon the roof sat a king wearing the clothes of a
watchman.
An infinite garden and paradise within that gardeners
breast.
His image traveled from breast to breast explaining
the Sultan of the heart.
Oh image of that king, flee not from my eyes!
Renew my heart for a moment!
Shams-I Tabrizi has seen No-place and built from
it a place.

-- Ghazal 2730
Translation by William C. Chittick
"The Sufi Path of Love - The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi"
State University of New York Press, Albany, 1983

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

A King Dressed As a Servant

A sweet voice calls out,
"The caravan from Egypt is here!"
A hundred camels with what amazing treasure!

Midnight, a candle and someone quietly
waking me, "Your friend has come."

I spring out of my body, put a ladder
to the roof, and climb up to see if
it's true.

Suddenly, there is a world within this world!
An ocean inside the water jar!
A king sitting with me wearing
the uniform of a servant!
A garden in the chest of the gardener!

I see how love has "thoughts,"
and that these thoughts are circulating
in conversation with majesty.
Let me keep opening this moment
like a dead body reviving.

Shamsi Tabriz saw the placeless one
and from That, made a place.

-- Ghazal 2730
Version by Coleman Barks
"Say I am You"
Maypop, 1994

The image:
http://tinyurl.com/nefdj

The Persian recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/n75mr

==============================

April 6th, 2006


"I want no kingdoms"

If you don't have sovereignty over your own beard,
how will you exercise sovereignty over good and evil?
Without your wish, your beard grows white:
be ashamed of your beard, you with your self-serving dreams.
God is the Owner of the Kingdom:
whoever lays his head before Him
will receive a hundred kingdoms without the terrestrial world;
but the inward savor of a single prostration before God
will be sweeter to you than a hundred empires:
then you will cry humbly, "I want no kingdoms
except the kingdom of that prostration."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pâdeshâhi nistet bar rish-e khvod
pâdeshâhi chon koni bar nik o bad?
Bi morâd-e to rishet sapid
sharm dâr az rish-e khvod ay kazh omid
Mâlek al-Molkast harkesh sar nehad
bi jahân-e khâk sad molkesh dehad
Lik zawq-e sajdeh-'i pish-e Khodâ
khvoshtar âyad az do sad dawlat torâ
Pas be-nâli keh "Na-khvâham molk-hâ
molk-e ân sajdeh mosallam kon merâ"

-- Mathnawi IV: 662-666
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra)

The image:
http://tinyurl.com/q6ldz

The Persian recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/naryn

==============================

April 7th, 2006


STILL SOME SECRETS

O friend, can’t you see? –
Your face is flowing with light.
The whole world could get drunk
on the love found in your heart.

Don’t run here and there
looking all around –
He is right inside you.

Is there any place where the Sun doesn’t shine?
Is there anyone who can’t see the full Moon?

Veil upon veil, thought upon thought –
Let go of them all,
For they only hide the truth.

Once you see the glory
Of his moon-like face,
what excuse could you have
for pain and sorrow?

Any heart without his love –
even the king’s heart –
is a coffin for the dead.

Everyone can see God
within his own heart –
everyone who is not a corpse.
Everyone can drink
from the waters of life
and conquer death forever.

The veil of ignorance
covers the Sun and Moon;
It even causes Love to think, "I am not divine."

O Shams, Blazing Light of Tabriz,
There are still some secrets of yours
that even I cannot tell.

-- Ghazal 505
Version by Jonathan Star, with Shahram Shiva
"A Garden Beyond Paradise: The Mystical Poetry of Rumi"
Bantam Books, 1992

The Persian image:
http://tinyurl.com/pkoye

The English image:
http://tinyurl.com/lle2q

The Persian recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/kjs89

==============================

April 10th, 2006


The Reasonable Father

The universe is a form of divine law,
your reasonable father.

When you feel ungrateful to him,
the shapes of the world seem mean and ugly.

Make peace with that father,
the elegant patterning,
and every experience will fill with immediacy.

Because I love this, I am never bored.
Beauty constantly wells up,
a noise of spring water
in my ear and in my inner being.

Tree limbs rise and fall like the
ecstatic arms of those
who have submitted to the mystical life.

Leaf-sounds talk together like poets
making fresh metaphors.
The green felt cover slips,
and we get a flash of the mirror underneath.

Think how it will be when
the whole thing is pulled away!
I tell only one one-thousandth
of what I see, because there is
so much doubt everywhere.

The conventional opinion of this poetry is,
it shows great optimism for the future.

But Father Reason says,
No need to announce the future!
This is it. This. Your deepest need
and desire is satisfied by the
moment's energy here in your hand.

-- Version by Coleman Barks
Say I Am You
Maypop, 1994

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

The whole world is the form of Universal Reason, which is
the father of whosoever is a follower of the (Divine) Word.
When any one shows excessive ingratitude to Universal Reason, the form of the universe appears to him (as ) a cur accordingly.
Make peace with this Father, abandon disobedience, that the
water and clay (the world) may appear (to thee as) a carpet of gold. Then the Resurrection will become thy present state (immediate experience): heaven and earth will be transfigured before thee.
Since I am ever at peace with this Father, this world is like
Paradise in my sight.
At every moment (appears) a new form and a new beauty, so
that from seeing the new (visions) ennui dies away.
I see the world to be full of bounty – the waters constantly
gushing from the springs.
The noise of their water is coming into mine ear: my inner consciousness and intelligence are being intoxicated.
(I see) the boughs dancing like penitents (i.e., those who
have been newly converted to the mystical life), the leaves clapping
their hands like minstrels.
The gleam of the mirror is flashing through the (cover of) felt cloth: think how it will be if the mirror (itself) be displayed!
I am not telling one (mystery) out of thousands, because every
ear is filled with a doubt.
To Opinion this saying (of mine) is (only) a joyful announcement (concerning the future), (but) Reason says, ‘What (occasion for) announcement? It is my cash in hand (actual and present experience).’”

Mathnawi IV, 3259-3270
-- 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"

The Persian image:
http://tinyurl.com/q6avb

the Persian recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/lz4re

==============================

April 11th, 2006


The discovery of treasure is by luck,
and even more, it is rare:
one must earn a living
so long as the body is able.
Does earning a livelihood
prevent the discovery of treasure?
Don’t retire from work:
that treasure, indeed,
follows after the work.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kâr bakhtast ân va ân ham nâderast
kasb bâyad kard tâ tan qâderast
Kasb kardan ganj-râ mâne` kayst
pâ ma-kash az kâr ân khvod dar payst

-- Mathnawi II: 734-735
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Daylight"
Threshold Books, 1994
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra

The Persian image:
http://tinyurl.com/quy9z

the Persian recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/nqu6v

==============================

April 12th, 2006


"Keep your aspiration high"

The tailor of Time has never sewn a shirt for
any man without tearing it to pieces.
See a thousand simple fools in this world,
paying Iblis skirts full of gold for pain.
These multicolored flowers that are sweetmeat
to your eye - you eat of them and they give you yellow
cheeks.
Oh you who have embraced a corpse saying,
"My darling!" In the end embracing corpses will freeze
body and soul.
Become accustomed to God, for when your
appointed time arrives, you will be parted unwillingly
from these paintings of the devil.
Stretch not your legs on this sweet carpet of
earth, for it is a borrowed bed: Fear the time when they
come to roll it up!
Throw not the dice recklessly into this cup of
Time! Beware of your opponent, for he is a master at
backgammon.
Behold not the dust of the body, gaze upon the
mounted horseman of the spirit! Use your vision to search for
the horseman in the midst of the dust!
Faces like roses must come from a rosegarden:
If there is no rosery, from whence the flowers?
When you see the apple - the chin - know that
there must be a tree. This apple serves as an exemplar -
it is not to be eaten.
Keep your aspiration high, for if you keep it
low, the King's chamberlain will drive you away -
"Begone!"
Silence! No more words! Speak without words,
like the rational faculty of the angels upon the lapis
lazuli roof.

-- Ghazal (Ode) 869, from the Diwan-e Shams
Translation by William C. Chittick
"The Sufi Path of Love - The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi"
State University of New York Press, Albany, 1983

The Persian image:
http://tinyurl.com/gnaut

==============================

April 13th, 2006


This world is a dream—don't be deluded;
if in a dream a hand is lost, it's no harm.
In dreams, no real damage is done
if the body is maimed or torn in two hundred pieces.
The Prophet said of this apparently substantial world
that it is but the sleeper's dream.
You've accepted this as an idea,
but the spiritual traveler has beheld this truth with an open eye.
You are asleep in the daytime; don't say this is not sleep.

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

In jahân khvâbast andar zann ma-'ist
gar ravad dar khvâb dasti bâk nist
Hâsel andar khvâb noqsân-e badan
nist bâk, va ni dosad pâreh shodan
In jahân-râ keh be-surat-e qâyemast
goft Payghambar keh helm-e nâyemast
Az rah-e taqlid to kardi qabul
sâlekân in dideh paydâ bi rasul
Ruz dar khvâbi ma-gu kin khvâb nist
sâyeh far`ist asl-e jar mahtâb nist

-- Mathnawi III: 1729; 1732-1735)
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra)

The Persian image:
http://tinyurl.com/las3m

the Persian recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/poogr

==============================

April 14th, 2006


“The time has come”

the time has come
to break all my promises
tear apart all chains
and cast away all advice

disassemble the heavens
link by link
and break at once
all lovers' ties
with the sword of death

put cotton inside
both my ears
and close them to
all words of wisdom

crash the door and
enter the chamber
where all sweet
things are hidden

how long can I beg and bargain
for the things of this world
while love is waiting

how long before
I can rise beyond
how I am and
what I am

-- Ghazal 1591
Translated by Nader Khalili
"Rumi, Fountain of Fire"
Cal-Earth Press, 1994

The Persian image:
http://tinyurl.com/jkwfm

the Persian recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/zhgst

==============================

April 17th, 2006


"There is no dervish"

Sunlight offers two presentations of the verses from the Mathnawi*,
Volume III, lines 3669 - 3685 -- the first an interpretive version by Coleman
Barks, which Barks developed from Reynold Nicholson's translation;
and the second, Nicholson's literal translation:


^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

ROUGH METAPHORS

Someone said, "There is no dervish, or if there is a dervish,
that dervish is not there."

Look at a candle flame in the bright noon sunlight
if you put cotton next to it, the cotton will burn,
but its light has become completely mixed
with the sun.

That candlelight you can't find is what's left of a dervish.

If you sprinkle one ounce of vinegar over
two hundred tons of sugar,
no one will ever taste the vinegar.

A deer faints in the paws of a lion. The deer becomes
another glazed expression on the face of the lion.

These are rough metaphors for what happens to the lover.

There's no one more openly irreverent than a lover. He, or she,
jumps up on the scale opposite eternity
and claims to balance it.

And no one more secretly reverent.

A grammar lesson: "The lover died."
"Lover" is subject and agent, but that can't be!
The lover is defunct.

Only grammatically is the dervish-lover a doer.

In reality, with he or she so overcome,
so dissolved into love,
all qualities of doingness
disappear.

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

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

The speaker said, "There is no dervish in the world; and if
there be a dervish, that dervish is (really) non-existent."
He exists in respect of the survival of his essence, (but) his
attributes have become non-existent in the attributes of Him
(God.)
Like the flame of a candle in the presence of the sun, he
is (really) non-existent, (though he is) existent in (formal)
calculation.
Its (the flame's) essence is existent, so that, if you put cotton
upon it, it (the cotton) will be consumed by the sparks;
(But) it is (really) non-existent: it gives you no light: the sun
will have naughted it.
When you have thrown an ounce of vinegar into two hundred
maunds of sugar, and it has become dissolved therein,
The flavour of the vinegar, when you taste (the sugar), is non-
existent, (though) the ounce exists (as a ) surplus when you weigh.
In the presence of a lion a deer becomes senseless: her
existence becomes a (mere) veil for his existence.
These analogies drawn by imperfect men concerning the
action of the Lord are (like) the emotion of love, (they are) not
from irreverence.
The lover's pulse bounds up without reverence, he lays him-
self on the scale of the King's balance.*
None is more irreverent than he in the world (outwardly);
none is more reverent than he is secret (inwardly).
Know, O chosen one, that these two opposites also, "re-
verent" and "irreverent," are reconciled by means of relation.
He (the lover) is irreverent when you regard the outward
aspect, for his claim of love is (involves) equality (with the
Beloved);
(But) when you regard the inward aspect, where is the claim?
He and (his) claim are naughted in the presence of that Sultan.
Mata Zayd (Zayd died): if Zayd is the agent (grammatical
subject), (yet) he is not the agent, for he is defunct.
He is the agent (only) in respect of the grammatical expres-
sion; otherwise, he is the one acted upon (the object of the
action), and Death is his slayer.
What agent (is he), since he has been so overpowered and all
the qualities of an agent have been removed from him?

-- 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"

* Fana, "passing away from self-existence", baqa, "subsistence
in God."
*i.e. "levels himself with the King."


The Persian image:
http://tinyurl.com/ptouw

and the Persian recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/mqksc

==============================

Apr 2006 - Part I

Mar 2006 - Part II

Mon Mar 13 , 2006


"Two Days of Silence"

This wonderful moment, the taste of
nothing, in the company of the poor

and the empty. Sit with Bistami, not
some fortune teller. There are more

than two holidays a year! We celebrate
a birthday and solstice every second.

Newborns, we need fresh bread! Life
grows from the dead, as the living get

led into death. Dry branches to the
fire: green limbs bend to the ground with

fruit; pleasure fills a mother's breast:
put your mouth there and suck. You

must. I've made many elegant speeches
to the assembly. Now it's time to

walk outside and be quiet. Shams draws
me to words, then two days of silence.

-- Ghazal (Ode) 858
Version by Coleman Barks, with Nevit Ergin
"The Glance"
Viking-Penguin, 1999
========================================

Wed Mar 15 , 2006


Someone says, "I can't help feeding my family.
I have to work so hard to earn a living."
He can do without God, but not without food;
he can do without Religion,
but not without idols.
Where is one who'll say,
"If I eat bread without awareness of God,
I will choke."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hich châreh nist az qut-e `iyâl
az bon-e dandân konam kasb-e halâl
Cheh halâl ay gashteh az ahl-e zalâl
ghayr khun-e to na-mi-binam halâl
Az Khodâ chârehstesh va az lut ni
chârehsh ast az din va az tâghut ni
Man na-khvâham dar do `âlam be-negarist
tâ na-binam in do majles ân kist
Bi tamâshâ-ye sefat-hâ-ye Khodâ
gar khvoram nân dar golu mând merâ

-- Mathnawi II: 3071-3079
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Daylight"
Threshold Books, 1994
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyل Monastra

The image:
http://tinyurl.com/p3zxa

and the recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/mfxc7

========================================

Wed Mar 15 , 2006


Ghazal 2219, from Rumi's Diwan-e Shames,
in translations by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi, Nader
Khalili*, and Professor Franklin Lewis*:


I am the slave of that perfect Moon!
Don't talk to me of suffering, I don't want to hear.
Talk about light, joy and sweetness
and if you can't, keep silent!

Last night Love found me shouting, mad
and beyond myself, and said:
"I am here, why are you so worried and afraid?"
O Love, I am overwhelmed with fear.
"Be silent, let me whisper a secret in your ear,
just nod your head and don't say a word."

Oh how delicate, how subtle is the path of love!
This most precious Moon-like beauty appeared to me!

My heart, is this the Moon or my imagination?
"Be silent, it is not for you to understand
don't you see, you have been blessed."
But what is this, the face of an angel or a man?
"Be silent, what you see is beyond angels or men."
But what is it, tell me, or I will go out of my mind.
"Do not torment yourself, leave this house of illusions
and say no more."
O please, I begged, tell me, is this the face of God?

My heart nodded silently.

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

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

I'm loyal
to the image and beauty
of my beloved
please speak of that image only
and say no more

whenever you're with me
speak only about
the generosity of candles
the generosity of the sugarcane
and say no more

don't speak of any suffering
show me the treasure that waits
at the end of the road
if you're ignorant of the path
then say no more

last night I was in flame
my beloved saw me and said
"i'm here at last
don't tear your clothes
lament no more"

I begged my beloved
to understand my condition
to sense my fear
my love said "when i'm present
you must seek no more

I'll whisper the words
of secrets into your ear
and you must promise not to answer
just nod your head
and say no more

the face of a sweetheart
has penetrated your heart
the tenderness is all there is
your journey is the journey of love
sense it to the depth and say no more"

I asked if the face
belongs to a human
or that of an angel
"neither this nor that
sense it but say no more"

I said if you don't
identify this for me at once
my life will be shattered
"be shattered at once
but say no more

you're dwelling in
a house filled with
images and dreams
pack all your belongings
move out but say no more"

you're simply expressing
the experience of God
I said to the beloved
"yes this is the answer
but for God's sake say no more"

-- Translation by Nader Khalili
"Rumi -- Fountain of Fire"
Cal-Earth Press, 1994

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

I serve that orb in heaven
say no word but Orb!
speak to me of nothing
but sweetness and light
Not of bother, but of treasure
and if you cannot find the words
don't bother.

Yesterday a craze came over me
Love saw, came up to me:
Here I am,
don't shout,
don't rip off your shirt,
hush, shh!

I spoke:
Love, I'm scared of that other thing
There is no other thing, say nothing!
I will whisper secrets in your ear
you just nod in asseveration
speak in semaphore

A nova, a celestial love
burst bright above the heartpath
so exquisite the quest of heart,
it cannot be expressed
I asked:
Heart, what orb is this?
heart intimated
beyond fathom
be quiet, forget!
Is this the face of man or angel?
Beyond men and angels
hush!

What is it? Tell me, I'm in a whirl
Whirl on, keep quiet!
You sit within this room
whose walls reflect
mere forms and suppositions
Get up, go out, move on,
keep quiet!
I said:
Heart, befather me,
for doesn't this match God's description?
Yes, my son, it does,
but do not tell.

-- Translation by Franklin D. Lewis
"Rumi -- Past and Present, East and West"
Oneworld Publications, Oxford, 2006

The image:
http://tinyurl.com/oyo25

the recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/rfq7d

Franklin Lewis' notes:

I have used "orb" throughout these translations to render what is
literally "moon" (mah, qamar). This is the shining face of the
beloved, beside which all other thoughts and images pale.
Unfortunately, in English, "moon face" does not have a very happy
connotation.

----------

*Nader Khalili -- see http://www.calearth.org/khalili.htm
*Franklin Lewis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of
Middle Eastern Studies at Emory University in Atlanta. A specialist
in Persian literature, his thesis on Sana'i won the 1995 Best
Dissertation of the Year Award from the Foundation for Iranian
Studies.

========================================

Thu Mar 16 , 2006


God did not need the prophets,
but with majesty and grace
let His lightning Beauty strike.
Adam received from that light
his knowledge of God.
With that radiance
Abraham went fearlessly
into the fire.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

آn Khodâyi keh ferestâd anbiyâ
nah be-hâjat bal be-fazl o kebriyâ
آn sanâ barqi keh bar arvâh tâft
tâ keh آdam ma`refat ze ân nur yâft
Jân-e Ebrâhim az ân anvâr zhaft
bi hazar dar sho`leh-hâ-ye nâr raft

-- Mathnawi II: 906; 910; 913
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Daylight"
Threshold Books, 1994
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyل Monastra

The image:
http://tinyurl.com/odrz6

and the recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/qfa6v
========================================

Mar 2006 - Part II

Mar 2006 - Part I

Wed Mar 1 , 2006


Whoever leaves our circle for another place
might as well relinquish sense of sight and sound.
A lover licks his liver's blood, lion-like;
what lion-heart would shrink from love and guts?
Hearts suck up cruelty from heart-throbs like cubes of sugar;
did you ever see a parrot turn from sugar?
It's a small gnat that turns at every headwind;
only stealthy thieves scatter in moonlight.

Any head that the Lord strikes dumb or scrambles
drops its place in heaven and heads for hellfire.
And he who fathoms death leaps to welcome death
rushes for the robe, crown and realm eternal.
Fate decrees that so-and-so will die abroad
and fear of the reaper spurs him from his home.
Enough of stalking such unbecoming prey!
for the night and its phantoms flee from the dawn.

Notes:

The beloved is frequently compared to moonlight, so it is only
thieves who would run from the presence of the beloved.
"Fear of the reaper spurs him" alludes to a famous hadith: When God
wants to seize one of His servants from a certain place on earth, He
makes it necessary for that servant to go there. Rumi tells a tale
about this in the Masnavi.

-- Ghazal (Ode) 794
Translation and notes by Professor Franklin D. Lewis
"Rumi -- Past and Present, East and West"
Oneworld Publications, Oxford, 2006

========================================

Thu Mar 2 , 2006


Opinions are sometimes wrong,
but what kind of opinion is this
that's blind to the right road?
O eye, you cry for others:
sit down awhile and weep for yourself!
The bough is made green and fresh
by the weeping cloud for the same reason
that the candle is made brighter
by its weeping.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sahv bâshad zann-hâ-râ gâh gâh
in cheh zannast in keh kur âmad ze râh
Dideh â bar digarân nawheh geri
moddati be-neshin va bar khvod mi geri
Ze abr-e geryân shâkh sabz o tar shavad
zânke shama` az geryeh rawshan-tar shavad

-- Mathnawi II: 478-480
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Daylight"
Threshold Books, 1994
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyل Monastra

the image:
http://tinyurl.com/mpmjo

and the recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/o7395

========================================

Fri Mar 3 , 2006


At the time of evening prayer
everyone spreads cloth and candles,
But I dream of my beloved,
see, lamenting, grieved, his phantom.
My ablution is with weeping,
thus my prayer will be fiery,
and I burn the mosque's doorway
when my call to prayer strikes it. . . .
Is the prayer of the drunken,
tell, is this prayer valid?
For he does not know the timing
and is not aware of places.
Did I pray for two full cycles?
Or is this perhaps the eighth one?
And which Sura did I utter?
For I have no tongue to speak it.
At God's door - how could I knock now,
For I have no hand or heart now?
You have carried heart and hand, God!
Grant me safety, God, forgive me. . . .

-- Ghazal (Ode) 2821
Translated by Annemarie Schimmel
"I Am Wind, You are Fire"
Shambhala, 1992

the image:
http://tinyurl.com/pat5b

the recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/r37ud

========================================

Mon Mar 6 , 2006


Mathnawi verses IV: 2537-39, in a version by Coleman
Barks
and in translation by R.A. Nicholson


"The Worm's Waking"

This is how a human being can change:

There's a worm addicted to eating
grape leaves.
Suddenly, he wakes up,
call it Grace, whatever, something
wakes him, and he's no longer
a worm.
He's the entire vineyard,
and the orchard too, the fruit, the trunks,
a growing wisdom and joy
that doesn't need
to devour.

-- Version by Coleman Barks
"Delicious Laughter"
Maypop, 1990

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"O thou who because of (addiction to) a single leaf has been
left without (enjoyment of) a (whole) orchard, thou art like the
worm which (desire for) a leaf has driven away from (deprived
of) the vineyard.
When Grace awakened this worm, this worm devoured the
dragon of ignorance.
The worm became a vineyard full of fruit trees: even so
is the blessed man transformed."

-- 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"

The image:
http://tinyurl.com/n69ao

and the recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/lshx6

========================================

Tue Mar 7 , 2006


The foot knows its own shoe in the dark;
how should the soul not know its own body?
Dawn is a little resurrection: seeker of refuge,
judge from it what the greater resurrection will be like.
Even as the soul flies toward the clay of its body,
the scroll of one's good and harmful actions
will fly into the left or right hand.

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

Pây kafsh-e khvod shenâsad dar zolam
chon na-dânad jân tan-e khvod ay sanam
Sobh hashr-e kuchekast ay mostajir
hashr-e akbar-râ qiyâs az vay be-gir
ânchonânkeh jân be-parad su-ye tin
nâmeh parad tâ yasâr o tâ yamin

-- Mathnawi V: 1779-1781
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyل Monastra)

The image:
http://tinyurl.com/j42d2

the recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/fc256

========================================

Wed Mar 8 , 2006


The Oxus, which had begun to flow because of the love for
for the Sea, has become the Sea - the Oxus has been obliterated.
When it reached Love, it saw an ocean of blood - intellect
sat in the blood's midst.
The waves of blood crashed down upon its head and took
it away from all six directions toward the Directionless,
Until it lost itself completely and became nimble and well
proportioned in Love.
While lost, it reached a place where the earth and the
heavens did not exist.
When it wanted to go forward, it had no feet - but it if
had sat, it would have suffered great loss.
Suddenly it saw, from the other side of both obliteration
and the universe, an Ineffable Light.
One banner and a hundred thousand spears. It became
enthralled by the Gentle Light:
Its feet had been stuck but began to move; forward it
went in the incredible plain,
Hoping to pass Yonder and be delivered from self and
everything below.
Two valleys appeared upon its path, one full of fire and
the other roses.
A call came, "Go into the fire and find yourself in the
rosegarden of ease!
But if you enter the rosary, you will find yourself in fire
and furnace.
Either fly to the heavens like Jesus, or fall to the depths
like Korah!*"
Flee and seek the sanctuary of the spirit's king so that
you may escape every snare,
That Sun of Religion and Pride of Tabriz, who is greater
than any attribute you give him!

*Korah, one of Moses' people, is said to have been the richest
man alive. According to the Koran he was swallowed up by the
earth for his sins and arrogance (XXVIII 81 and other passages).

-- Ghazal (Ode) 1931
Translation by William C. Chittick
"The Sufi Path of Love"
SUNY Press, Albany, 1983

========================================

Fri Mar 10, 2006


Know that this troublesome body is like a coat of armor:
comfortable neither in winter nor in summer.
Yet still this bad associate is good for you
because of the patience you must show in overcoming its desires,
for the exercise of patience expands the heart with spiritual peace.
The patience shown by the moon to the dark night keeps it illumined;
the patience shown by the rose to the thorn keeps it fragrant.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chon zereh dân in tan por hayf-râ
ni shetâ-râ shâyad o nah sayf-râ
Yâr-e bad nikust bahr-e sabr-râ
keh goshâyad sabr kardan sadr-râ
Sabr-e mah bâ shab monavvar dâradesh
sabr-e gol bâ khâr azfar dâradesh

-- Mathnawi VI: 1406-1408
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyل Monastra)

The image:
http://tinyurl.com/ghujm

========================================

Fri Mar 10 , 2006


Ghazal 2131, in two presentations - a
translation by Nader Khalili, and a version by Jonathan Star:


come inside the fire
leave your trickery behind
go insane
go mad
burn like a candle-moth

first make yourself a stranger
to yourself and
tear down your house
then move with us
dwell in the abode of love

wash your chest
seven times over
cleansing from hatred
then mold yourself into the chalice
holding the pure wine of love

to understand the intoxicated
you must become intoxicated
to join the eternal soul
you must become a soul

you heard my story and
your spirit grew wings
now you must be annihilated in love
to become a fable of your own

your imagination my friend flies away
then pulls you as a follower
surpass the imagination and
like fate
arrive ahead of yourself

passion and desire
has locked your heart
you must become the key
the teeth of the key
to open all locks

King Solomon gives you a message
listen to the birds
they are talking to you
calling you a trap
frightening them away

to capture us they say
you must make a nest
you must make a nest

your sweetheart's face
is appearing now
change yourself to a mirror
and fill yourself to the brim

so many gifts
you purchased for your love
quit buying gifts
give yourself over

you were a part of the
mineral kingdom in the beginning
then you change to animal life for awhile
then you found the soul of a human for awhile
now the time has arrived
to become
the soul of souls

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

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

BECOME THE BELOVED

Let go of your fancy illusions;
O lovers, become mad, become mad.
Rise up from life's raging fire,
become a bird, become a bird.

Lose yourself completely,
Turn your house into ruins,
Then join the lovers of God -
become a Sufi, become a Sufi.

Cleanse your heart of its old regrets,
Wash it seven times;
Then let the wine of love be poured -
become a cup, become a cup.

Fill your soul with so much love
that it becomes the Supreme Soul.
Run toward the saints,
become drunk, become drunk.

That King who hears everything
is conversing with a pious man.
To hear those sacred words
become pure, become pure.

Your spirit was lifted to the heavens
when you heard my sweet song.
Now your limits are gone.
Like a fearless lover,
become a legend, become a legend.

Turn a night of sleep
into a night of divine revelation!
Hold the grace of God -
become His home, become His home.

Your thoughts will take you
wherever they please -
don't follow them!
Follow your destiny
and become the Self, become the Self.

Passion and desire bind your heart.
Remove the locks -
become a key, become a key . . .

Solomon speaks with the language of the birds -
Listen! Don't be the trap
that falcons flee -
become a nest, become a nest.

If the Sweetheart reveals Her beauty,
become a mirror.
If She lets down her hair,
become a comb, become a comb.

How long will you be two-faced?
How long will you lack self-will
and flap in the wind like a flag?
How long will you be like a chess bishop
moving only diagonally -
became a Sage, become a Sage.

Out of gratitude you gave away
some possessions and some vanity.
Now give away everything -
become gratitude itself, become gratitude itself.

For a time you were the elements,
For a time you were an animal.
For a time you will be a soul -
Now is your change -
Become the Supreme Soul, become the Supreme Soul.

O preacher,
How long will you yell from the rooftops
and knock on the doors of others? -
Look inside your own home.
You've talked about love long enough -
now become the Beloved, become the Beloved!

-- Version by Jonathan Star
"A Garden Beyond Paradise: The Mystical Poetry of
Rumi"
Bantam Books, 1992

The image:
http://tinyurl.com/pftfk

the recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/qzewe

and the music:
1- http://tinyurl.com/ppxca

2- http://tinyurl.com/paduq
========================================

Mar 2006 - Part I

Feb 2006 - Part II

Tue Feb 14, 2006


The world is like a tree,
and we are the half-ripe fruit upon it.
Unripe fruit clings tight to the branch
because, immature, it's not ready for the palace.
When fruits become ripe, sweet and juicy,
then biting their lips, they loosen their hold.
When the mouth has been sweetened by felicity,
the kingdom of the world loses its appeal.
To be tightly attached to the world signifies immaturity;
as long as you're an embryo,
blood-drinking is your business.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In jahân hamchon derakhtast ay kerâm
mâ beru chon mivehâ-ye nim khâm
Sakht girad khâm-hâ mar shâkh-râ
zânke dar khâmi na-shâyad kâkh-râ
Chon be-pokht va gasht shirin-e lab gazân
sost girad shâkh-hâ-râ ba`d az ân
Chon az ân eqbâl shirin shod dahân
sard shod bar âdami molk-e jahân
Sakht-giri va ta`assob khâmist
tâ janini kâr khun-âshâmist

-- Mathnawi III:1293-1297
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyل Monastra)

The image:
http://tinyurl.com/8ayw4

and the recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/atpe9

=========================================

Wed Feb 15, 2006

I've had enough
no more patience left.
I will give away your secret.
My heart is burning in this blazing fire,
drunk with pain.
I've had enough
I will give away your ancient secret.
You can choose to listen or not.

Lost in the grip of my passion,
I heard the Moon say,
"Am I not your friend and companion
why do you want to betray me?"

Startled, I looked at that Beauty,
at my life giver, my soul's music,
the water for my burning heart
and promised
to keep her secret forever.

-- Ghazal (Ode) 1831
Translated by Azima Melita Kolin
and Maryam Mafi
"Rumi: Hidden Music"
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2001

=================================

Thu Feb 16, 2006
On the bank of the river,
water is grudged by that one alone
who is blind to the flowing stream.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bar lab-e ju bokhl-e âb ân-râ bovad
ku ze ju-ye âb nâ-binâ bovad

-- Mathnawi II:894
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Daylight"
Threshold Books, 1994
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyل Monastra

the image:
http://tinyurl.com/c4z8l

the recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/bvkmb

======================================

Fri Feb 17, 2006

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

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.

===================================

Mon Feb 20, 2006


Here, Sunlight offers Ghazal (Ode) 2776, in a poetic version by
Coleman Barks and in the literal translation by A.J. Arberry, from
which Barks derived his version:


You miss the garden,
because you want a small fig from a random tree.
You don't meet the beautiful woman.
You're joking with an old crone.
It makes me want to cry how she detains you,
stinking mouthed, with a hundred talons,
putting her head over the roof edge to call down,
tasteless fig, fold over fold, empty
as dry-rotten garlic.

She has you tight by the belt,
even though there's no flower and no milk
inside her body.
Death will open your eyes
to what her face is: leather spine
of a black lizard. No more advice.

Let yourself be silently drawn
by the stronger pull of what you really love.

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

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

You who let a garden go for the sake of a small fig, let slip the
houri for the sake of an unworthy crone.
I am rending my shirt, and repulsion comes over me from the
glance that a crone cast at a youth.
A stinking-mouthed crone with a hundred clutching talons and
tricks, putting her head down from the roof to snare a clever one.
Who is such a crone? A savorless deception, fold on fold like
an onion, fetid as garlic.
A prince has become her captive, pledged his belt--she laughs
in secret, "Fool of a princeling!"
No full blossom is the garden of her beauty, no milk in the
breasts of fidelity of that whore.
When death opens your eyes, then you will behold her, her
face like the back of a lizard, her body black as pitch.
Now be silent, give no more counsel. The master's bond is
very strong; the chain of his love draws without the help of a
miserable chain.

-- Translation by A. J. Arberry
"Mystical Poems of Rumi 2"
The University of Chicago Press, 1991

===================================================

Tue Feb 21, 2006


A bird flies to the nest by means of wings:
the wings of the human being are aspiration.
In the case of the lover who is soiled with good and evil,
don't pay attention to the good and evil, pay attention to the
aspiration.
If a falcon is white and beyond compare,
still it becomes despicable when it hunts a mouse;
and if there is an owl that yearns for the king,
it's as noble as the falcon's head:
don't pay attention to the hood.
The human being, no bigger than a wooden kneading trough,
has surpassed in glory the heavens and the empyrean.
Did heaven ever hear the words We have honored*
which this sorrowful human being heard from God?

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

Morgh bâ parr mi parrad tâ âshyân
parr-e mardom hemmatast ay mardomân
â`sheqi k-âludeh shod dar khayr o sharr
khayr o sharr ma-negar to dar hemmat negar
Bâz agar bâshad sapid o bi nazir
chonkeh saydesh mush bâshad shod haqir
Var bovad choghdi o mayl-e u beh-shâh
u sar-e bâzast ma-negar dar kolâh
âdami bar qadd-e yek tasht-e khamir
bar fozud az âsmân o az asir
Hich Karramnâ* shenid in âsmân
keh shenid in âdami por ghammân

*al-Isrâ', 70

-- Mathnawi VI:134-139
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyل Monastra

the image:
http://tinyurl.com/phs2o

the recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/pmdhj

============================================

Wed Feb 22, 2006

Pure attributes

Sunlight offers Ghazal (Ode) 385 in two translations, by
Annemarie Schimmel, and by William Chittick:


Your fine ethical qualities will run before you after your
death -
Like moon-faced ladies do these qualities proudly walk ...
When you have divorced the body, you will see houris in
rows,
"Muslim ladies, faithful women, devout and repenting
ladies" (Sura 66/5)
Without number will your characteristics run before your
bier ...
In the coffin these pure qualities will become your
companions,
They will cling to you like sons and daughters,
And you will don garments from the warp and woof of your
works of obedience. . . .

-- Translation by Annemarie Schimmel
"I Am Wind, You are Fire"
Shambhala, 1992

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

After your death, your good traits will run on ahead of you;
like moon-faced ladies, those attributes will stroll gracefully.
One will take your hand, another will ask after you, and
still another will bring you offerings of ruby lips and sugar
kisses.
Once you have divorced the body, you will see houris lined
up, "submissive, obedient, penitent, devout." *
Uncountable, your traits run before your casket - your
patience has become "those that pluck out," your gratitude
"those that draw out." **
In the grave those pure attributes become your intimate
friends, clinging to you like sons and daughters.
The warp and weft of your obedience will weave you
many robes; the expanse of your spirit will be displayed
outside the six directions.
Take heed! Be quiet, so that you may plant the seeds of
good works - for the Garden of Eden will grow up from the
acts of faithful servants.

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

*Quran LXVI, 5
**Quran LXXIX, 1-2

=====================================

Thu Feb 23, 2006

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
آn 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 Yahyل Monastra)

the image:
http://tinyurl.com/n3fwn

and the recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/pc8c7

===================================

Fri Feb 24, 2006

Sunlight offers Ghazal 3071, in versions by Barks and Star,
and in translation by A.J. Arberry:


THE SNOW-WORLD MELTS

Think of the phoenix coming up out of ashes,
but not flying off.
For a moment we have form.
We can't see.
How can we be conscious and you be conscious
at the same time and separate?
Copper when an alchemist works on it loses its copper
qualities. Seeds in Spring
begin to be trees, no longer seed. Brushwood
put in the fire changes. The snow-world melts.
You step in my footprint and it's gone.

It's not that I've done anything to deserve
this attention from you. Predestination
and freewill: We can argue them,
but they're only ideas. What's real
is a presence, like Shams.

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

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

THE ASHES OF UNION

O Soul,
You are the Phoenix
rising up from the ashes of Union.
Why don't you fly? -
No one knows you on the ground.

You are the heart's sweetness
And by some magical power
your form ravishes a thousand hearts.

For a time you took form in the body.
For a time you passed beyond the heavens
and the bonds of both worlds.

Why can't the spirit find you? -
You are its wings and its feathers.
Why can't the eye see you? -
You are the source of its sight.

What will happen to your copper soul
when the Alchemist arrives?
Will it not become gold?
What will become of your little seed
when the Springtime arrives? -
Will it not become a towering tree?
What will happen to brushwood
when it falls into fire? -
Will it not change into sparks and rise to heaven?

Reason and intellect
Are like the dim light of distant stars.
You are the bright Sun
that shines through every veil.

The world is nothing but snow and ice.
You are the burning heat of Summer.
O King, no trace of this world remains
the moment you arrive!

Who can sit by your side?
Everyone would vanish with one glance of yours.

O blessed eyes!
I have seen something beyond imagination,
unreachable by fortune or human effort -
I have seen the perfect face
of Shams-e Tabriz.

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

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

Heart, you are the phoenix of union. Fly, why do you not fly?
No one recognizes you, neither man nor peri*.
You are the sweetheart, not the heart; but with every device
and trickery you have taken the shape of the heart so that you
will ravish a thousand hearts.
For a moment faithfully you mingle with earth, and for a
moment you pass beyond empyrean and firmament and the
bounds of the two worlds.
Why does not spirit find you, for you are its wings and
feathers? Why does not sight see you who are the source of sight?
What fear has penitence to repent of you? What is conscious-
ness that it should remain conscious along with you?
What shall be that poor copper when the alchemy comes?
Will it not pass away from copperhood into the attribute of gold?
Who is that poor seed when the springtime comes? Does not
its seedhood pass away into treehood?
Who is poor brushwood when it falls into the fire? Is not the
brushwood transformed into a spark by the flame?
All reason and science are stars; are you the sun of the world
who tear asunder their veils?
The world is like snow and ice, and you are the season of sum-
mer; when you, king, are on its track, no trace of it remains.
Say, who am I to remain along with you? I and a hundred like
me will pass away when you gaze towards me.
The perfection of the description of the lord Shams-e Tabrizi
surpasses the imaginations of predestinator and free-willer.

-- Translation by A. J. Arberry
"Mystical Poems of Rumi 2"
The University of Chicago Press, 1991

* "Peri" -- a supernatural being in Persian folklore descended from
fallen angels and excluded from paradise until penance is accomplished;
also, a beautiful and graceful girl. (Sunlight footnote)

==========================

Mon Feb 27, 2006


Mathnawi, Volume VI, verses 2510-54, the story of
the King of Tirmid and the fool, as interpreted by Coleman Barks:


The King of Tirmid
has urgent business in Samarcand.

He needs a courier to go there and return
in five days. He offers many rewards to anyone
who will make the journey -- horses, servants, gold,
and the robes of honor.
Dalqak, the court clown,
is out in the country when he hears of this.
He quickly mounts a horse and rides toward town.
He rides furiously. Two horses drop dead
of exhaustion under his whip.
He arrives
covered with dust at some ungodly hour,
demanding an audience with the king.

A panic sweeps the city. What calamity
could be so imminent that Dalqak, the buffoon,
should be so distraught? Everyone gathers
at the palace.
"An evil omen is upon us!"
"Something has been spilled on the rug
this time!"
The king himself is worried.
"What is it, Dalqak?"
Whenever anyone asks Dalqak
for particulars about anything, he first puts his finger
to his lips,
Shhhhh ...
Everyone gets very quiet.
Dalqak makes another gesture as though to say
he needs more time to catch his breath.

Another long wait. No one has ever seen Dalqak
like this. Usually, he's a constant stream
of new jokes. Usually, the king would be
laughing so hard he'd fall on the floor
holding his stomach. This quietness
is very odd and foreboding.
Everyone's worst fears
come up.
"The tyrant from Khwarism
is coming to kill us!"
"Dalqak, say what it is!"

"I was far from the court when I heard
that you needed a courier, someone who could go
to Samarcand and come back in five days."
"Yes!"
"I hurried here to tell you
that I will not be able to do it."
"What!"
"I don't have the stamina or the agility.
Don't expect me to be the one."
"This
is what you made such a commotion about,
that you won't do it?"
Dalqak is like those who pretend
to be on a brave spiritual path.
The bridgegroom's house
is in an uproar of preparation, making always ready
to receive the bride,
but the girl's family
knows nothing. Any message yet?
"No."
Letters
have been
written
and sent, but have any of them reached
the Friend? Has your inner lover read them?

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

The image:
http://tinyurl.com/s845j

====================

Tue Feb 28, 2006
Since the object of praise is one,
from this point of view,
all religions are but one religion.
Know that all praise belongs to the Light of God
and is only lent to created forms and beings.
Should people praise anyone but the One
who alone deserves to be praised?
But they go astray in useless fantasy.
The Light of God in relation to phenomena
is like light shining upon a wall-
the wall is but a focus for these splendors.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Zânke khvod mamduh joz yek pish nist
kish-hâ zin ruy joz yek kish nist
Dân ke har madhi be-Nur-e Haqq ravad
bar sovar o ashkhâs `âriyat bovad
Madh-hâ joz Mostaheqq-râ kay konand
lik bar pendâsht gomrah mi shavand
Hamcho Nuri tâfteh bar hâyeti
hâyet ân anvâr-râ chon râbeti

-- Mathnawi III: 2124-2127
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyل Monastra)

the image:
http://tinyurl.com/ny76b

and the recitation:
http://tinyurl.com/p85cu

===============================

Feb 2006 - Part II