Naatamaam - Poetry, Words, Parables

Mevlana Rumi - You've So Distracted Me

2011-09-26T18:59:00.001-07:00

You've so distracted me,
your absence fans my love.
don't ask how.

Then you come near.
"Do not..." I say, and
"do not..." you answer.

Don't ask why
this delights me.

Mevlana Rumi (translations - coleman barks/john moyne)

Kabir - My Body is Flooded

2011-05-08T18:49:00.001-07:00

My body is flooded
With the flame of Love
My soul lives in
A furnace of bliss.

Love's fragrance
Fills my mouth,
And fans through all things
With each outbreath

-Kabir

Kabir - Do Not Blame Love

2011-05-08T18:45:00.001-07:00

Do not blame Love for the agony it brings;
Love is the King of all paths,
And the heart not wild with longing
Is already dead, already a burial ground.

Bakharzi - You Are The Sun

2011-05-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

Glimpsing your lovely face, my poor eyes stare
And brim with water like spring clouds; but there -
You are the sun; the eyes of anyone
Will water if he gazes at the sun

- Tajaddin Bakharzi (Seljuk period, Bakharz)

Am'aq - Love Makes Me Wish

2011-05-03T21:04:00.000-07:00

Love makes me wish that everyone were blind
And only I could see you and revere you,
or that my own two eyes were blind-and then
I would not see the others hovering near you

-Am'aq (12th century, Bokhara)

Rumi - The Minute I Heard My First Love Story

2011-04-24T06:04:00.000-07:00

The minute I heard my first love story,
I started looking for you, not knowing
how blind that was.
Lovers don't finally meet somewhere.
They're in each other all along.
-Mevlana Rumi

What Is the Heart?

2011-04-19T16:32:00.000-07:00

What is the heart?
It is not human, it is not imaginery,
I call it you.

Dissolve in Sunlight - Rumi

2011-04-19T16:31:00.002-07:00

This is how I would die into the love I have for you:

As pieces of cloud dissolve in Sunlight.

I Too Have Been Covered With Thorns - Rumi

2011-04-19T16:31:00.001-07:00

I am your moon and your moonlight too
I am your flower garden and your water too.
I have come all this way eager for you,
without shoes or shawl.
I want you to laugh, to kill all your worries, to love you, to nourish you.
Oh sweet bitterness, I will soothe you and heal you.
I will bring you roses. I too have been covered with thorns.

The Awakening - Mevlana Rumi

2011-04-13T13:33:00.001-07:00

THE AWAKENING

In the early dawn of happiness
you gave me three kisses
so that I would wake up
to this moment of love

I tried to remember in my heart
what I’d dreamt about
during the night
before I became aware
of this moving
of life

I found my dreams
but the moon took me away
It lifted me up to the firmament
and suspended me there
I saw how my heart had fallen
on your path
singing a song

Between my love and my heart
things were happening which
slowly slowly
made me recall everything

You amuse me with your touch
although I can’t see your hands.
You have kissed me with tenderness
although I haven’t seen your lips
You are hidden from me.

But it is you who keeps me alive

Perhaps the time will come
when you will tire of kisses
I shall be happy
even for insults from you
I only ask that you
keep some attention on me.

-- M. Rumi

There are no words for that

2011-04-06T08:42:00.000-07:00

I read once that the ancient Egyptians had fifty words for sand
And the Eskimos had a hundred words for snow
I wish I had a thousand words for love
But all that comes to mind is the way you move against me while you sleep
and there are no words for that

Ghalib - You Say it is not love

2011-04-04T08:48:00.001-07:00

(You say) It is not love, it is madness
My madness may be the cause of your fame
Sever not my relationship with you
If nothing then be my enemy
What is the meaning of notoriety in meeting me
If not in public court meet me alone
I am not my own enemy
So what if the stranger is in love with you
Whatever you are, it is due to your own being
If this not known then it is ignorance
Life though fleets like a lightening flash
Yet it is abundant Time to be in love
I do not want debate on the sustenance of love
Be it not love but another dilemma
Give something O biased One
At least the sanction to cry and plea
I will perpetuate the rituals
Even if cruelty be your habit
Teasing and cajoling the beloved cannot leave 'Asad'
Even if there is no union and only the desire remains

- Ghalib

Mirabai - Strange is the path when you offer love

2011-04-04T08:41:00.000-07:00

Do not mention the name of love,
O my simple-minded companion.
Strange is the path
When you offer your love.
Your body is crushed at the first step.

If you want to offer love
Be prepared to cut off your head
And sit on it.
Be like the moth,
Which circles the lamp and offers its body.
Be like the deer, which, on hearing the horn,
Offers its head to the hunter.
Be like the partridge,
Which swallows burning coals
In love of the moon.
Be like the fish
Which yields up its life
When separated from the sea.
Be like the bee,
Entrapped in the closing petals of the lotus.

Mira's lord is the courtly Giridhara.
She says: Offer your mind
To those lotus feet.

-Mirabai, India, 1498-1546

Khusrau - I wonder what was the place..

2011-04-04T08:39:00.001-07:00

I wonder what was the place where I was last night,
All around me were half-slaughtered victims of love,
tossing about in agony.
There was a nymph-like beloved with cypress-like form
and tulip-like face,
Ruthlessly playing havoc with the hearts of the lovers.
God himself was the master of ceremonies in that heavenly court,
oh Khusrau, where (the face of) the Beloved too was shedding light
like a candle.

-- Khusrau

Am'aq - Love Makes Me Wish

2011-03-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

Love makes me wish that everyone were blind
And only I could see you and revere you,
Or that my own two eyes were blind-and then
I would not see the others hovering near you.

- Am'aq, Persian poet, 12th century

Marvazi - Why tease me

2011-03-21T10:18:00.000-07:00

Why tease me? In the twinkling of an eye
Your beauty and my love will both be gone
Don't set your price extortionately high
You'll see it plummet--and before too long.

-- 1037-1157, Persian poet, Rafi' Marvazi

This is To Love - Moulana J Rumi

2011-03-14T22:01:00.000-07:00

This is love: to fly to heaven, every moment to rend a hundred veils;
At first instance, to break away from breath
first step, to renounce feet;
To disregard this world, to see only that which you yourself have seen I said, "Heart, congratulations on entering the circle of lovers,
"On gazing beyond the range of the eye,
on running into the alley of the breasts."
Whence came this breath, O heart?
Whence came this throbbing, O heart?
Bird, speak the tongue of birds: I can heed your cipher!
The heart said, "I was in the factory whilst the home of water and clay was abaking.
"I was flying from the workshop whilst the workshop was being created.
"When I could no more resist, they dragged me; how shall I
tell the manner of that dragging?"

- Rumi

Eric Clapton on Layla

2011-03-12T20:42:00.000-08:00

So many years after I discovered sufi, mystic, and other poetry, and heard and studied the story of Layla & Majnun, I found that Eric Clapton (who wrote my namesake song, per dad, p.s. my brother's name is Erik) used Nizamai's poetry from Layla & Majnun word for word on his Layla album...

Layla

by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon
Based on Nizami's 12th century epic poem, "Layla and Majnun"

What'll you do when you get lonely
And no one's waiting by your side?
You've been running and hiding much too long.
You know it's just your foolish pride.

Chorus:
Layla, got me on my knees,
Layla, Begging, darling please, Layla,
Darling, won't you ease my worried mind?

I tried to give you consolation
When your old man had let you down.
Like a fool, I fell in love with you,
Turned my whole world upside down.
Let's make the best of the situation
Before I finally go insane.
Please don't say we'll never find a way
And tell me all my love's in vain

I Am Yours

by Eric Clapton
Based on Nizami's 12th century epic poem, "Layla and Majnun"

I am yours.
However distant you may be,
There blows no wind but wafts your scent to me,
There sings no bird but calls your name to me.
Each memory that has left its trace with me
Lingers forever as a part of me.
I am yours.

On Layla e Majnun - Nezami

2011-03-01T20:25:00.000-08:00

These two friends are one, eternal companions.
He is Majnun, the king of the world in right action.
And she is Layla, the moon among idols in compassion.
In the world, like unpierced rubies they treasured their fidelity affectionately, but found no rest and could not attain their heart's desire.
Here they suffer grief no more.
So it will be until eternity.
Whoever endures suffering and forebears in that world will be joyous and exalted in this world.

Break Your Cage - Majnun/Nezami

2011-03-01T16:42:00.000-08:00

For how long then do you want to deceive yourself?
For how long will you refuse to see yourself as you are and as you will be?
Each grain of sand takes its own length and breadth as the measure of the world; yet, beside a mountain range it is as nothing.
You yourself are the grain of sand;
you are your own prisoner.

Break your cage, break free from yourself, free from humanity;
learn that what you thought was real is not so in reality.
Follow Nizami: burn but your own treasure, like a candle -- then the world, your sovereign, will become your slave.

- Majnun for Layla, many years later

I Pass By These Walls -- Majnun

2011-02-17T20:15:00.000-08:00

I pass by these walls, the walls of Layla
And I kiss this wall and that wall
It’s not Love of the houses that has taken my heart
But of the One who dwells in those houses
- Majnun (for Layla)

Old Sweet Beggar -- Hafiz

2011-02-17T18:21:00.000-08:00

This
Path to the Beloved
Made me such an old sweet beggar.

I was starving until one night
My love tricked the Beloved Himself
To fall into my bowl.

Now Hafiz is infinitely rich,
But all I ever want to do

Is keep emptying out
My emerald filled
Pockets

Upon
This tear stained
World.

O Love - Mevlana Rumi

2011-02-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

O Love, O pure deep Love, be here, be now,
Be all – worlds dissolve into your
stainless endless radiance,

Frail living leaves burn with your brighter
than cold stares.
Make me your servant, your breath, your core.

- Mevlana Rumi

I Am Mad - Mirabai

2011-01-19T18:56:00.000-08:00

I am mad with love
And no one understands my plight.
Only the wounded
Understand the agonies of the wounded,
When the fire rages in the heart.
Only the jeweller knows the value of the jewel,
Not the one who lets it go.
In pain I wander from door to door,
But could not find a doctor.
Says Mira - Harken, my Master,
Mira's pain will subside
When the Beloved comes as the doctor.
-- Mirabai

I Know the Way You Can Get - Hafiz

2011-01-18T17:49:00.000-08:00

I know the way you can get
When you have not had a drink of Love:

Your face hardens,
Your sweet muscles cramp.
Children become concerned
About a strange look that appears in your eyes
Which even begins to worry your own mirror
And nose.

Squirrels and birds sense your sadness
And call an important conference in a tall tree.
They decide which secret code to chant
To help your mind and soul.

Even angels fear that brand of madness
That arrays itself against the world
And throws sharp stones and spears into
The innocent
And into one's self.

O I know the way you can get
If you have not been drinking Love:

You might rip apart
Every sentence your friends and teachers say,
Looking for hidden clauses.

You might weigh every word on a scale
Like a dead fish.

You might pull out a ruler to measure
From every angle in your darkness
The beautiful dimensions of a heart you once
Trusted.

I know the way you can get
If you have not had a drink from Love's
Hands.

That is why all the Great Ones speak of
The vital need
To keep remembering the Beloved,
So you will come to know and see Him
As being so Playful
And Wanting,
Just Wanting to help.

That is why Hafiz says:
Bring your cup near me.
For all I care about
Is quenching your thirst for freedom!

All a Sane man can ever care about
Is giving Love!

-- hafiz

A Golden Compass - Hafiz

2011-01-17T17:45:00.000-08:00

Forget every idea of right and wrong
Any classroom ever taught you

Because
An empty heart, a tormented mind,
Unkindness, jealousy and fear

Are always the testimony
You have been completely fooled!

Turn your back on those
Who would imprison your wondrous spirit
With deceit and lies.

Come, join the honest company
Of the King's beggars -
Those gamblers, scoundrels and divine clowns
And those astonishing fair courtesans
Who need Divine Love every night.

Come, join the courageous
Who have no choice
But to bet their entire world
That indeed,
Indeed, the Beloved is Real.

I will lead you into the Circle
Of the Beloved's cunning thieves,
Those playful royal rogues -
The ones you can trust for true guidance -
Who can aid you
In this Blessed Calamity of life.

Hafiz,
Look at the Perfect One
At the Circle's Center:

He Spins and Whirls like a Golden Compass,
Beyond all that is Rational,

To show this dear world

That Everything,
Everything in Existence
Does point to the Beloved.

Someone should start laughing - Hafiz

2011-01-17T17:44:00.000-08:00

have a thousand brilliant lies
For the question:

How are you?

I have a thousand brilliant lies
For the question:

What is the Beloved?

If you think that the Truth can be known
From words,

If you think that the Sun and the Ocean

Can pass through that tiny opening Called the mouth,

O someone should start laughing!
Someone should start wildly Laughing –Now!

Khusrau - The sun at midnight

2010-10-24T19:03:00.000-07:00

See, I tried everything, went everywhere,
But never found a friend as dear as you;
Drank from all the fountains, tried the grapes,
But never tasted wine as sweet as you.

I studied hundred learned manuscripts;
In every letter I saw only you.
I washed away the letters with my tears;
A mirror was the shining page for you.

I heard your voice in the rustling breeze;
The snow, the grass were lovely veils for you;
I divided the ocean without shore;
The lustrous pearls reflected only you.

Then came the storm.
The garden of my heart
Was shivering in the cold, all leaves were shed.
There was the desert.
And the barren cloud.
And silence. And
the sun at midnight – you.

Khusrau

Moondance - Van Morrison

2010-03-07T11:02:00.000-08:00

Well, it's a marvelous night for a moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
'Neath the cover of October skies

And all the leaves on the trees are fallin'
To the sound of the breezes that blow
An' I'm trying to please to the callin'
Of your heart strings that play soft and low

And all the nights magic seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush
Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love?
Can I just make some more romance with you, my love?

Well, I wanna make love to you tonight
I can't wait 'til the morning has come
And I know now the time is just right
And straight in to my arms you will run

And when you come, my heart will be waiting
To make sure that you're never alone
There and then, all my dreams will come true, dear
There and then, I will make you my own

And every time I touch you, you just tremble inside
And I know how much you want me that you can't hide
Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love?
Can I just make some more romance with you, my love?

Well, it's a marvelous night for a moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
'Neath the cover of October skies

And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow
And I'm trying to please to the calling
Of your heart strings that play soft and low

And all the nights magic seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush
Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love?
Can I just make some more romance with you, my love?

One more moon dance with you
In the moon light, on a magic night
All the moon light, on a magic night
Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love?

Crazy Love - Van Morrison

2009-12-18T18:37:00.000-08:00

I can hear her heart beat for a thousand miles
And the heavens open every time she smiles
And when I come to her that's where I belong
Yet I'm running to her like a river's song

Chorus:
She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love
She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love

She's got a fine sense of humor when I'm feeling low down
And when I come to her when the sun goes down
Take away my trouble, take away my grief
Take away my heartache, in the night like a thief

Chorus:
Yes I need her in the daytime
Yes I need her in the night
Yes I want to throw my arms around her
Kiss her hug her kiss her hug her tight

And when I'm returning from so far away
She gives me some sweet lovin' brighten up my day
Yes it makes me righteous, yes it makes me feel whole
Yes it makes me mellow down in to my soul

Rabia - I have made you the companion of my heart

2009-11-24T14:55:00.002-08:00

I have made You the Companion of my heart.
But my body is available to those who desire its company,
And my body is friendly toward its guest,
But the Beloved of my heart is the guest of my soul.
- Rabi´a al-Adawiyya, Perfume of the Desert

Rabia - The source of my suffering and loneliness is deep in my heart

2009-11-24T14:55:00.001-08:00

The source of my suffering and loneliness is deep in my heart.
This is a disease no doctor can cure.
Only Union with the Friend can cure it.
-Rabi´a al-Adawiyya, Perfume of the Desert

Rabia - I have two ways of loving you

2009-11-24T14:54:00.000-08:00

I have two ways of loving You:
A selfish one
And another way that is worthy of You.
In my selfish love, I remember You and You alone.
In that other love, You lift the veil
And let me feast my eyes on Your Living Face.
- Rabi´a al-Adawiyya. Doorkeeper of the heart

Rabia - In love, nothing exists between hear and heart

2009-11-24T14:53:00.000-08:00

In love, nothing exists between heart and heart.
Speech is born out of longing,
True description from the real taste.
The one who tastes, knows,
the one who explains, lies.
How can you describe the true form of Something
In whose presence you are blotted out?
And in whose being you still exist?
And who lives as a sign for your journey?
-Rabia al-Adawiyya

Emre - Your love has wrested me away from me

2009-11-24T14:52:00.000-08:00

Your love has wrested me away from me,
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
Day and night I burn, gripped by agony,
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.

I find no great joy in being alive,
If I cease to exist, I would not grieve,
The only solace I have is your love,
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.

Lovers yearn for you, but your love slays them,
At the bottom of the sea it lays them,
It has the Beloved's images-it displays them;
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.

Let me drink the wine of love sip by sip,
Like Mecnun, live in the hills in hardship,
Day and night, care for you holds me in its grip,
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.

Even if, at the end, they make me die
And scatter my ashes up to the shy,
My pit would break into this outcry:
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.

"Yunus Emre the mystic" is my name,
Each passing day fans and rouses my flame,
What I desire in both worlds in the same:
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
-Yunus Emre

Sanai - Someone who keeps aloof from suffering

2009-11-24T14:50:00.000-08:00

Someone who keeps aloof from suffering
is not a lover. I choose your love
above all else. As for wealth
if that comes, or goes, so be it.
Wealth and love inhabit separate worlds.

But as long as you live here inside me,
I cannot say that I am suffering.
-Sanai

Rumi - You have no idea how hard I have looked for a gift to bring you.

2009-11-24T14:49:00.000-08:00

You have no idea how hard I have looked for a gift to bring You.
Nothing seemed right.

What is the point of bringing gold to the gold mine, or water to the Ocean.
Everything I came up with was like taking spices to the Orient.

It's no good giving my heart and my soul because you already have these.

So- I've brought you a mirror.

Look at yourself and remember me.
- Mevlana Rumi

Rumi - Listen for the stream

2009-11-24T14:48:00.000-08:00

Listen for the stream
that tells you one thing.

Die on this bank.
Begin in me
the way of rivers with the sea.
- Rumi
Coleman Barks, Say I am You

Hafiz - Come, let's scatter roses and pour wine in the glass

2009-11-24T14:46:00.000-08:00

Come,
let's scatter roses and pour wine in the glass,
we'll shatter heaven's roof and lay a new foundation.
If sorrow raises armies to shed the blood of lovers,
I'll join with the wine bearer so we can overthrow them.
With a sweet string at hand, play a sweet song, my friend,
so we can clap and sing a song and lose our heads in dancing.
--Hafiz (Ghani-Qazvini, no 374)' the Shambhala Guide to Sufism' Carl.W Ernst, Ph.D.

Attar - Intoxicated by the wine of love

2009-11-24T14:42:00.000-08:00

Intoxicated by the Wine of Love.
From each a mystic silence Love demands.
What do all seek so earnestly? 'Tis Love.
What do they whisper to each other? Love.
Love is the subject of their inmost thoughts.
In Love no longer 'thou' and 'I' exist,
For Self has passed away in the Beloved.
Now will I draw aside the veil from Love,
And in the temple of mine inmost soul,
Behold the Friend; Incomparable Love.
He who would know the secret of both worlds,
Will find the secret of them both, is Love.
- Attar

Anvari - Last night, from the palm of the love-selling beauty...

2009-11-24T14:41:00.000-08:00

Last night, from the palm of the love-selling beauty,
I drank the wine of union until the morning.
Tonight, with a hundred thousand screams and cries,
I wait - when will there be another night like that?
- Anvari

Rumi - There is a candle

2009-06-04T12:57:00.000-07:00

There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled.
There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled.
You feel it, don't you?

Faiz Ahmad Faiz - Do not ask of me my love

2009-05-22T14:09:00.001-07:00

DO NOT ASK OF ME, MY LOVE

Do not ask of me, my love,
that love I once had for you.
There was a time when
life was bright and young and blooming,
and your sorrow was much more than
any other pain.
Your beauty gave the spring everlasting youth:
your eyes, yes your eyes were everything,
all else was vain.
While you were mine, I thought, the world was mine.
Though now I know that it was not reality,
that’s the way I imagined it to be;
for there are other sorrows in the world than love,
and other pleasures, tool
Woven in silk and satin and brocade,
those dark and brutal curses of countless centuries:
bodies bathed in blood, smeared with dust,
sold from market-place to market-place,
bodies risen from the cauldron of disease,
pus dripping from their festering sores—
my eyes must also turn to these.
You’re beautiful still, my love,
but I am helpless too;
for there are other sorrows in the world than love,
and other pleasures too.
Do not ask of me, my love,
that love I once had for you!

Bhavabhuti - Deep in Love

2009-05-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

Deep in love
cheek leaning on cheek we talked
of whatever cane to our minds
just as it came
slowly oh
slowly
with our arms twined
tightly around us
and the houses passed and we
did not know it
still talking when
the night was gone

Written by Bhavabhuti 8th Century CE

Mevlana - show me your face

2009-03-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

show me your face
i crave
flowers and gardens
open your lips
i crave
the taste of honey
come out from
behind the clouds
i desire a sunny face
your voice echoed
saying “leave me alone”
i wish to hear your voice
again saying “leave me alone”
i swear this city without you
is a prison
i am dying to get out
to roam in deserts and mountains
i am tired of
flimsy friends and
submissive companions
i die to walk with the brave
am blue hearing
nagging voices and meek cries
i desire loud music
drunken parties and
wild dance
one hand holding
a cup of wine
one hand caressing your hair
then dancing in orbital circle
that is what i yearn for
i can sing better than any nightingale
but because of
this city’s freaks
i seal my lips
while my heart weeps
yesterday the wisest man
holding a lit lantern
in daylight
was searching around town saying
i am tired of
all these beasts and brutes
i seek
a true human
we have all looked
for one but
no one could be found
they said
yes he replied
but my search is
for the one
who cannot be found
[translated by N. Khalili - my favorite translator!]

Mevlana - What have you been drinking

2009-03-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

rocking and rolling
what have you been drinking
please let me know
you must be drunk
going house to house
wandering from street to street
who have you been with
who have you kissed
who’s face have you been fondling
you are my soul
you are my life
i swear my life and love is yours
so tell me the truth
where is that fountainhead
the one you’ve been drinking from
don’t hide this secret
lead me to the source
fill my jug over and over again
last night i finally caught
your attention in the crowd
it was your image filling my dream
telling me to stop this wandering
stop this search for
good and evil
i said my dear prophet
give me some of
that you’ve drunk for ecstasy of life
if i let you drink you said
any of this burning flame
it will scorch your mouth and throat
your portion has been
given already by heaven
ask for more at your peril
i lamented and begged
i desire much more
please show me the source
i have no fear
to burn my mouth and throat
i’m ready to drink every flame and more

Mevlana - how long can I lament

2009-03-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

how long
can i lament
with this depressed
heart and soul
how long
can i remain
a sad autumn
ever since my grief
has shed my leaves
the entire space
of my soul
is burning in agony
how long can i
hide the flames
wanting to rise
out of this fire
how long can one suffer
the pain of hatred
of another human
a friend behaving like an enemy
with a broken heart
how much more
can i take the message
from body to soul
i believe in love
i swear by love
believe me my love
how long
like a prisoner of grief
can i beg for mercy
you know i’m not
a piece of rock or steel
but hearing my story
even water will become
as tense as a stone
if i can only recount
the story of my life
right out of my body
flames will grow

Mevlana - Lover whispers to my ear

2009-03-16T19:37:00.001-07:00

Lover whispers to my ear,
“Better to be a prey than a hunter.
Make yourself My fool.
Stop trying to be the sun and become a speck!
Dwell at My door and be homeless.
Don’t pretend to be a candle, be a moth,
so you may taste the savor of Life
and know the power hidden in serving.”

Mevlana - Once a beloved asked her lover, "Friend

2009-03-16T19:36:00.001-07:00

Once a beloved asked her lover, "Friend
You have seen many places in the world!
Now - which of all these cities was the best?
He said “The city where my sweetheart lives!”

Mevlana - through love all that is bitter will be sweet

2009-03-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

Through LOVE all that is bitter will sweet
Through Love all that is copper will be gold.
Through Love all dregs will turn to purest wine
Through Love all pain will turn to medicine.
Through Love the dead will all become alive.
Through Love the king will turn into a slave!

Mevlana - That moon, which the sky ne'er saw even in dreams, has returned

2009-03-16T19:34:00.001-07:00

That moon, which the sky ne'er saw even in dreams, has returned
And brought a fire no water can quench.
See the body's house, and see my soul,
This made drunken and that desolate by the cup of his love.
When the host of the tavern became my heart-mate,
My blood turned to wine and my heart to kabab.
When the eye is filled with thought of him, a voice arrives
W ell done, O flagon, and bravo, wine!
Love’s fingers tear up, root and stem,
Every house where sunbeams fall from love.
When my heart saw love’s sea, of a sudden
It left me and leaped in, crying, "Find me"
The face of Shamsi Din, Tabriz’s glory, is the sun
In whose track the cloud-like hearts are moving.

Mevlana - Turn me like a waterwheel turning a millstone

2009-03-16T19:33:00.001-07:00

Turn me like a waterwheel turning a millstone.
Plenty of water, a Living River.
Keep me in one place and scatter the love.
Leaf-moves in wind, straw drawn toward amber,
all parts of the world are in love,
but they do not tell their secrets. Cows grazing
on a sacramental table, ants whispering in Solomon’s ear.
Mountains mumbling an echo. Sky, calm.
If the sun were not in love, he would have no brightness,
the side of the hill no grass on it.
The ocean would come to rest somewhere.
Be a lover as they are, that you come to know
you Beloved. Be faithful that you may know
Faith. The other parts of the universe did not accept
the next responsibility of love as you can.

They were afraid they might make a mistake
with it, the inspired knowing
that springs from being in love

Mevlana - Sometimes I wonder, sweetest love, if you

2009-03-16T19:31:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wonder, sweetest love, if you
Were a mere dream in along winter night,
A dream of spring-days, and of golden light
Which sheds its rays upon a frozen heart;
A dream of wine that fills the drunken eye.
And so I wonder, sweetest love, if I
Should drink this ruby wine, or rather weep;
Each tear a bezel with your face engraved,
A rosary to memorize your name…
There are so many ways to call you back-
Yes, even if you only were a dream.
[Mevlana's last letter to Shams]

**Mevlana - In the early dawn of happiness

2009-03-16T19:30:00.000-07:00

In the early dawn of happiness
you gave me three kisses
so that I would wake up
to this moment of love
I tried to remember in my heart
what I’d dreamt about
during the night
before I became aware
of this moving
of life
I found my dreams
but the moon took me away
It lifted me up to the firmament
and suspended me there
I saw how my heart had fallen
on your path
singing a song
Between my love and my heart
things were happening which
slowly slowly
made me recall everything
You amuse me with your touch
although I can’t see your hands.
You have kissed me with tenderness
although I haven’t seen your lips
You are hidden from me.
But it is you who keeps me alive
Perhaps the time will come
when you will tire of kisses
I shall be happy
even for insults from you
I only ask that you
keep some attention on me.

Mevlana - Last night, I was lying on the rooftop

2009-03-16T19:29:00.002-07:00

Last night,
I was lying on the rooftop,
thinking of you.
I saw a special Star,
and summoned her to take you a message.
I prostrated myself to the Star
and asked her to take my prostration
to that Sun of Tabriz.
So that with his light, he can turn
my dark stones into gold.
I opened my chest and showed her my scars,
I told her to bring me news
of my bloodthirsty Lover.
As I waited,
I paced back and forth,
until the child of my heart became quiet.
The child slept, as if I were rocking his cradle.
Oh Beloved, give milk to the infant of the heart,
and don’t hold us from our turning.
You have cared for hundreds,
don’t let it stop with me now.
At the end, the town of unity is the place for the heart.
Why do you keep this bewildered heart
in the town of dissolution?

I have gone speechless, but to rid myself
of this dry mood,
oh Saaqhi, pass the narcissus of the wine.

** Mevlana - Oh Beloved, take me

2009-03-16T19:29:00.001-07:00

Oh Beloved,
take me.
Liberate my soul.
Fill me with your love and
release me from the two worlds.
If I set my heart on anything but you
let fire burn me from inside.
Oh Beloved,
take away what I want.
Take away what I do.
Take away what I need.
Take away everything
that takes me from you.

Mevlana - Should Love's heart rejoice unless I burn?

2009-03-16T19:27:00.002-07:00

Should Love’s heart rejoice unless I burn?
For my heart is Love’s dwelling.
If You will burn Your house, burn it, Love!
Who will say, ‘It’s not allowed’?
Burn this house thoroughly!
The lover’s house improves with fire.
From now on I will make burning my aim,
From now on I will make burning my aim,
for I am like the candle: burning only makes me brighter.
Abandon sleep tonight; traverse fro one night
the region of the sleepless.
Look upon these lovers who have become distraught
and like moths have died in union with the One Beloved.
Look upon this ship of the beloved's creatures
and see how it is sunk in Love.
Mathnawi VI, 617-623

Mevlana - The lover's good is the love of the bread

2009-03-16T19:27:00.001-07:00

The lover’s food is the love of the bread;
no bread need be at hand:
no one who is sincere in his love is a slave to existence.
Lovers have nothing to do with with with existence;
lovers have the interest without the capital.
Without wings they fly around the world;
without hands they carry the polo ball off the field.
That dervish who caught the scent of Reality
used to weave basket even though his hand had been cut off.
Lover have pitched their tents in nonexistence:
they are of one quality and one essence, as nonexistence is.
Mathnawi III, 3020-3024

Mevlana - Stay close, my heart , to the one who knows your ways

2009-03-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

Stay close, my heart, to the one who knows your ways;
Come into the shade of the tree that allays has fresh flowers.
Don’t stroll idly through the bazaar of the perfume-markers:
Stay in the shop of the sugar-seller.
If you don’t find true balance, anyone can deceive you;
Anyone can trick out of a thing of straw,
And make you take it for gold
Don’t squat with a bowl before every boiling pot;
In each pot on the fire you find very different things.
Not all sugarcanes have sugar, not all abysses a peak;
Not all eyes possess vision, not every sea is full of pearls.
O nightingale, with your voice of dark honey! Go on lamenting!
Only your drunken ecstasy can pierce the rock’s hard heart!
Surrender yourself, and if you cannot be welcomes by the Friend,
Know that you are rebelling inwardly like a thread
That doesn’t want to go through the needle’s eye!
The awakened heart is a lamp; protect it by the him of your robe!
Hurry and get out of this wind, for the weather is bad.
And when you’ve left this storm, you will come to a fountain;
You’ll find a Friend there who will always nourish your soul.
And with your soul always green, you’ll grow into a tall tree
Flowering always with sweet light-fruit, whose growth is interior.

Mevlana - The beauty of the heart

2009-03-13T07:37:00.000-07:00

The beauty of the heart
is the lasting beauty:
its lips give to drink
of the water of life.

Truly it is the water,
that which pours,
and the one who drinks.

All three become one when
your talisman is shattered.

That oneness you can't know
by reasoning.

Mevlana - Ah, what was there in that light-giving candle

2009-03-13T07:36:00.001-07:00

Ah, what was there in that light-giving candle that it set fire to the heart, and snatched the heart away?
You who have set fire to my heart, I am consumed, O friend; come quickly, quickly!
The form of the heart is not a created form, for the beauty of God manifested itself from the cheek of the heart.
I have no succour save in his sugar, I have no profit save in his lip.
Remember him who one dawn released this heart of mine from the chain of your tress.
My soul, the first time I saw you my soul heard something from your soul.
When my heart drank water from your fountain it drowned in you, and the torrent snatched me away.

Rabia - My joy

2009-03-13T07:34:00.000-07:00

My joy
My Hunger
My Shelte
My Friend
My Food for the journey
My journey's End
You are my breath,
My hope,
My companion,
My craving,
My abundant wealth.
Without You - my Life, my Love
I would never have wandered across these endless countries.
You have poured out so much grace for me,
Done me so many favors, given me so many gifts
I look everywhere for Your love
Then suddenly I am filled with it.
O Captain of my Heart
Radiant Eye of Yearning in my breast,
I will never be free from You
As long as I live.
Be satisfied with me, Love,
And I am satisfied.

Nazrul Islam - O, my love

2009-03-13T07:33:00.000-07:00

O, my love
Come silently in the middle of the night
As gliding moonlight

With your tender touch
Bring sweet dreams to my eyes

O, my love, never again
I will need to open the door,
Come quietly through the door of my heart
Be there forever in my sweet memory

Come as the fragrance of un-blossomed flowers
Swaying in the evening breeze
Sing out my name over and over again
Like love-stricken evening bird in the wilderness

Come as tear drops in my eyes
Whisper in my ears like soothing tune of flute
Come as my lost love
O my ever lost love
Be there as eternal pain in my heart.

Arabi - While the sun's eye rules my sight

2009-03-13T07:25:00.000-07:00

While the sun's eye rules my sight,
love sits as sultan in my soul.
His army has made camp in my heart --
passion and yearning, affliction and grief.
When his camp took possession of me
I cried out as the flame of desire
burned in my entrails.
Love stole my sleep, love has bewildered me,
love kills me unjustly, and I am helpless,
love has burdened me with more than I can bear
so that I bequeath him a soul and no body.

Tagore - A moment's indulgence

2009-03-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

A Moments Indulgence

I ask for a moment's indulgence to sit by thy side. The works
that I have in hand I will finish afterwards.

Away from the sight of thy face my heart knows no rest nor respite,
and my work becomes an endless toil in a shoreless sea of toil.

Today the summer has come at my window with its sighs and murmurs; and
the bees are plying their minstrelsy at the court of the flowering grove.

Now it is time to sit quite, face to face with thee, and to sing
dedication of life in this silent and overflowing leisure.

Rabindranath Tagore

Qawwalis - What a glow everywhere I see

2009-03-12T18:31:00.000-07:00

What a glow everywhere I see, Oh mother, what a glow;
I’ve found the beloved, yes I found him,
In my courtyard;
I have found my pir Nizamuddin Aulia.
I roamed around the entire world,
looking for an ideal beloved;
And finally this face has enchanted my heart.
The whole world has been opened for me,
Never seen a glow like this before.
Whenever I see now, he is with me,
Oh beloved, please dye me in yourself;
Dye me in the colour of the spring, beloved;
What a glow, Oh, what a glow.

Khusrau - Rejoice, my love, rejoice

2009-03-12T18:30:00.000-07:00

Aaj basant manaalay suhaagun,
Aaj basant manaalay;
Anjan manjan kar piya mori,
Lambay neher lagaaye;
Tu kya sovay neend ki maasi,
So jaagay teray bhaag, suhaagun,
Aaj basant manalay…..;
Oonchi naar kay oonchay chitvan,
Ayso diyo hai banaaye;
Shaah-e Amir tohay dekhan ko,
Nainon say naina milaaye,
Suhaagun, aaj basant manaalay.

Rejoice, my love, rejoice,
Its spring here, rejoice.
Bring out your lotions and toiletries,
And decorate your long hair.
Oh, you’re still enjoying your sleep, wake-up.
Even your destiny has woken up,
Its spring here, rejoice.
You snobbish lady with arrogant looks,
The King Amir is here to see you;
Let your eyes meet his,
Oh my love, rejoice;
Its spring here again.

Khusrau - You've taken away my looks, my identity, by just a glance.

2009-03-12T18:29:00.002-07:00

Chhap tilak sab cheeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Chhap tilak sab cheeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Prem bhatee ka madhva pilaikay
Matvali kar leeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Gori gori bayyan, hari hari churiyan
Bayyan pakar dhar leeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Bal bal jaaon mein toray rang rajwa
Apni see kar leeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Khusrau Nijaam kay bal bal jayyiye
Mohay Suhaagan keeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Chhap tilak sab cheeni ray mosay naina milaikay

You've taken away my looks, my identity, by just a glance.
By making me drink the wine of love-potion,
You've intoxicated me by just a glance;
My fair, delicate wrists with green bangles in them,
Have been held tightly by you with just a glance.
I give my life to you, Oh my cloth-dyer,
You've dyed me in yourself, by just a glance.
I give my whole life to you Oh, Nijam,
You've made me your bride, by just a glance.

Khusrau - I have become you, and you me

2009-03-12T18:29:00.001-07:00

Mun tu shudam tu mun shudi,mun tun shudam tu jaan shudi
Taakas na guyad baad azeen, mun deegaram tu deegari

I have become you, and you me,
I am the body, you soul;
So that no one can say hereafter,
That you are are someone, and me someone else.

Khusrau - You look sleepless, in whose embrace did you pass the night

2009-03-12T18:28:00.000-07:00

Tu shabana mi numaai be barkay boodi imshab,
Ke hunooz chashm-e mastat asar-e khumar daarad.

You look sleepless, in whose embrace did you pass the night;
Your intoxicated eye has still the signs of tipsiness.

Khusrau - People think they are alive because they have soul in them

2009-03-12T18:27:00.001-07:00

Gar khalq jahaan zinda bajaanand wa lekin,
Mun zinda-e ishqam ki shaheed-e gham-e yaaram.

People think they are alive because they have soul in them,
But I am alive because I have love in myself,
And I’m a martyr due to the beloved’s affliction,
(for, to a lover, nothing is dearer than
the affliction brought forth by the beloved).

Khusrau - My heart is a wanderer in love, may it ever remain so

2009-03-12T18:26:00.002-07:00

Dilam dar aashiqui aawareh shud aawareh tar baada,
Tanam az bedilee beechareh shud beechareh tar baada.

My heart is a wanderer in love, may it ever remain so.
My life’s been rendered miserable in love,
may it grow more and more miserable.

Khusrau - The creaking of the chain of majnun is

2009-03-12T18:26:00.001-07:00

Naala-e zanjeer-e Majnun arghanoon-e aashiqanast
Zauq-e aan andaza-e gosh-e ulul-albaab neest

The creaking of the chain of Majnun is the orchestra of the lovers,
To appreciate its music is quite beyond the ears of the wise.

Hafiz - You are the moon and the sun is your slave

2009-03-12T18:22:00.001-07:00

You are the moon and the sun is your slave;
As your slave, it like you must behave.
It is only your luminosity and light
That light of sun and moon can save.

تو بدری و خورشید تو را بنده شده‌ست
تا بنده تو شده‌ست تابنده شده‌ست
زان روی کـه از شـعاع نور رخ تو
خورشید منیر و ماه تابنده شده‌ست

Hafiz - I put my arms around your waist

2009-03-12T18:21:00.000-07:00

I put my arms around your waist,
A lover’s embrace to taste.
From your resolve it’s obvious
All my efforts will go to waste.

مـن باکـمر تو در میان کردم دسـت
پنداشتمش که در میان چیزی هست
پیداسـت از آن میان چو بربست کمر
تا من ز کمر چه طرف خواهم بربسـت

Hafiz - The only visioni I have is your sight

2009-03-12T18:19:00.000-07:00

The only vision I have is your sight
The only thing I follow is your light.
Everyone finds his repose in sleep,
Sleep from my eyes has taken flight.

جز نـقـش تو در نـظر نیامد ما را
جز کوی تو رهـگذر نیامد ما را
خواب ارچه خوش آمد همه را در عهدت
حـقا کـه بـه چشم در نیامد ما را

Mevlana - I swear, since seeing Your face

2009-03-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

I swear, since seeing Your face,
the whole world is fraud and fantasy
The garden is bewildered as to what is leaf
or blossom. The distracted birds
can't distinguish the birdseed from the snare.

A house of love with no limits,
a presence more beautiful than venus or the moon,
a beauty whose image fills the mirror of the heart.

Mevlana - All through eternity Beauty unveils His exquisite form

2009-03-12T16:05:00.000-07:00

All through eternity
Beauty unveils His exquisite form
in the solitude of nothingness;
He holds a mirror to His Face
and beholds His own beauty.
he is the knower and the known,
the seer and the seen;
No eye but His own
has ever looked upon this Universe.

His every quality finds an expression:
Eternity becomes the verdant field of Time and Space;
Love, the life-giving garden of this world.
Every branch and leaf and fruit
Reveals an aspect of His perfection-
They cypress give hint of His majesty,
The rose gives tidings of His beauty.
Whenever Beauty looks,

Love is also there;
Whenever beauty shows a rosy cheek
Love lights Her fire from that flame.
When beauty dwells in the dark folds of night
Love comes and finds a heart
entangled in tresses.
Beauty and Love are as body and soul.
Beauty is the mine, Love is the diamond.

They have together
since the beginning of time-
Side by side, step by step.

Mevlana Rumi - If anyone asks you how the perfect satisfaction

2009-03-11T19:46:00.000-07:00

If anyone asks you
how the perfect satisfaction
of all our sexual wanting
will look, lift your face
and say,

Like this.

When someone mentions the gracefulness
of the nightsky, climb up on the roof
and dance and say,

Like this.

If anyone wants to know what "spirit" is,
or what "God’s fragrance" means,
lean your head toward him or her.
Keep your face there close.

Like this.

When someone quotes the old poetic image
about clouds gradually uncovering the moon,
slowly loosen knot by knot the strings
of your robe.

Like this.

If anyone wonders how Jesus raised the dead,
don’t try to explain the miracle.
Kiss me on the lips.

Like this. Like this.

When someone asks what it means
to "die for love," point
here.

If someone asks how tall I am, frown
and measure with your fingers the space
between the creases on your forehead.

This tall.

The soul sometimes leaves the body, the returns.
When someone doesn’t believe that,
walk back into my house.

Like this.

When lovers moan,
they’re telling our story.

Like this.

I am a sky where spirits live.
Stare into this deepening blue,
while the breeze says a secret.

Like this.

When someone asks what there is to do,
light the candle in his hand.

Like this.

When Shams comes back from Tabriz,
he’ll put just his head around the edge
of the door to surprise us

Like this.

Lugman - Looks, how she combs her hair

2009-03-11T19:42:00.000-07:00

Look, how she combs her hair, admiring the mirror
Unaware of the flame this mad lover possess.
Smart lovers seek joy
But joy i have thrown away.
Each night i speak to sorrow
and its plan for tomorrow to kill my heart.
Friends have left me, enemies are present.
I no longer have the need for them.
In this love, i have given myself away.
What can pain & sorrow do to me now?
May pain & sorrow,
always fill the heart of this mad lover.

Majnun - You should see my Laila with my eyes.

2009-03-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

In all the versions of the story, Layla is said to be dark & ugly, and not wanted by men. There was once Majnun, the great lover of Persia was asked, 'Oh, Majnun,' they said, 'your girl is not as beautiful as you think. You are sacrificing your life. You grieve for ages and ages for that girl. But she is not so beautiful.' Majnun answered, 'You should see my Laila with my eyes. It is the eyes of my heart you need. My heart has made my Laila.' That is called an ideal. And the ideal of perfection makes it beauty.

What usury!

2009-03-09T21:23:00.000-07:00

Today I bartered yesterday's innocence in trust of tomorrow's payment
Supine before you, heart and soul protesting the very intent
Appeasing their ache with your promissory note, I quelled their desire
But you have not paid!
Your empty words were substitute for the heart's fixed seal
What usury!
Would that I know what you now sought...eternally before you it would be laid
Ah, but to no avail! For the heart is not to be compelled
And so...I continue to seek the one to assume your unatoned debt

Khusrau - The cloud weeps, and I become separated from my friend

2009-03-09T21:18:00.001-07:00

Abr mi barad-o man shovm-e az yar-e judaa
Choon kunam dil becheneen roz zedildar judaa.
Abr baraan wa man-o yar satadah ba-widaa’
Man judaa girya kunaan, abr judaa, yaar judaa

The cloud weeps, and I become separated from my friend -
How can I separate my heart from my heart’s friend on such a day.
The cloud weeping – and I and the friend standing, bidding farewell -
I weeping separately, the clouds separately, the friend separately…..

(trans. A. Schimmel)

Khusrau - You carried the soul from my body – and yet

2009-03-09T21:17:00.000-07:00

You carried the soul from my body – and yet,
You are still in the soul;
You have given pains – and are still the remedy;
Openly you split my breast –
Yet, you are still hidden in my heart.
You have destroyed the kingdom of my heart
With the sword of coquetry,
And are still a ruler in that place…

(trans. A. Schimmel)

Khusrau - O you whose beautiful face is the envy of the idols of Azar

2009-03-09T21:15:00.002-07:00

O you whose beautiful face is the envy of the idols of Azar
You remain superior to my praise.
All over the world have I traveled;
many a maiden’s love have I tasted;
Many a beauty-star have I seen; but you are something unique.
I have become you, and you me; I have become the body,
you the soul; So that none hereafter may say
that “I am someone and you someone else.”
Khusro a beggar, a stranger has come wandering to your town;
For the sake of god, have pity on this beggar
and do not turn him away from your door.

(trans. Dr. Hadi Hasan)

Khusrau - May your charming face ever shine like the full moon

2009-03-09T21:15:00.001-07:00

May your charming face ever shine like the full moon;
May you hold eternal sway over the domains of beauty.
By your amorous glance you have killed a poor man like me;
How magnanimous of you? May God give you a long life.
Pray do not be cruel lest you should feel ashamed of yourself
Before your lovers on the day of judgment.
I shall be set free from the bonds of the two worlds
If you become my companion for a while.
By your wanton playfulness you must have destroyed
Thousands of hearts of lovers like that of Khusrau.

Khusrau - I wonder what was the place where I was last night

2009-03-09T21:13:00.001-07:00

I wonder what was the place where I was last night,
All around me were half-slaughtered victims of love,
tossing about in agony.
There was a nymph-like beloved with cypress-like form
and tulip-like face,
Ruthlessly playing havoc with the hearts of the lovers.
God himself was the master of ceremonies in that heavenly court,
oh Khusro, where (the face of) the Prophet too was shedding light
like a candle.

(trans. S.A.H.Abidi)

Khusrau - I am a pagan

2009-03-09T21:12:00.000-07:00

I am a pagan and a worshipper of love: the creed (of Muslims) I do not need;
Every vein of mine has become taunt like a wire,
the (Brahman’s) girdle I do not need.
Leave from my bedside, you ignorant physician!
The only cure for the patient of love is the sight of his beloved –
other than this no medicine does he need.
If there be no pilot in our boat, let there be none:
We have god in our midst: the sea we do not need.
The people of the world say that Khusrau worships idols.
So he does, so he does; the people he does not need,
the world he does not need.

(Trans. Dr.Hadi Hasan)

Khusrau - Tonight there came a news that you, oh beloved, would come

2008-08-12T18:43:00.000-07:00

Tonight there came a news that you, oh beloved, would come –
Be my head sacrificed to the road along which you will come riding!
All the gazelles of the desert have put their heads on their hands
In the hope that one day you will come to hunt them….
The attraction of love won’t leave you unmoved;
Should you not come to my funeral,
you’ll definitely come to my grave.
My soul has come on my lips;
Come so that I may remain alive -
After I am no longer – for what purpose will you come?

Khusrau - Do not overlook my misery by blandishing your eyes

2008-08-12T18:42:00.002-07:00

Do not overlook my misery by blandishing your eyes,
and weaving tales; My patience has over-brimmed,
O sweetheart, why do you not take me to your bosom.
Long like curls in the night of separation,
short like life on the day of our union;
My dear, how will I pass the dark dungeon night
without your face before.
Suddenly, using a thousand tricks, the enchanting eyes robbed me
of my tranquil mind;
Who would care to go and report this matter to my darling?
Tossed and bewildered, like a flickering candle,
I roam about in the fire of love;
Sleepless eyes, restless body,
neither comes she, nor any message.
In honour of the day I meet my beloved
who has lured me so long, O Khusro;
I shall keep my heart suppressed,
if ever I get a chance to get to her trick.

Khusrau - The cloud weeps, and I become separated from my friend

2008-08-12T18:42:00.001-07:00

The cloud weeps, and I become separated from my friend -
How can I separate my heart from my heart’s friend on such a day.
The cloud weeping – and I and the friend standing, bidding farewell -
I weeping separately, the clouds separately, the friend separately…..

(trans. A. Schimmel)

I find no peace and bear no arms for war

2008-08-12T17:41:00.000-07:00

I find no peace and bear no arms for war,
I fear, I hope; I burn yet shake with chill;
I fly the Heavens, huddle to earth's floor,
Embrace the world yet all I grasp is nil.

Love will not close nor shut my prison's door
Nor claim me his nor leave me to my will;
He slays me not yet holds me evermore;
would have be lifeless yet bound to my will.

Eyeless I see and tongueless I protest,
I feed on grief, I laugh with sob-racked breast,
Love, thus I am because of you.

Mevlana Rumi - I offer

2007-08-17T01:29:00.000-07:00

I am dazed of the thought of you,
night and day
I will place my head at your feet
night and day
Day and night, i will go mad for you.
Without you,
how can I pass these nights and days?
In the path of Love,
a lover is asked to give away
his heart and his soul.
I offer my heart and soul
night and day.

Mevlana Rumi - A thousand times deeper

2007-08-17T01:27:00.000-07:00

There are love stories, and there is obliteration into love.
You've been walking the ocean's edge, holding up your robes
to keep them dry.

You must dive under,

and deeper under,

a thousand times deeper!

Love flows ............

down.

The ground submits to the sky, and suffers what comes.

Tell me, is the earth worse for giving in like that?

Ansari - Every Blade of it Would Tremble

2007-07-22T20:04:00.000-07:00

Life in my body pulses only for you
my heart beats in resignation to your will
if on my grave a clump of grass
were to grow
every blade of it would tremble
with my passion for you

Sa'adi - Who are Healthy Have No Pain

2007-07-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

Who are healthy have no pain from wounds
I shall tell my grief to no one but a sympathizer
It is useless to speak of bees to one
who never in his life felt their sting.
As long as thy state is not like mine
My state will be but an idle tale to thee.

Mevlani Rumi - Gamble Everything for Love

2007-07-16T17:53:00.001-07:00

Gamble everything for love
if you're a true human being.

If not, leave
this gathering.

Half-heartedness doesn't reach
into majesty. You set out
to find the Beloved, but then you keep
stopping for long periods
at mean-spirited roadhouses.
(this was my first Moulana poem)

Mevlana Rumi - I Learn How to Love

2007-07-16T17:52:00.001-07:00

"Be the one who suffers everything and comes to me
with nothing but this bowl into which i can pour my wine"
In your light I learn how to love. In your beauty, how to make poems.
You dance inside my chest, where no one sees you, but sometimes I do,
and that sight becomes this art.

Tagore -

2007-07-16T17:51:00.000-07:00

I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times,
In life after life, in age after age forever.
My spell-bound heart has made and re-made the necklace of songs
That you take as a gift, wear round your neck in your many forms
In life after life, in age after age forever.
Whenever I hear old chronicles of love, its age-old pain,
Its ancient tale of being apart or together,
As I stare on and on into the past, in the end you emerge
Clad in the light of a pole-star piercing the darkness of time;
You become an image of what is remembered forever.
You and I have floated here on the stream that brings from the fount
At the heart of time love of one for another
We have played alongside millions of lovers, shared in the same
Shy sweetness of meeting, the same distressful tears of farewell--
Old love, but in shapes that renew and renew forever.
Today it is heaped at your feet, it has found its end in you,
The love of all man's days both past and forever;
Universal joy, universal sorrow, universal life,
The memories of all loves merging with this one love of ours--
And the songs of every poet past and forever.

Khusrau - After I Am No Longer

2007-07-16T17:48:00.000-07:00