Sufi Poetry

[SFG75]

Jalaluddin Rumi:

Come, Come, whoever you are,
Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving,
it doesn't matter.
Ours is a caravan of endless joy.
Even if you've borken your vows a hundred times-
Come, come, yet again come!.

I really like this one as religious groups tend to shun those who repeatedly stumble. In this poem, Rumi displays a "devil may care"(pun not intended) attitude and has a positive message.

In one sweet moment she burst out from my heart,
And there she sat before me
drinking ruby-red wine.
Trapped by her beauty
I saw and I touched-
My whole face became eyes,
My every eye became hands.

I cried, and I burned in that cry.
I kep silent, and I burned in that silence.
Then I stayed away from extremes-
I went right downthe middle,
And I burned in that middle.

It is said,
"God's Light shines in all six directions."
A shout came from the crowd:
"So where is that Light?"
"ShallI fix my gaze to the left,
or to the right?"
It is said,
"For a moment, fix it neither to the left nor to the right."

The section about "burning" is the best part of it IMHO. The refernece to win and intoxication is a common thread in his poems, a strong symbol of Rumi's reneage status within a religious movement that frowns upon the use of alcohol.



by Firdausi

If on eath there be
a Paradise of Bliss,
It is this,
It is this,
It is this.

 

[Flor]

Story Water by Rumi

A story is like water

that you heat for your bath.



It takes messages between the fire

and your skin. It lets them meet

and it cleans you!



Very few can sit down

in the middle of the fire itself

like a salamander or Abraham.

We need intermediaries.



A feeling of fullness comes,

but usually it takes some bread

to bring it.

Beauty surrounds us,

but usually we need to be walking

in a garden to know it.

The body itself is a screen

to shield and partially reveal

the light that ís blazing

inside your presence.



Water, stories, the body,

all the things we do, are mediums

that hide and show what’s hidden.



Study them,

and enjoy this being washed

with a secret we sometimes know,

and then not.

– Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks



The Essential Rumi is a fave from last year. Sigh.

 

[SFG75]

The man was definitely a visionary, no doubt about that. The poems just burst with emotion and action. Awesome entry there Flor.

Another personal favorite:

Our drunkenness does not come from wine,
Our gathering, so full of cheer,
does not cmoe from song or dance.
Without a pretty girl to fill our cup,
Without friend, without music, without wine,
We burst out like madmen,
rolling drunk on the floor.

Don't think.
Don't get lost in your thoughts.
Your thoughts are a veil on the face of the Moon.
That Moon is your heart,
and those thoughts cover your heart.
So let them go,
just let them fall into the water.

If you want great wealth,
and that which lasts forever,
Wake up!
If you want to shine
with the love of the Beloved,
Wake up!
you've slept a hundred nights,
And what has it brought you?
For your Self, for your God,
Wake up! Wake up!
Sleep no more.

Oh yeah, and all the poems given thus far have been taken from Two Suns Rising byjonathan Star-excellent book.

 

[Flor]

The Seed Market by Rumi

Here's another good one, SFG. I gave the invocation at my nursing school graduation and insisted on this rather than a prayer. I modified it and shortened it, but the overall effect was still good. Rumi's fun!



The Seed Market



Can you find another market like this?
Where,
with your one rose
you can buy hundreds of rose gardens?
Where,
for one seed
get a whole wilderness?
For one weak breath,
a divine wind?
You've been fearful
of being absorbed in the ground,
or drawn up by the air.
Now, your waterbead lets go
and drops into the ocean,
where it came from.
It no longer has the form it had,
but it's still water
The essence is the same.
This giving up is not a repenting.
It's a deep honoring of yourself.
When the ocean comes to you as a lover,
marry at once, quickly,
for God's sake!
Don't postpone it!
Existence has no better gift.
No amount of searching
will find this.
A perfect falcon, for no reason
has landed on your shoulder,
and become yours.