Listen, O Drop!!

Listen, O drop, give yourself up without regret,
and in exchange gain the Ocean.
Listen, O drop, bestow upon yourself this honor,
and in the arms of the Sea be secure.
Who indeed should be so fortunate?
An Ocean wooing a drop!
In God’s name, in God’s name, sell and buy at once!
Give a drop, and take this Sea full of [...]

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How the Awliya are One

If ten lamps are present in one place,
each differs in form from another;
yet you can’t distinguish whose radiance is whose
when you focus on the light.
In the field of spirit there is no division;
no individuals exist.
Sweet is the oneness of the Friend with His friends.
Catch hold of spirit.
Help this headstrong self disintegrate;
that beneath it you may [...]

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Celebrate! The month of fasting has come.

Celebrate! The month of fasting has come.
Pleasant journey to the one
Who is the company of the fasting.
I climbed the roof to see the Moon,
Because I really missed fasting
By heart and soul.
I lost my hat while looking at the Moon.
the Sultan of fasting made me drunk.
O Muslims, I have been drunk
since that day I lost my [...]

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Love for You Took Away My Rosary

Love for you took away my rosary and gave verses and songs; I
cried “No strength (save with God)” and repented oft, but my
heart did not heed.
At Love’s hand I became a singer of odes, hand-clapping; love
for you consumed reputation and shame and all that I possessed.
Once I was chaste and self-denying and firm-footed as a
mountain; [...]

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Love is a Lion

In God’s eyes, whoever has no tint of Love is
naught but wood and stone.
Love wrings water from rocks, Love cleans
rust from mirrors.
Unbelief has come in war, faith in peace – Love
strikes a fire to both peace and war.
In the ocean of the heart Love opens its mouth
and like a whale swallows down the two worlds.
Love [...]

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Champions in Nonexistence

Once again we have left our heart, intellect, and
spirit behind – the Friend has come into the midst and we
have disappeared.
We have turned back from annihilation and become
woven into subsistence; we have found the Traceless and
thrown away all traces.
Stirring up dust from the ocean and smoke from
the nine spheres, we have discarded Time, the earth, [...]

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Behind the Face of Anger

When you see the face of anger
look behind it
and you will see the face of pride.
Bring anger and pride
under your feet, turn them into a ladder
and climb higher.
There is no peace until you become
their master.
Let go of anger, it may taste sweet
but it kills.
Don’t become its victim
you need humility to climb to freedom.
– Ghazal (Ode) [...]

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Wean Yourself!

“Wean Yourself”
Little by little, wean yourself.
This is the gist of what I have to say.
From an embryo, whose nourishment
comes in the blood,
move to an infant drinking milk,
to a child on solid food,
to a searcher after wisdom
to a hunter of more invisible game.
Think how it is to have a conversation with an embryo.
You might say, “The [...]

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The Qazwani and His Lion

Here’s one of my favourite anecdotes from the Masnavi:
Hear from the narrator this story about the way and custom
of the people of Qazwin.
They tattoo themselves in blue with the point of a
needle on body and hand and shoulders, so as to suffer no
injury.
A certain man of Qazwin went to a barber and said, “Tattoo
me (and) [...]

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Seek the Wisdom

Seek the wisdom
that will untie your knot
seek the path
that demands your whole being.
Leave that which is not, but appears
to be
seek that which is, but is
not apparent.
– Translation by Azima Melita Kolin
and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 1999

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