I swear my dear son

July 12 2010, 10:37:10 AM

I SWEAR MY DEAR SON

no one in the entire world

is as precious as you are

look at that mirror

take a good look at yourself

who else is there above and beyond you

now give yourself a kiss

and with sweet whispers

fill your ears to the brim

watch for all that beauty

reflecting from you

and sing a love song to your existence

you can never overdo

praising your own soul

you can never over-pamper your heart

you are both

the father and the son

the sugar and the sugar cane

who else but you

please tell me who else

can ever take your place

now give yourself a smile

what is the worth of a diamond

if it doesn't smile

how can i ever put a price

on the diamond that you are

you are the entire treasure of the house

you and your shadow

are forever present in this world

you're that glorious bird of paradise

"RUMI, Fountain of Fire", ghazal number 2148,

translated 19 January 1991 by Nader Khalili,

Cal-Earth Press, 1994

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I am No Lion

June 10 2010, 9:00:23 AM

I AM NO LION

to overpower my enemies

winning over myself

if i can

is enough

though i'm of lowly earth

since i nourish a seed

named love

i'll grow

lilies of the field

when i'm pitch-black

lamenting separation

i know for sure

i will break through

spreading light on the dark night

i am on fire inside

but look grim outside

since i want to rise

like smoke through my cell

i am a child

whose teacher is love

surely my master

won't let me grow

to be a fool

"RUMI, Fountain of Fire", ghazal number 1523,

translated 17 March 1991 by Nader Khalili

Cal-Earth Press, 1994

photo: Through The Woods

neshamah emi miller, 2010

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Listen

May 24 2010, 7:48:00 PM

Listen for the stream
that tells you one thing.

Die on this bank. Begin in me
the way of rivers with the sea.

- Rumi

` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

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

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The many objects of Desire

May 24 2010, 7:39:39 PM

"The Many Objects of Desire"

Oh, the many objects of desire,
The many reflections of His beautiful Face.
How can you turn away from such eyes?
Where, where will you turn?

A thousand praises!
A thousand hearts of gratitude!
For your love has given wings to the world.
Wanting to see the dawn of your eternal light,
This old world recites your Name each morning.
You have shared your love;
You have ruled with kindness.
How can there be justice
without your purity and compassion?

I heard that Joseph did not sleep for ten years;
The prince of virtue kept praying to God
for the sake of his brothers:

O God, forgive them –
if not, I'll cry a hundred tears.
Do not punish them
for they truly regret the evil act
they so suddenly committed.

Joseph's feet swelled from standing all night:
His eyes burned from tears and torment.
His cries echoed through the heavens
and rocked the flight of angels;
It caused the Sea of Compassion to boil
and overflow its bounds . . .

Such is the way of spiritual masters –
they work day and night to release mankind
from its pain and moral decay.

After helping one soul, they move on,
and God alone knows
of their great compassion.
Masters always ask God
to rescue those who are lost.
They take away despair,
and replace it with joy;
They remove the tattered clothes of life
and dress everyone in silk.

Enough for now!
I'll tell you the rest tomorrow . . .
Now look how the beauty of the moon
Shows only through a dark night.

-- Ode 929
Version by Jonathan Star
"A Garden Beyond Paradise: The Mystical Poetry of Rumi"
Bantam Books, 1992

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The Oxus become the sea

May 24 2010, 7:35:47 PM

"The Oxus has become the Sea"

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

The Oxus, which had begun to flow because of the love 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 if it
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

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Not Christian,

May 24 2010, 7:33:33 PM

Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, nor Hindu

Buddhist, Sufi or Zen. Not any religion

or cultural system. I am not from the East

or the West, not out of the ocean or up

from the ground, not natural or ethereal or

composed of elements at all. I do not exist,

am not an entity in this world or the next,

did not descend from Adam and Eve or any

origin story. My place is the placeless, a trace

of the traceless. Neither body or soul.

I belong to the Beloved, have seen the two

Worlds as one and that one call to and know,

First, last, outer, inner, only that

Breath, breathing Human being.

The Essential Rumi

Translations by

Coleman Barks

With John Moyne

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i've travelled around

May 24 2010, 7:28:29 PM

i've travelled around
raced through every city
while i knew all along
no place could be found
like the city of love

if i could have known
to value what i owned
i would not have suffered
like a fool
the life of a vagabond

i've heard many tunes
all over the globe
all empty
as a kettledrum
except the music of love

it was the sound of
that hollow drum
that made me fall
from the heavens
to this mortal life

i used to soar
among souls
like a heart's flight
winglessly roaming and
celestially happy

i used to drink
like a flower that drinks
without lips or throat
of the wine that overflows
with laughter and joy

suddenly
i was summoned by love
to prepare for a journey
to the temple of
suffering

i cried desperately
i begged and pleaded
and shredded my clothes
not to be sent
to this world

just the way i fear now
going away
to the other world
i was frightened then
to make my descent

love asked me to go
with no fear to be alone
promising to be close
everywhere i go
closer than my veins

love threw its spell
its magic and allure
using coyness and charm
i was totally sold and
bought everything with joy

who am i to resist
love's many tricks
and not to fall
while the whole world
takes love's bait

love showed me
a path but then
lost me on the way
if i could have resisted
i would have found my way

i can show you my friend
surely how you can get there
but here and now
my pen has broken down
before telling you how

-- Ghazal (Ode) 1509
Translation by Nader Khalili
"Rumi, Fountain of Fire"
Burning Gate Press, Los Angeles, 1994.

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

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IF YOU DISTANCE YOURSELF

May 24 2010, 6:12:35 PM

IF YOU DISTANCE YOURSELF
only for an hour
from your endless thoughts
what do you think will happen

if you let yourself sink
just like a fish
into the ocean of our love
what do you think will happen

you are merely
a piece of straw
and we are
that eternal amber

if you leap forth
from your lowly house
to fuse with the amber
what do you think will happen

a hundred times
you've promised yourself
to depart from self-claim
to be humble as earth

only for once
if you keep your word
what do you think will happen

you're a precious
hidden diamond
sunken in the mud

if you wash away
all that impurity
from your gorgeous face
what do you think will happen

if you abandon
for a little while
your ego and greed
tear down your shield
rise with a quest
to unite with the divine
what do you think will happen

ghazal number 844,
translated April 19, 1992,
by Nader Khalili.

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You are drunk

August 27 2009, 12:32:55 PM

YOU ARE DRUNK
and i'm intoxicated
again and again
i told you
drink less
a cup or two

i know in this city
no one is sober
one is worse than the other
one is frenzied and
the other gone mad

come on my friend
step into the tavern of ruins
taste the sweetness of life
in the company of another friend

here you'll see
at every corner
someone intoxicated
and the cup-bearer
makes her rounds

i went out of my house
a drunkard came to me
someone whose glance
uncovered a hundred
houses in paradise

rocking and rolling
he was a sail
with no anchor but
he was the envy of all those sober ones
remaining on the shore

where are you from i asked
he smiled in mockery and said
one half from the east
one half from the west
one half made of water and earth
one half made of heart and soul
one half staying at the shores and
one half nesting in a pearl

i begged
take me as your friend
i am your next of kin
he said i recognize no kin
among strangers
i left my belongings and
entered this tavern
i only have a chest
full of words
but can't utter
a single one

"RUMI, Fountain of Fire", ghazal number 2309,
translated 22 September 1991 by Nader Khalili,
Burning Gate Press, Los Angeles, 1994.

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The blocked road

August 27 2009, 12:12:10 PM

The Blocked Road

I wish I knew what you wanted.
You block the road and won't give me rest.
You pull my lead-rope one way, then the other.
You act cold, my darling!
Do you hear what I say?

Will this night of talking ever end?
Why am I still embarrassed and timid
about you? You are thousands.
You are one.
Quiet, but most articulate.

Your name is Spring.
Your name is wine.
Your name is the nausea
that comes from wine!

You are my doubting
and the lightpoints
in my eyes.

You are every image, and yet
I'm homesick for you.

Can I get there?
Where the deer pounces on the lion,
where the one I'm after's
after me?

This drum and these words keep pounding!
Let them both smash through their coverings
into silence.

-- Version by Coleman Barks,
from a translation by A.J. Arberry,
"Like This", Maypop, 1990

__._,_.___

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