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Maxsus bo'lim => Xorijiy bo'lim/Foreign board => Mavzu boshlandi: shoir 08 Oktyabr 2007, 17:26:21
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Attar (1119 - 1230?) saint and mystic, one of the most voluminous authors in Persian literature on religious topics. His best-known work, Conference of the Birds, is an elaborate allegory of the soul's quest for reunion with God.
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.
Farid ud Din Attar - translation Margaret Smith -The Jawhar Al-Dhat
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In the dead of night, a Sufi began to weep.
He said, "This world is like a closed coffin, in which
We are shut and in which, through our ignorance,
We spend our lives in folly and desolation.
When Death comes to open the lid of the coffin,
Each one who has wings will fly off to Eternity,
But those without will remain locked in the coffin.
So, my friends, before the lid of this coffin is taken off,
Do all you can to become a bird of the Way to God;
Do all you can to develop your wings and your feathers."
Farid ud Din Attar, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
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The whole world is a marketplace for Love,
For naught that is, from Love remains remote.
The Eternal Wisdom made all things in Love.
On Love they all depend, to Love all turn.
The earth, the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars
The center of their orbit find in Love.
By Love are all bewildered, stupefied,
Intoxicated by the Wine of Love.
From each, Love demands a mystic silence.
What do all seek so earnestly? "Tis 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 that the secret of them both is Love.
Farid ud Din Attar, in Essential Sufism, James Fadiman and Robert Frager
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Four Things to Know
Hatim al-Asamm said, "I have chosen four things to know
and discarded all other things of knowledge.
"The first is this: I know that my daily bread is apportioned
to me and will neither be increased or decreased, so I have stopped
trying to add to it.
"Secondly, I know I owe to God a debt which no one else can
pay for me, so I am busy about paying it.
"Thirdly, I know that there is someone pursuing me ---
Death --- whom I cannot escape from, so I have prepared myself
to meet him.
"Fourth, I know that God is observing me, so I am ashamed
to do what I should not."
Farid ud Din Attar, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
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In the dead of night, a Sufi began to weep.
He said, "This world is like a closed coffin, in which
We are shut and in which, through our ignorance,
We spend our lives in folly and desolation.
When Death comes to open the lid of the coffin,
Each one who has wings will fly off to Eternity,
But those without will remain locked in the coffin.
So, my friends, before the lid of this coffin is taken off,
Do all you can to become a bird of the Way to God;
Do all you can to develop your wings and your feathers."
Farid ud Din Attar, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
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Hafiz of Shiraz (1230-91) the greatest lyric poet of Persia, who took the poetic form of the ghazal to unparalleled heights of subtlety and beauty.
I speak frankly and that makes me happy:
I am the slave of love, I am free of both worlds.
I am a bird from heaven's garden. How do I describe that separation,
my fall into this snare of accidents?
I was an angel and highest paradise was my place.
Adam brought me to this monastery in the city of ruin.
The hours' caress, the pool and shade trees of paradise
were forgotten in the breeze from your alleyway.
There is nothing on the tablet of my heart but my love's tall alif.
What can I do? My master taught me no other letter.
No astrologer knew the constellations of my fate.
O lord, when I was born of mother earth which stars were rising?
Ever since I became a slave at the door of love's tavern
sorrows come to me each moment with congratulations.
The pupil of my eye drains the blood from my heart.
I deserve it. Why did I give my heart to the darling of others?
Wipe the tears from Hafiz's face with soft curls
or else this endless torrent will uproot me.
Hafiz - Ghazal 44 - "The Green Sea of Heaven" - Elizabeth T. Gray Jr
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The sun
Won a beauty contest and became a jewel
Set upon God’s right hand.
The earth agreed to be a toe ring on the
Beloved’s foot
And has never regretted its decision.
The mountains got tired
Of sitting amongst a sleeping audience
And are now stretching their arms
Toward the Roof.
The clouds gave my soul an idea
So I pawned my gills
And rose like a winged diamond
Ever trying to be near
More love, more love
Like you.
The Mountain got tired of sitting
Amongst a snoring crowd inside of me
And rose like a rip sun
Into my eye.
My soul gave my heart a brilliant idea
So Hafiz is rising like a
Winged diamond.
Hafiz - "œThe Gift" — translation by Daniel Ladinsky
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We are the guardians of His Beauty
We are the protectors
Of the Sun.
There is only one reason
We have followed God into this world:
To encourage laughter, freedom, dance
And love.
Let a noble cry inside of you speak to me
Saying,
"Hafiz,
Don't just sit there on the moon tonight
Doing nothing -
Help unfurl my heart into the Friend's Mind,
Help, Old Man, to heal my wounded wings!"
We are the companions of His Beauty
We are the guardians
Of Truth.
Every man, plant and creature in Existence,
Every woman, child, vein and note
Is a servant of our Beloved -
A harbinger of joy,
The harbinger of
Light.
Hafiz - "The Subject Tonight is Love" - Daniel Ladinsky
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Mortal never won to view thee,
Yet a thousand lovers woo thee;
Not a nightingale but knows
In the rose-bud sleeps the rose.
Love is where the glory falls
Of thy face: on convent walls
Or on tavern floors the same
Unextinguishable flame.
Where the turban'd anchorite
Chanteth Allah day and night,
Church-bells ring the call to prayer,
And the Cross of Christ is there.
Hafiz - "Persian Poems" - R.A. Nicholson
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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.
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Jami (1414-92) (Nur al-Din 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmad al-Jami) commonly called the last great classical poet of Persia, saint and mystic, composed numerous lyrics and idylls, as well as many works in prose. His Salaman and Absal is an allegory of profane and sacred love. Some of his other works include Haft Awrang, Tuhfat al-Ahrar, Layla wa -Majnun, Fatihat al-Shabab, Lawa'ih, al-Durrah al-Fakhirah.
'Hurry to the Source'
Hidden behind the veil of mystery, Beauty is eternally free from the slightest stain of imperfection. From the atoms of the world, He created a multitude of mirrors; into each one of them He cast the image of His Face; to the awakened eye, anything that appears beautiful is only a reflection of that Face.
Now that you have seen the reflection, hurry to its Source; in that primordial Light the reflection vanishes completely. Do not linger far from that primal Source; when the reflection fades, you will be lost in darkness. The reflection is as transient as the smile of a rose; if you want permanence, turn towards the Source; if you want fidelity, look to the Mine of faithfulness. Why tear your soul apart over something here one moment and gone the next?
Jami, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
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'Whether Your Destiny is Glory or Disgrace'
Whether your destiny is glory or disgrace,
Purify yourself of hatred and love of self.
Polish your mirror; and that sublime Beauty
From the regions of mystery
Will flame out in your heart
As it did for the saints and prophets.
Then, with your heart on fire with that Splendor,
The secret of the Beloved will no longer be hidden.
Jami, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
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Jelaluddin Rumi (1207-73) saint and mystic, founder of the Mevlevi Order of the whirling dervishes, famous for his Mathnawi, an epic of the religious life in six volumes. For Western readers, Rumi is a powerful voice among the poets of Sufism, as he unveils pantheistic mysticism.
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 - from "Say I Am You"
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Longing is the core of mystery.
Longing itself brings the cure.
The only rule is, Suffer the pain.
Your desire must be disciplined,
and what you want to happen
in time, sacrificed.
Rumi - The Essential Rumi - Coleman Barks
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Oh! Supreme Lover!
Let me leave aside my worries.
The flowers are blooming
with the exultation of your Spirit.
By Allah!
I long to escape the prison of my ego
and lose myself
in the mountains and the desert.
These sad and lonely people tire me.
I long to revel in the drunken frenzy of your love
and feel the strength of Rustam in my hands.
I'm sick of mortal kings.
I long to see your light.
With lamps in hand
the sheikhs and mullahs roam
the dark alleys of these towns
not finding what they seek.
You are the Essence of the Essence,
The intoxication of Love.
I long to sing your praises
but stand mute
with the agony of wishing in my heart.
Rumi - 'The Love Poems of Rumi' - Deepak Chopra & Fereydoun Kia
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Inside this new love, die.
Your way begins on the other side.
Become the sky.
Take an axe to the prison wall.
Escape.
Walk out like someone suddenly born into color.
Do it now.
You're covered with a thick cloud.
Slide out the side. Die,
and be quiet. Quiteness is the surest sign
that you've died.
Your old live was a frantic running
from silence.
The speechless full moon
comes out now.
Rumi - The Essential Rumi - Coleman Barks
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The Morning Wind Spreads
The morning wind spreads its fresh smell.
We must get up and take that in,
that wind that lets us live.
Breathe before it's gone.
Rumi - 'The Essential Rumi' - Coleman Barks
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Everyone is overridden by thoughts;
that's why they have so much heartache and sorrow.
At times I give myself up to thought purposefully;
but when I choose,
I spring up from those under its sway.
I am like a high-flying bird,
and thought is a gnat:
how should a gnat overpower me?
Rumi - Mathnawi II, 3559-3561 - 'Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance' - Camille and Kabir Helminski
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I wonder
from these thousand of "me's",
which one am I?
Listen to my cry, do not drown my voice
I am completely filled with the thought of you.
Don't lay broken glass on my path
I will crush it into dust.
I am nothing, just a mirror in the palm of your hand,
reflecting your kindness, your sadness, your anger.
If you were a blade of grass or a tiny flower
I will pitch my tent in your shadow.
Only your presence revives my withered heart.
You are the candle that lights the whole world
and I am an empty vessel for your light.
Rumi - "Hidden Music" - Maryam Mafi & Azima Melita Kolin
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Happy the moment when we are seated in the Palace, thou and I, With two forms and with two figures but with one soul, thou and I. The colours of the grove and the voice of the birds will bestow immortality At the time when we come into the garden, thou and I. The stars of heaven will come to gaze upon us; We shall show them the Moon itself, thou and I. Thou and I, individuals no more, shall be mingled in ecstasy, Joyful and secure from foolish babble, thou and I. All the bright-plumed birds of heaven will devour their hearts with envy In the place where we shall laugh in such a fashion, thou and I. This is the greatest wonder, that thou and I, sitting here in the same nook, Are at this moment both in ‘Iraq and Khorasan, thou and I.
Jelaluddin Rumi, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson
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Awakened by your love,
I flicker like a candle's light
tryin to hold on in the dark.
Yet, you spare me no blows
and keep asking,
"Why do you complain?"
Rumi - "Whispers of the Beloved" - Maryam Mafi & Azima Melita Kolin
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Saadi of Shiraz (1215?-1292), the greatest didactic poet of Persia, author of the Gulistan (Rose-Garden) and the Bostan (Orchard), who also wrote many fine odes and lyrics.
O bird of the morning, learn love from the moth
Because it burnt, lost its life, and found no voice.
These pretenders are ignorantly in search of Him,
Because he who obtained knowledge has not returned.
Sheikh Muslih-uddin Sa'di Shirazi - The Gulistan of Sa'di
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How could I ever thank my Friend?
No thanks could ever begin to be worthy.
Every hair of my body is a gift from Him;
How could I thank Him for each hair?
Praise that lavish Lord forever
Who from nothing conjures all living beings!
Who could ever describe His goodness?
His infinite glory lays all praise waste.
Look, He has graced you a robe of splendor
>From childhood's first cries to old age!
He made you pure in His own image; stay pure.
It is horrible to die blackened by sin.
Never let dust settle on your mirror's shining;
Let it once grow dull and it will never polish.
When you work in the world to earn your living
Do not, for one moment, rely on your own strength.
Self-worshiper, don't you understand anything yet?
It is God alone that gives your arms their power.
If, by your striving, you achieve something good,
Don't claim the credit all for yourself;
It is fate that decides who wins and who loses
And all success streams only from the grace of God.
In this world you never stand by your own strength;
It is the Invisible that sustains you every moment.
Saadi, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
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Sanai (1118-1152) (Abû'l-Majd Majdûd b. Adam Sanâ'î) is reckoned the first of the great mystical poets of Persia. He produced many lyrical poems and religious epic, The Walled Garden of Truth or the Enclosed Garden of Truth (The HADÎQATU' L-HAQÎQAT).
'The Puzzle'
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, translation by Coleman Barks - 'Persian Poems'
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'The Way of the Holy Ones'
Don't speak of your suffering -- He is speaking.
Don't look for Him everywhere -- He's looking for you.
An ant's foot touches a leaf, He senses it;
A pebble shifts in a streambed, He knows it.
If there's a worm hidden deep in a rock,
He'll know its body, tinier than an atom,
The sound of its praise, its secret ecstasy --
All this He knows by divine knowing.
He has given the tiniest worm its food;
He has opened to you the Way of the Holy Ones.
Sanai, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
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Those unable to grieve,
or to speak of their love,
or to be grateful, those
who can't remember God
as the source of everything,
might be described as a vacant wind,
or a cold anvil, or a group
of frightened old people.
Say the Name. Moisten your tongue
with praise, and be the spring ground,
waking. Let your mouth be given
its gold-yellow stamen like the wild rose's.
As you fill with wisdom,
and your heart with love,
there's no more thirst.
There's only unselfed patience
waiting on the doorsill, a silence
which doesn't listen to advice
from people passing in the street.
Sanai - "Persian Poems" - Coleman Barks
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Yunus Emre - AD 1240-1241 to 1320-21. Yunus' made a great impact on Turkish culture. His philosophy, metaphysics and humanism have been examined in various symposiums and conferences on a regular basis both in Turkey and abroad. UNESCO named Yunus Emre one of the main cultural figures of world, and dedicated 1991 as "The International Yunus Emre Year".
The drink sent down from Truth,
we drank it, glory be to God.
And we sailed over the Ocean of Power,
glory be to God.
Beyond those hills and oak woods,
beyond those vineyards and gardens,
we passed in health and joy, glory be to God.
We were dry, but we moistened.
We grew wings and became birds,
we married one another and flew,
glory be to God.
To whatever lands we came,
in whatever hearts, in all humanity,
we planted the meanings Taptuk taught us,
glory be to God.
Come here, let's make peace,
let's not be strangers to one another.
We have saddled the horse
and trained it, glory be to God.
We became a trickle that grew into a river.
We took flight and drove into the sea,
and then we overflowed, glory be to God.
We became servants at Taptuk's door.
Poor Yunus, raw and tasteless,
finally got cooked, glory be to God.
Yunus Emre, translated by Kabir Helminski and Refik Algan - 'The Drop That Became Sea'
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Ask those who know,
what's this soul within the flesh?
Reality's own power.
What blood fills these veins?
Thought is an errand boy,
fear a mine of worries.
These sighs are love's clothing.
Who is the Khan on the throne?
Give thanks for His unity.
He created when nothing existed.
And since we are actually nothing,
what are all of Solomon's riches?
Ask Yunus and Taptuk
what the world means to them..
The world won't last.
What are You? What am I?
Yunus Emre, translated by Kabir Helminski and Refik Algan - 'The Drop That Became Sea'
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We entered the house of realization,
we witnessed the body.
The whirling skies, the many-layered earth,
the seventy-thousand veils,
we found in the body.
The night and the day, the planets,
the words inscribed on the Holy Tablets,
the hill that Moses climbed, the Temple,
and Israfil's trumpet, we observed in the body.
Torah, Psalms, Gospel, Quran-
what these books have to say,
we found in the body.
Everybody says these words of Yunus
are true. Truth is wherever you want it.
We found it all within the body.
Yunus Emre, yranslated by Kabir Helminski and Refik Algan - 'The Drop That Became Sea'
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I am before, I am after
The soul for all souls all the way.
I'm the one with a helping hand
Ready for those gone wild, astray.
I made the ground flat where it lies,
On it I had those mountains rise,
I designed the vault of the shies,
For I hold all things in my sway.
To countless lovers I have been
A guide for faith and religion.
I am sacrilege in men's hearts
Also the true faith and Islam's way.
I make men love peace and unite;
Putting down the black words on white,
I wrote the four holy books right
I'm the Koran for those who pray.
It's not Yunus who says all this:
It speaks its own realities:
To doubt this would be blasphemous:
"I'm before-I'm after," I say
Yunus Emre
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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 God'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, from Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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To be in love...
To be in love with love is to gain a soul,
to sit on the throne of hearts.
To love the world is to be afflicted.
Later the secrets start to make sense.
Don't be a bramble,
become the rose. Let your maturity unfold.
The brambles will only burn.
Prayer was created by God so man could ask for help.
It's too bad if you haven't learned to ask.
Accept the breath of those who are mature-
let it become your divining rod.
If you obey your self, things turn out wrong.
Renouncing the world is the beginning of worship.
If you are a believer, believe this.
Respect your parents and ancestry,
and you will have fine green clothes of your own.
If you earn the complaints of neighbors,
You'll stay in Hell forever.
Yunus heard these words from the masters.
If you need this advice, take it.
They say one who is received by a heart
becomes more beautiful.
Yunus Emre
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Oh Friend
Oh Friend, when I began to love You,
my intellect went and left me.
I gazed at the rivers. I dove into the seas.
But a spark of Love's fire
can make the seas boil.
I fell in, caught fire, and burned.
A soul in love is free of worries.
With love all problems left me.
With love I became happy.
When the nightingale saw the face
of the red rose, it fell in love.
I saw the faces of those who matured,
and became a nightingale.
I was a dead tree fallen onto the path.
When a master threw me a glance and
brought me to life.
Yunus, if you are a true lover,
humble yourself.
Humility was chosen by them all.
Yunus Emre
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Those who became complete...
Those who became complete
didn't live this life in hypocrisy,
didn't learn the meaning of things
by reading commentaries.
Reality is an ocean; the Law is a ship.
Many have never left the ship,
never jumped into the sea.
They might have come to Worship
but they stopped at rituals.
They never knew or entered the Inside.
Those who think the Four Books
were meant to be talked about,
who have only read explanations
and never entered meaning,
are really in sin.
Yunus means "true friend"
for one whose journey has begun.
Until we transform our Names,
we haven't found the Way.
Yunus Emre
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I am a fatherless pearl...
I am a fatherless pearl unrecognized by the sea.
I am the drop that contains the ocean.
Its waves are amazing. It's beautiful to be a sea
hidden within an infinite drop.
When Majnun spoke Layla's name,
he broke the meter of his poem.
I was both Layla and Majnun who adored her.
Mansur did not speak idly of Unity.
He was not kidding when he said, "I am Truth."
In this world of many,
You are Joseph and I am Jacob.
In the universe of Unity,
there is neither Joseph nor Canaan.
That my name is Yunus
is a problem in this material world.
But if you ask my real name,
it is the Power behind all powers.
Translated by Kabir Hekminski and Refik Algan
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Sa'd al-din Mahmud Shabistari (1250 - 1320) is one of the most celebrated authors of Persian Sufism. Because of his gift for expressing the Sufi mystical vision with extraordinary clarity, his Gulshan-i raz or Secret Rose Garden rapidly became one of the most popular works of Persian Sufi poetry, and is recognized as a central work of that tradition.
Go sweep out the chamber of your heart.
Make it ready to be the dwelling place of the Beloved.
When you depart out, He will enter it.
In you, void of yourself, will He display His beauties.
Mahmud Shabistari - 'Rose Garden of Mystery'
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'One Light'
What are "I" and "You"?
Just lattices
In the niches of a lamp
Through which the One Light radiates.
"I" and "You" are the veil
Between heaven and earth;
Lift this veil and you will see
How all sects and religions are one.
Lift this veil and you will ask---
When "I" and "You" do not exist
What is mosque?
What is synagogue?
What is fire temple?
Mahmud Shabistari, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
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Sheikh Ansari Jabir ibn 'Abdullah al-Ansari (1006-1089) He was called Sheikh al-Islam and he was also given the title Zayn al- 'Ulama (Ornament of the Scholars) and Nasir al-Sunnah (Supporter of the Prophetic Tradition). Later on in Persian texts he was called Pir-e Heret (the Sheikh of Heret). Heret means Hari and its countryside. Ansari's Arab biographers wrote his last name as al-Hirawi or al-Harawi rather than Ansari. The English form, of Herat is used here since it expresses better the meaning of Hirawi.
Some of Ansari works include Kashf al-Asrar "Unveiling of the Secrets" (Commentary of the Qur'an), Tabaquat al-Sufiyya (The Generations of the Sufis), "Munajat" (Intimate Invocations) which is incorporated into the Kashf al-Asrar and in the Tabaqat.
'The Friend Beside Me'
O God
You know why I am happy:
It is because I seek Your company,
not through my own (efforts).
O God,
You decided and I did not.
I found the Friend beside me
when I woke up!
Sheikh Ansari - Kashf al_Asrar, Vol. 5, p. 407 - 'Munajat - The Intimate Invocations' - A.G. Farhadi
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'Where Are You?'
O God,
You are the aim of the call of the sincere,
You enlighten the souls of the friends, (and)
You are the comfort of the hearts of the travellers---
because You are present in the very soul.
I call out, from emotion:
"Where are you?"
You are the life of the soul,
You are the rule (ayin) of speech, (and)
You are Your own interpreter (tarjaman).
For the sake of Your obligation to Yourself,
do not enter us into the shade of deception, (but)
make us reach union (wisal) with You.
Sheikh Ansari - Kashf al_Asrar, Vol. 5, p. 598 - 'Munajat - The Intimate Invocations' - A.G. Farhadi
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'Pursuit of the Friend'
The heart left,
and the Friend is (also) gone.
I don't know whether I should go after the Friend
or after the heart!
A voice spoke to me:
"Go in pursuit of the Friend,
because the lover needs a heart
in order to find union with the Friend.
If there was no Friend,
what would (the lover) do with (his) heart?"
Sheikh Ansari - Kashf al_Asrar, Vol. 1, p. 628 - 'Maqulat-o Andarz-ha - Sayings and Advice' - A.G. Farhadi
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'The Beauty of Oneness'
Any eye filled with the vision of this world
cannot see the attributes of the Hereafter,
Any eye filled with the attributes of the Hereafter
would be deprived of the Beauty (Jamal) of (Divine) Oneness.
Sheikh Ansari - Kashf al_Asrar, Vol. 7, p. 511 - 'Maqulat-o Andarz-ha - Sayings and Advice' - A.G. Farhadi
-
'In Each Breath'
O you who have departed from your own self,
and who have not yet reached the Friend:
do not be sad, (for)
He is accompanying you in each of (your) breaths.
Sheikh Ansari - Kashf al_Asrar, Vol. 7, p. 268 - 'Maqulat-o Andarz-ha - Sayings and Advice' - A.G. Farhadi
-
Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya (717 - 801 AD) was born in Basra. As a child, after the death of her parents, Rabi'a was sold into slavery. After years of service to her slavemaster, Rabi'a began to serve only the Beloved with her actions and thoughts. Since she was no longer useful to the slaveowner, Rabi'a was then set free to continue her devotion to the Beloved.
Rabi'a held that the true lover, whose consciousness is unwaveringly centered on the Beloved, is unattached to conditions such as pleasure or pain, not from sensory dullness but from ceaseless rapture in Divine Love.
Rabia was once asked, "How did you attain that which you have attained?"
"By often praying, 'I take refuge in You, O God, from everything that distracts me from You, and from every obstacle that prevents me from reaching You.'"
Rabi´a al-Adawiyya, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
-
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:versions of Rabia. Trans. Charles Upton
-
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, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
-
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 translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
-
Brothers, my peace is in my aloneness.
My Beloved is alone with me there, always.
I have found nothing in all the worlds
That could match His love,
This love that harrows the sands of my desert.
If I come to die of desire
And my Beloved is still not satisfied,
I would live in eternal despair.
To abandon all that He has fashioned
And hold in the palm of my hand
Certain proof that He loves me---
That is the name and the goal of my search.
Rabi´a al-Adawiyya, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
-
O Lord,
If tomorrow on Judgment Day
You send me to Hell,
I will tell such a secret
That Hell will race from me
Until it is a thousand years away.
O Lord,
Whatever share of this world
You could give to me,
Give it to Your enemies;
Whatever share of the next world
You want to give to me,
Give it to Your friends.
You are enough for me.
O Lord,
If I worship You
From fear of Hell, burn me in Hell.
O Lord,
If I worship You
From hope of Paradise, bar me from its gates.
But if I worship You for Yourself alone
Then grace me forever the splendor of Your Face.
Rabi´a al-Adawiyya, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
-
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir (Abu Sa'id ibn Ab'il Khair ) (967 - 1049) referring to himself as "nobody, son of nobody" he expressed the reality that his life had disappeared in the heart of God. This renowned, but lesser known, Sufi mystic from Khurasan preceded by the great poet Jelaluddin Rumi by over two hundred years on the same path of annihilation in Love.
If you are seeking closeness to the Beloved,
love everyone.
Whether in their presence or absence,
see only their good.
If you want to be as clear and refreshing as
the breath of the morning breeze,
like the sun, have nothing but warmth and light
for everyone.
Shaikh Abu-Saeed Abil-Kheir - 'Nobody, Son of Nobody' - Vraje Abramian
-
Beloved, show me the way out of this prison.
Make me needless of both worlds.
Pray, erase from mind all
that is not You.
Have mercy Beloved,
though I am nothing but forgetfulness,
You are the essence of forgiveness.
Make me needless of all but You.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody" - Vraje Abramian
-
Piousness and the path of love
are two different roads.
Love is the fire that burns both belief
and non-belief.
Those who practice Love have neither
religion nor caste.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody" - Vraje Abramian
-
Be humble.
Only fools take pride in their station here, trapped in
a cage of dust, moisture, heat and air.
No need to complain of calamities,
this illusion of a life lasts but a moment.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody" - Vraje Abramian
-
Suppose you can recite a thousand holy
verses from memory.
What are you going to do
with your ego self, the true
mark of the heretic?
Every time your head touches
the ground in prayers, remember,
this was to teach you to
put down that load of ego
which bars you from entering
the chamber of the Beloved.
To your mind feed understanding,
to your heart, tolerance and compassion.
The simpler your life, the more meaningful.
The less you desire of the world,
the more room you will have in it
to fill with the Beloved.
The best use of your tongue
is to repeat the Beloved's Name in devotion.
The best prayers are those in
the solitude of the night.
The shortest way to the Friend
is through selfless service and
generosity to His creatures.
Those with no sense of honor and dignity are best avoided.
Those who change colors constantly
are best forgotten.
The best way to be with those
bereft of the Beloved's qualities,
is to forget them in the
joy of silence in one's corner of solitude.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody"
-
Drink from this heart now,
for all this loving it contains.
When you look for it again,
it will be dancing in the wind.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody" - Vraje Abramian
-
Let sorrowful longing dwell in your heart,
never give up, never losing hope.
The Beloved says, "The broken ones are My darlings."
Crush your heart, be broken.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody" - Vraje Abramian
-
If you do not give up the crowds
you won't find your way to Oneness.
If you do not drop your self
you won't find your true worth.
If you do not offer all you
have to the Beloved,
you will live this life free of that
pain which makes it worth living.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody" - Vraje Abramian
-
Sheikh Sultan Bahu (1630 - 1691 AD) belonged to the Qaderi Order of Sufis and is known by the title of Sultan-ul-Arifin (king of the Gnostics). He is acknowledged as one of the most prominent Sufi poets of the Indo-Pak subcontinent.
Those who have not realized God will wander,
homeless in this world, destitute in the next.
But watch the lovers dance with ecstasy,
as they merge into the oneness of God [Allah].
Sultan Bahu, translated by J.R. Puri and K.S. Khak
-
The river of oneness has surged,
quenching the thirst of the deserts and wastelands.
If you don't nurture God's love in your heart,
you will be dry and parched like those deserts.
Sultan Bahu, translated by J.R. Puri and K.S. Khak
-
The Lord is an ocean of oneness
in which lovers swim as they please, free of care.
In their own turn, they appear in the world
to dive deep into that ocean, to gather pearls.
Among the pearls is a gem --
unique in value, unmatched in lustre --
that shines like the moon.
We are all in the employ of the Lord, O Bahu;
let us pay homage to him through our prayers.
Sultan Bahu, translated by J.R. Puri and K.S. Khak
-
Repeat the Name of God,
and always contemplate on Him
while doing your repetition --
keener than a sword is such remembrance [Zikhr, Simran].
Sultan Bahu, translated by J.R. Puri and K.S. Khak
-
Repeat the Name of God, O Bahu,
and free yourself from the worries of life.
Sultan Bahu, translated by J.R. Puri and K.S. Khak
-
Those who enshrine the Lord in their hearts, O Bahu,
have both the worlds at their command.
Lovers remain completely intoxicated
in the ecstasy of their love for the Beloved.
They offer their souls to the Beloved
while still living
and thus immortalize themselves
in this life and the hereafter.
Sultan Bahu, translated by J.R. Puri and K.S. Khak
-
Muhammed Ibn 'Ali Ibn 'Arabi (1165 - 1240 AD) Known as Muhyiddin (the Revivifier of Religion) and the Shaykh al-Akbar (the Greatest Master), he was born into the Moorish culture of Andalusian Spain and traveled widely throughout the Islamic countries.
O Marvel! a garden amidst the flames.
My heart has become capable of every form:
it is a pasture for gazelles and a convent for Christian monks,
and a temple for idols and the pilgrim's Kaa'ba,
and the tables of the Torah and the book of the Quran.
I follow the religion of Love: whatever way Love's camels take,
that is my religion and my faith.
ibn al-`Arabi, Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson
-
All that is left
to us by tradition
is mere words.
It is up to us
to find out what they mean.
ibn al-`Arabi, Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson
-
Were it not for
the excess of your talking
and the turmoil in your hearts,
you would see what I see
and hear what I hear!
ibn al-`Arabi, Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson
-
When my Beloved appears, With what eye do I see Him? With His eye, not with mine, For none sees Him except Himself.
ibn al-`Arabi, Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson
-
Baba Kuhi of Shiriz, a Persian dervish-poet who died in 1050 A.D.
In the market, in the cloister--only God I saw.
In the valley and on the mountain--only God I saw.
Him I have seen beside me oft in tribulation;
In favour and in fortune--only God I saw.
In prayer and fasting, in praise and contemplation,
In the religion of the Prophet--only God I saw.
Neither soul nor body, accident nor substance,
Qualities nor causes--only God I saw.
I oped mine eyes and by the light of His face around me
In all the eye discovered--only God I saw.
Like a candle I was melting in His fire:
Amidst the flames outflashing--only God I saw.
Myself with mine own eyes I saw most clearly,
But when I looked with God's eyes--only God I saw.
I passed away into nothingness, I vanished,
And lo, I was the All-living--only God I saw.
Baba Kuhi, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson
-
Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj known as al-Hallajq (the wool-carder), he was put to death in Baghdad for having uttered ana 'l haqq (I am the Truth):
I am He whom I love,
and He whom I love is I:
We are two spirits
dwelling in one body.
If thou seest me,
thou seest Him,
And if thou seest Him,
thou seest us both.
al-Hallaj, Kitab al-Tawasin, in The Mystics of Islam, by Reynold A Nicholson
-
Thy Spirit is mingled in my spirit
even as wine is mingled with pure water.
When anything touches Thee,
it touches me.
Lo, in every case Thou art I!"
al-Hallaj, Kitab al-Tawasin, in The Mystics of Islam, by Reynold A Nicholson
-
Hear me out, my dear friends,
Love resembles the sun.
The heart that feels no love
Is none other than stone.
What can grow on stone hearts?
Though the tongue softly starts,
Words of venom fume, rage,
And turn into war soon.
When in love, the soul burns,
Melts like wax as it churns.
Stone hearts are like winter
Dark, harsh, with all warmth gone.
Men of God's truth are an ocean,
Lovers must plunge into that sea;
The sages, too. should take a dive
To bring out the best jewelry.
We have turned into the
Wise Men To find pearls in the depths again;
Only the jeweler would know
How valuable those pearls might be.
Mohammed came to perceive God,
And saw God's truth in his selfhood.
Providence exists everywhere
So long as there are eyes to see.
Books are composed by the sages
Who put black words on white pages;
My sacred book's chapters are all
Written in hearts that love truly.
Yunus Emre
-
If I rub my face on the ground,
My new moon would rise in the skies,
Winter and summer become spring.
To me all days are holidays.
Let no cloud cast a tall shadow
On the gleaming light of my moon
Whose fullness must never grow dim:
From earth to sky its glimmer sprays.
From the heart's solitary cell
Its glitter drives out the darkness.
How could that gloom be squeezed into
The same cell with the piercing rays?
I see my moon right here on earth,
What would I do with all the skies?
Rains of mercy pour down on me
From this ground where I fix my gaze.
What if Yunus is a lover
Many are the lovers of God.
Yunus, too, bows his head, because
The lovers of God are ablaze.
Yunus Emre
-
I used to yearn for God;
If I found Him, what then?
Day and night I shed tears;
If I laugh now, what then?
I was a ball rolling
On the holy men's field;
Now I am a bat on
The sultan's course, what then?
A bunch o f red roses
At the sages' parley,
I bloomed, grew ripe and big;
If I wilted, what then?
Scholars and learned men
Found it in pious schools;
I found the vital truth
In the tavern, what then?
Yunus Emre
-
My fleeting life has come and gone
A wind that blows and passes by.
I feel it has been all too brief,
Just like the blinking of an eye.
To this true word God will attest:
The Spirit is the Body's guest,
Some day it will vacate the breast
As birds, freed from their cages, fly.
Life, my good man, can be likened
To the land that the farmer sows:
Lying scattered all over the soil,
Some of the seeds sprout, but some die.
If you visit and give water
To a sick man who needs care,
With God's wine, he shall hail you there
One day when you soar to the sky.
Yunus Emre
-
We have no knowledge of whose turn has come
While Death roams about freely among us:
Dashing through men's lives as His own orchard,
He plucks and strips anyone He chooses.
He crushes people, leaves them with backs bent,
And makes multitudes shed tears of lament.
He plunders estates to His heart's content,
Routs men with all His might till Life oozes.
Before the heroes grow old and decrepit,
Death strikes and lowers them into the pit
Without any forewarning about it.
With gleaming eyes, Death enjoys His ruses.
Yunus Emre
-
That sounds wonderful...
Good poetry
Makes a beautiful naked woman
Materialize from
Words,
Who then says,
With a sword precariously waving
In her hands,
"If you look at my loins
I will cut off your head,
And reach down and grab your spirit
By its private parts,
And carry you off to heaven
Squealing in joy."
Hafiz says,
"That sounds wonderful, just
Wonderful.
Someone please - start writing
Some great
Lines."
Hafiz, 'The subject tonight is love' - versions by Daniel Ladinsky
-
Don't Despair...
Joseph to his father in Canaan shall return, don't despair walk on;
and Jacob's hut will brighten with flowers, don't despair walk on.
Aching hearts heal in time, vanished hopes reappear,
the disparate mind will be pacified, don't despair walk on.
As the spring of life grows the newly green meadow,
roses will crown the sweet nightingale's song, don't despair walk on
If the world does not turn to your whims these few days,
cosmic cycles are preparing to change, don't despair walk on.
If desperation whispers you'll never know God,
it's the talk of hidden games in the veil, don't despair walk on.
O heart, when the vast flood slashes life to its roots,
Captain Noah waits to steer you ashore, don't despair walk on.
If you trek as a pilgrim through sands to Kaabeh
with thorns lodged deep in your soul shouting why, don't despair walk on
Though oases hide dangers and your destiny's far,
there's no pathway that goes on forever, don't despair walk on.
My trials and enemies face me on their own,
but mystery always backs up my stand, don't despair walk on.
Hafez, weakened by poverty, alone in the dark,
this night is your pathway into the light, don't despair walk on.
Hafiz,
From: 'The Spiritual Wisdom of Hafez'
Haleh Pourafzal and Roger Montgomery
-
A Suspended Blue Ocean
The sky
Is a suspended blue ocean.
The stars are the fish
That swim.
The planets are the white whales
I sometimes hitch a ride on,
And the sun and all light
Have forever fused themselves
Into my heart and upon
My skin.
There is only one rule
On this Wild Playground,
For every sign Hafiz has ever seen
Reads the same.
They all say,
"Have fun, my dear; my dear, have fun,
In the Beloved's Divine
Game,
O, in the Beloved's
Wonderful Game."
Hafiz, From: 'The Subject Tonight Is Love' translated by Daniel Ladinsky
-
Laughing at the word two
Only
That Illumined
One
Who keeps
Seducing the formless into form
Had the charm to win my
Heart.
Only a Perfect One
Who is always
Laughing at the word
Two
Can make you know
Of
Love.
Hafiz, From: 'The Gift' translated by Daniel Ladinsky
-
Would you think it odd...
Would you think it odd if Hafiz said,
"I am in love with every church
And mosque
And temple
And any kind of shrine
Because I know it is there
That people say the different names
Of the One God."
Would you tell your friends
I was a bit strange if I admitted
I am indeed in love with every mind
And heart and body.
O I am sincerely
Plumb crazy
About your every thought and yearning
And limb
Because, my dear,
I know
That it is through these
That you search for Him
Hafiz, From: 'I heard God Laughing - Renderings of Hafiz' by Daniel Ladinsky
-
Now is the Time
now is the time to know
That all that you do is sacred.
Now, why not consider
A lasting truce with yourself and God.
Now is the time to understand
That all your ideas of right and wrong
Were just a child's training wheels
To be laid aside
When you finally live
With veracity
And love.
Hafiz is a divine envoy
Whom the Beloved
Has written a holy message upon.
My dear, please tell me,
Why do you still
Throw sticks at your heart
And God?
What is it in that sweet voice inside
That incites you to fear?
Now is the time for the world to know
That every thought and action is sacred.
This is the time for you to compute the impossibility
That there is anything
But Grace.
Now is the season to know
That everything you do
Is sacred.
Hafiz, translated by Daniel Ladinsky
-
Last Night's Storm
Last night's storm was a journey to the Beloved.
I surrender to that, the wind that
is my Friend, and my work.
Each night, the lightning flashes.
Every morning, a breeze.
Not in some protected place, but in the flood
of the heart's pumping, in the wind
of a rosebud's opening out,
that puts a small crown on each narcissus.
A tired hand collapses, exhausted,
that in the morning holds your hair again.
Peace comes when we are friends together,
remembering. Hafiz! Your honest desire
and your benevolence free the soul
to emerge as what it is.
Hafiz, From: 'The Hand of Poetry' Trans. Inayat Khan/Coleman Barks
-
You Don't Have to Act Crazy Anymore
You Don't Have to Act Crazy Anymore -
We all know you were good at that.
Now retire, my dear,
From all that hard work you do
Of bringing pain to your sweet eyes and heart.
Look in a clear mountain mirror -
See the Beautiful Ancient Warrior
And the Divine elements
You always carry inside
That infused this Universe with sacred Life
So long ago
And join you Eternally
With all Existence - with God!
Hafiz, From: 'I heard God Laughing - Renderings of Hafiz' by Daniel Ladinsky
-
The Happy Virus
I caught the happy virus last night
When I was out singing beneath the stars.
It is remarkably contagious -
So kiss me.
Hafiz, From: 'The subject tonight is love' - versions by Daniel Ladinsky
-
What Should We Do about that Moon ?
A wine bottle fell from a wagon
And broke open in a field.
That night hundred beetles and all their cousins
Gathered
And did some serious binge drinking.
They even found some seed husks nearby
And began to play them like drums and whirl.
This made God very happy.
Then the 'night candle' rose into the sky
And one drunk creature, laying down his instrument
Said to his friend - for no apparent
Reason,
"What should we do about that moon?"
Seems to Hafiz
Most everyone has laid aside the music
Tackling such profoundly useless
Questions.
Hafiz, From: 'The Gift' translated by Daniel Ladinsky
-
The Danger
Love seems easy in a circle of friends,
But it's difficult, difficult.
Morning air through the window, the taste of it,
with every moment camel bells leaving the caravanserai.
This is how we wake, with winespills
On the prayer rug, and even the tavernmaster
is loading up. My life has gone
From willfullness to disrepute,
And I won't conceal, either, the joy
That led me out toward laughter.
Mountainous ocean, a moon hidden behind clouds,
The terror of being drawn under.
How can someone with a light shoulder-pack
Walking the beach know how a night sea-journey is?
Hafiz! Stay in the dangerous life that's yours.
THERE you'll meet the face
That dissolves fear.
Hafiz, from 'The Hand of Poetry' Inayat Khan/Coleman Barks
-
I know the Way You Can Get
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 God,
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, From: 'I Heard God Laughing - Renderings of Hafiz' - Daniel Ladinsky
-
The Secret
I need a drink, wine maiden, that cup with grape stain lined,
for love that once seemed pleasing has burdened down my mind.
Ah smell how West Wind wafts her musk through the tavern door;
now feel our pumping hearts beat fast, watch our fears unwind.
Why do we who visit love think we'd stay forever?
We know the yearn to wander will always lovers find.
So we asked the Elder: What law makes love bring pain?
Sobriety, he laughed, you'll feel better when you're wined.
Your plight cannot be aided by that dull fear to risk
the toss and turn of love's dark storm upon the ocean blind.
See clear in all these gathered friends who still hold you dear
love's secret is that you must love without desires that bind.
Hafez, enjoy the one you love, drink deep and embrace;
seek not with her to please your world, just give love and be kind.
From: 'The Spiritual Wisdom of Hafez'
Haleh Pourafzal and Roger Montgomery
-
I Will Hire You as a Minstrel
Take one of my tears,
Throw it into the ocean
And watch the salt in the wounds
Of this earth and men begin to disappear.
Take one of my tears
And cradle it in your palm.
Mount a great white camel
And carry my love into every desert,
Paying homage to every Prophet
Who has ever walked in our world.
O take one of my tears
And stop weeping only for sadness,
For there is so much More to this life
Than you now understand.
Take one of my tears
And become like the Happy One,
O like the Happy One --
Who now lives Forever
Within me.
When a drop from my Emerald Sea
Touches your soul's mouth,
It will dissolve everything but your Joy
And an Eternal Wonder.
Then,
The Beloved will gladly hire you
As His minstrel
To go traveling about this world,
Letting everyone upon this earth
Hear
The Beautiful Names of God
Resound in a thousand chords!
Hafiz himself is singing tonight
In Resplendent Glory,
For the cup in my heart
Has revealed the Beloved's Face,
And I have His oath in writing
That He will never again depart.
0 Hafiz, take one of your tears,
For you are weeping like a golden candle-
Throw one tear into the Ocean of your own verse
And let the wounds
Of every lover of God who kneels in prayer
And comes close to your words
Begin, right now,
To disappear.
Hafiz, From: 'I Heard God Laughing - Renderings of Hafiz' - Daniel Ladinsky
-
What Happens?
What happens when your soul
Begins to awaken
Your eyes
And your heart
And the cells of your body
To the great Journey of Love?
First there is wonderful laughter
And probably precious tears
And a hundred sweet promises
And those heroic vows
No one can ever keep.
But still God is delighted and amused
You once tried to be a saint.
What happens when your soul
Begins to awake in this world
To our deep need to love
And serve the Friend?
O the Beloved
Will send you
One of His wonderful, wild companions ~
Like Hafiz.
Hafiz, From: 'I Heard God Laughing - Renderings of Hafiz' - Daniel Ladinsky
-
A Brimming Cup of Wine
A FLOWER-TINTED cheek, the flowery close
Of the fair earth, these are enough for me
Enough that in the meadow wanes and grows
The shadow of a graceful cypress-tree.
I am no lover of hypocrisy;
Of all the treasures that the earth can boast,
A brimming cup of wine I prize the most--
This is enough for me!
To them that here renowned for virtue live,
A heavenly palace is the meet reward;
To me, the drunkard and the beggar, give
The temple of the grape with red wine stored!
Beside a river seat thee on the sward;
It floweth past-so flows thy life away,
So sweetly, swiftly, fleets our little day--
Swift, but enough for me!
Look upon all the gold in the world's mart,
On all the tears the world hath shed in vain
Shall they not satisfy thy craving heart?
I have enough of loss, enough of gain;
I have my Love, what more can I obtain?
Mine is the joy of her companionship
Whose healing lip is laid upon my lip--
This is enough for me!
I pray thee send not forth my naked soul
From its poor house to seek for Paradise
Though heaven and earth before me God unroll,
Back to thy village still my spirit flies.
And, Hafiz, at the door of Kismet lies
No just complaint-a mind like water clear,
A song that swells and dies upon the ear,
These are enough for thee!
Hafiz, From: 'Teachings of Hafiz' Gertrude Lowthian Bell
-
Fair Wind, Be Kind
Fair wind, be kind -
Tell that lovely gazelle who it was
That made me wander distraught
Across desert sands and mountain cliffs.
The seller of sweets,
May she have long life -
Why is she not generous
To this parrot longing for honey?
Oh flower,
Is it your proud nature
That keeps you aloof
From the bird dancing around you?
It is the beauty of one's nature
That nets the seekers.
Ropes and cages never trap
The wary bird.
How is it that those tall beauties,
With black eyes shining
From faces of moonlike radiance -
Pass me by?
How can your face show such beauty,
While here in Earth
You are the image
Of inconstancy and faithlessness?
Hafiz -
Your sayings draw melodies
From the stars
And set even the son of Mary to dance.
While you keep the company of the enlightened
And quaff the mystic wine,
Forget not those, who sail upon the heavens
As birds glide upon the wind.
From:The Diwan of Hafiz Shirazi,
Selected and Translated from the Farsi by
Parham Noori-Esfandiari and Alan Dean Ild, Edited by Michael R. Brown
-
The Lovers
The Lovers
will drink wine night and day.
They will drink until they can
tear away the veils of intellect and
melt away the layers of shame and modesty.
When in Love,
body, mind, heart and soul don't even exist.
Become this,
fall in Love, and you will not be separated again.
From: 'Hush Don't Say Anything to God: Passionate Poems of Rumi'
Translated by Sharam Shiva
-
It is your turn now
It is your turn now,
you waited, you were patient.
The time has come,
for us to polish you.
We will transform your inner pearl
into a house of fire.
You're a gold mine.
Did you know that,
hidden in the dirt of the earth?
It is your turn now,
to be placed in fire.
Let us cremate your impurities.
Rumi
-
You Worry Too Much
Oh soul,
you worry too much.
You say,
I make you feel dizzy.
Of a little headache then,
why do you worry?
You say, I am your antelope.
Of seeing a lion here and there
why do you worry?
Oh soul,
you worry too much.
You say, I am your moon-faced beauty.
Of the cycles of the moon and
passing of the years,
why do you worry?
You say, I am your source of passion,
I excite you.
Of playing into the Devils hand,
why do you worry?
Oh soul,
you worry too much.
Look at yourself,
what you have become.
You are now a field of sugar canes,
why show that sour face to me?
You have tamed the
winged horse of Love.
Of a death of a donkey,
why do you worry?
You say that I keep you warm inside.
Then why this cold sigh?
You have gone to the roof of heavens.
Of this world of dust, why do you worry?
Oh soul,
you worry too much.
Since you met me,
you have become a master singer,
and are now a skilled wrangler,
you can untangle any knot.
Of life's little leash
why do you worry?
Your arms are heavy
with treasures of all kinds.
About poverty,
why do you worry?
You are Joseph,
beautiful, strong,
steadfast in your belief,
all of Egypt has become drunk
because of you.
Of those who are blind to your beauty,
and deaf to your songs,
why do you worry?
Oh soul,
you worry too much.
You say that your housemate is the
Heart of Love,
she is your best friend.
You say that you are the heat of
the oven of every Lover.
You say that you are the servant of
Ali's magical sword, Zolfaghar.
Of any little dagger
why do you still worry?
Oh soul,
you worry too much.
You have seen your own strength.
You have seen your own beauty.
You have seen your golden wings.
Of anything less,
why do you worry?
You are in truth
the soul, of the soul, of the soul.
You are the security,
the shelter of the spirit of Lovers.
Oh the sultan of sultans,
of any other king,
why do you worry?
Be silent, like a fish,
and go into that pleasant sea.
You are in deep waters now,
of life's blazing fire.
Why do you worry?
Rumi
-
Cradle My Heart
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.
Rumi
-
There is a candle in your heart...
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?
You feel the separation
from the Beloved.
Invite Him to fill you up,
embrace the fire.
Remind those who tell you otherwise that
Love
comes to you of its own accord,
and the yearning for it
cannot be learned in any school.
Rumi
-
The time has come...q
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
Rumi, Ghazal 1591 Translated by Nader Khalili
-
The Story of My Life
i was ready to tell
the story of my life
but the ripple of tears
and the agony of my heart
wouldn't let me
i began to stutter
saying a word here and there
and all along i felt
as tender as a crystal
ready to be shattered
in this stormy sea
we call life
all the big ships
come apart
board by board
how can i survive
riding a lonely
little boat
with no oars
and no arms
my boat did finally break
by the waves
and i broke free
as i tied myself
to a single board
though the panic is gone
i am now offended
why should i be so helpless
rising with one wave
and falling with the next
i don't know
if i am
nonexistence
while i exist
but i know for sure
when i am
i am not
but
when i am not
then i am
now how can i be
a skeptic
about the
resurrection and
coming to life again
since in this world
i have many times
like my own imagination
died and
been born again
that is why
after a long agonizing life
as a hunter
i finally let go and got
hunted down and became free
Rumi
-
Without the eyes...
Without the eyes - two clouds - the lightning of the heart:
The fire of God's threat, how could it be allayed?
How would the herbage grow of union, sweet to taste?
How would the fountains all gush forth with water pure?
How would the rosebed tell its secret to the meadow?
How would the violet make contracts with jasmine?
How would the plane tree lift its hands in prayer, say?
How would the trees' heads toss free in the air of Love?
How would the blossoms shake their sleeves in days of spring
To shed their lovely coins about the garden wide?
How would the tulip's cheek be red like flames and blood?
How would the rose draw out its gold now from its purse?
How would the ringdoves call like seekers, "Where, oh where?"
How would the stork repeat his laklak from his soul,
To say: "O Helper high, Thine is the kingdom, Thine!"
How would the dust reveal the secrets of its heart?
How would the sky become a garden full of light?
Rumi
Translated by Annemarie Schimmel
-
IF
IF YOU CAN DISENTANGLE
yourself from your selfish self
all heavenly spirits
will stand ready to serve you
if you can finally hunt down
your own beastly self
you have the right
to claim Solomon's kingdom
you are that blessed soul who
belongs to the garden of paradise
is it fair to let yourself
fall apart in a shattered house
you are the bird of happiness
in the magic of existence
what a pity when you let
yourself be chained and caged
but if you can break free
from this dark prison named body
soon you will see
you are the sage and the fountain of life
Rumi
-
Look at Love...
Look at Love...
how it tangles
with the one fallen in love
look at spirit
how it fuses with earth
giving it new life
why are you so busy
with this or that or good or bad
pay attention to how things blend
why talk about all
the known and the unknown
see how unknown merges into the known
why think separately
of this life and the next
when one is born from the last
look at your heart and tongue
one feels but deaf and dumb
the other speaks in words and signs
look at water and fire
earth and wind
enemies and friends all at once
the wolf and the lamb
the lion and the deer
far away yet together
look at the unity of this
spring and winter
manifested in the equinox
you too must mingle my friends
since the earth and the sky
are mingled just for you and me
be like sugarcane
sweet yet silent
don't get mixed up with bitter words
my beloved grows
right out of my own heart
how much more union can there be
Rumi
-
Time to go Home
Late and starting to rain,
it's time to go home.
We've wandered long enough
in empty buildings.
I know it's tempting to stay
and meet those new people.
I know it's even more sensible
to spend the night here with them,
but I want to go home.
We've seen enough beautiful places
with signs on them saying
This is God's House.That's seeing the
grain like the ants do,
without the work of harvesting.
Let's leave grazing to cows and go
where we know what everyone really intends,
where we can walk around without clothes on.
Rumi
from: 'Open Secret' Trans Coleman Barks
-
My dear friend
My dear friend
never lose hope
when the Beloved
sends you away.
If you're abandoned
if you're left hopeless
tomorrow for sure
you'll be called again.
If the door is shut
right in your face
keep waiting with patience
don't leave right away.
Seeing your patience
your love will soon
summon you with grace
raise you like a champion.
And if all the roads
end up in dead ends
you'll be shown the secret paths
no one will comprehend.
The beloved I know
will give with no qualms
to a puny ant
the kingdom of Solomon.
My heart has journeyed
many times around the world
but has never found
and will never find
such a Beloved again.
ah I better keep silence
I know this endless love
will surely arrive
for you and you and you.
Rumi
-
Whoever Brought Me Here, Will Have To Take Me Home.
All day I think about it, then at night I say it.
Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing?
I have no idea.
My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure of that,
and I intend to end up there.
This drunkenness began in some other tavern.
When I get back around to that place,
I'll be completely sober. Meanwhile,
I'm like a bird from another continent, sitting in this aviary.
The day is coming when I fly off,
but who is it now in my ear who hears my voice?
Who says words with my mouth?
Who looks out with my eyes? What is the soul?
I cannot stop asking.
If I could taste one sip of an answer,
I could break out of this prison for drunks.
I didn't come here of my own accord, and I can't leave that way.
Whoever brought me here, will have to take me home.
This poetry. I never know what I'm going to say.
I don't plan it.
When I'm outside the saying of it,
I get very quiet and rarely speak at all.
Rumi
Trans. Coleman Barks.
-
Only You
Only you
I choose among the entire world.
Is it fair of you
letting me be unhappy?
My heart is a pen in your hand.
It is all up to you
to write me happy or sad.
I see only what you reveal
and live as you say.
All my feelings have the color
you desire to paint.
From the beginning to the end,
no one but you.
Please make my future
better than the past.
When you hide I change
to a Godless person,
and when you appear,
I find my faith.
Don't expect to find
any more in me
than what you give.
Don't search for
hidden pockets because
I've shown you that
all I have is all you gave.
Rumi
-
Close the Language-Door
There is some kiss we want
with our whole lives,
the touch of Spirit on the body.
Seawater begs the pearl
to break its shell.
And the lily, how passionately
it needs some wild Darling!
At night, I open the window
and ask the moon to come
and press its face against mine.
Breathe into me.
Close the language-door,
and open the love-window
The moon won't use the door,
only the window.
Rumi
From: "Like This" Versions by Coleman Barks
-
Love
Are you fleeing from Love because of a single humiliation?
What do you know of Love except the name?
Love has a hundred forms of pride and disdain,
and is gained by a hundred means of persuasion.
Since Love is loyal, it purchases one who is loyal:
it has no interest in a disloyal companion.
The human being resembles a tree; its root is a covenant with God:
that root must be cherished with all one's might.
A weak covenant is a rotten root, without grace or fruit.
Though the boughs and leaves of the date palm are green,
greenness brings no benefit if the root is corrupt.
If a branch is without green leaves, yet has a good root,
a hundred leaves will put forth their hands in the end.
Rumi
From: "Jewels of Remembrance" Trans. Camille and Kabir Helminski
-
Petals
Even when you tear its petals off one after another,
the rose keeps laughing and doesn't bend in pain.
"Why should I be afflicted because of a thorn?
It is the thorn which taught me how to laugh."
Whatever you lost through fate,
be certain that it saved you from pain.
A Sheikh was asked: "What is Sufism?"
He said: "To feel joy in the heart when sorrow appears."
Rumi
From: "Breathing Truth" Trans. Muriel Maufroy
-
Lovers...
Lovers think they are looking for each other,
but there is only one search: wandering
This world is wandering that, both inside one
transparent sky. In here
there is no dogma and no heresy.
The miracle of Jesus is himself, not what he said or did
about the future, Forget the future.
I'd worship someone who could do that.
On the way you may want to look back, or not,
but if you can say "There's nothing ahead",
there will be nothing there.
Stretch your arms and take hold the cloth of your clothes
with both hands. The cure for pain is in the pain.
Good and bad are mixed. If you don't have both,
you don't belong with us.
When one of us gets lost, is not here, he must be inside us.
There's no place like that anywhere in the world.
Rumi
from 'The Essential Rumi" Coleman Barks with John Moyne
-
The Body is Too Slow for Me
Toward the gardens,
Toward the orchards,
I am going.
If you want to stay here,
Stay here -
I am going!
My day is dark without His Face,
Toward that bright flame
I am going.
My soul is racing ahead of me.
It says, The body is too slow for me -
I am going.
The smell of apples arises
from the orchard of my soul.
One whiff and I am gone -
Toward a feast of apples
I am going.
A sudden wind won't blow me over.
Toward Him, like a mountain of iron,
I am going.
My shirt is ripped open
with the pain of loss.
Searching for a new life,
with my head held high,
I am going.
I am fire, though I seem like oil -
Seeking to be the fuel of His fire,
I am going.
I appear as a steady mountain
Yet bit by bit,
Toward that tiny opening
I am going.
Rumi
Ode 1668 Version by Jonathan Star from a translation by Shahram Shiva
"A Garden Beyond Paradise: The Mystical Poetry of Rumi"
-
Desire and the Importance of Failing
A window opens.
A curtain pulls back.
The lamp of lovers connect,
not at their ceramic bases,
but in their lightedness.
No lover wants union with the Beloved
without the Beloved also wanting the lover.
Love makes the lover weak,
while the Beloved gets strong.
Lightning from here strikes there.
When you begin to love God, God
is loving you. A clapping sound
does not come from one hand.
A thirsty man calls out, 'Delicious water,
where are you?' while the water moans,
'Where is the water drinker?'
The thirst in our souls is the attraction
put out by the Water itself.
We belong to It,
and It to us.
God's wisdom made us lovers of one another.
In fact, all the particles of the world
are in love and looking for lovers.
Pieces of straw tremble
in the presence of amber.
We tremble like iron filings
welcoming the magnet.
Whatever that Presence gives us
we take in. Earth signs feed.
Water signs wash and freshen.
Air signs clear the atmosphere.
Fire signs jiggle the skillet,
so we cook without getting burnt.
And the Holy Spirit helps with everything,
like a young man trying to support a family.
We, like the man's young wife, stay home,
taking care of the house, nursing the children.
Spirit and matter work together like this,
in a division of labor.
Sweethearts kiss and taste the delight
before they slip into bed and mate.
The desire of each lover is
that the work of the other be perfected.
By this man-and-woman cooperation,
the world gets preserved.
Generation occurs.
Roses and blue arghawan flowers flower.
Night and day meet in a mutual hug.
So different, but they do love each other,
the day and the night, like family.
And without their mutual alternation
we would have no energy.
Every part of the cosmos is draws toward its mate.
The ground keeps talking to the body,
saying, 'Come back! It's better for you
down here where you came from.'
The streamwater calls to the moisture in the body.
The fiery aether whispers to the body's heat,
'I am your origin. Come with me.'
Seventy-two diseases are caused
by the various elements pulling inside the body.
Disease comes, and the organs
fall out of harmony.
We're like four different birds,
that each had one leg tied in
with the other birds.
A flopping bouguet of birds!
Death releases the binding, and they fly off,
but before that, their pulling is our pain.
Consider how the soul must be,
in the midst of these tensions,
feeling its own exalted pull.
My longing is more profound.
The birds want sweet green herbs
and the water running by.
I want the infinite! I want wisdom.
These birds want orchards and meadows
and vines with fruit on them.
I want a vast expansion.
They want profit and security
of having enough food.
Remember what the soul wants,
because in that, eternity
is wanting our souls!
Which is the meaning of the text,
They love That, and That loves them.
If I keep on explaining this,
the Mathnawi will run to eighty volumes!
The gist is: whatever anyone seeks,
that is seeking the seeker.
No matter if its animal,
or vegetable, or mineral.
Every bit of the universe
is filled with wanting,
and whatever any bit wants,
wants the wanter!
This subject must dissolve again.
Back to Sadri Jahan and the uneducated peasant
who loved him, so that gradually Sadri Jahan
loved the lowly man. But who really
attracted who, whoom, Huuuu?
Don't be presumptuous and say one or the other.
Close your lips. The mystery of loving
is God's sweetest secret.
Keep it. Bury it. Leave it here
where I leave it, drawn as I am
by the pull of the Puller
to something else.
You know how it is. Sometimes
we plan a trip to one place,
but something takes us to another.
When a horse is being broken, the trainer
pulls it in many different directions,
so the horse will come to know
what it is to be ridden.
The most beautiful and alert horse is one
completely attuned to the rider.
God fixes a passionate desire in you,
and then disappoints you.
God does that a hundred times!
God breaks the wings of one intention
and then gives you another,
cuts the rope of contriving,
so you'll remember your dependence.
But sometimes your plans work out!
You feel fulfilled and in control.
That's because, if you were always failing,
you might give up. But remember,
it is by failures that lovers
stay aware of how they are loved.
Failure is the key
to the kingdom within.
Your prayer should be, "Break the legs
of what I want to happen. Humiliate
my desire. Eat me like candy.
It's spring and finally
I have no will."
(Rumi, Mathnawi, III, 4391 - 4472)
From 'Feeling the Shoulder of the Lion'
Translated by Coleman Barks
-
Be with those who help your being
Be with those who help your being.
Don’t sit with indifferent people, whose breath
comes cold out of their mouths.
Not these visible forms, your work is deeper.
A chunk of dirt thrown in the air breaks to pieces.
If you don’t try to fly,
and so break yourself apart,
you will be broken open by death,
when it’s too late for all you could become.
Leaves get yellow. The tree puts out fresh roots
and makes them green.
Why are you so content with a love that turns you yellow?
Rumi
Ode 2865 Trans. Coleman Barks
-
One Whisper of the Beloved
Lovers share a sacred decree —
to seek the Beloved.
They roll head over heels,
rushing toward the Beautiful One
like a torrent of water.
In truth, everyone is a shadow of the Beloved —
Our seeking is His seeking,
Our words are His words.
At times we flow toward the Beloved
like a dancing stream.
At times we are still water
held in His pitcher.
At times we boil in a pot
turning to vapor —
that is the job of the Beloved.
He breathes into my ear
until my soul
takes on His fragrance.
He is the soul of my soul —
How can I escape?
But why would any soul in this world
want to escape from the Beloved?
He will melt your pride
making you thin as a strand of hair,
Yet do not trade, even for both worlds,
One strand of His hair.
We search for Him here and there
while looking right at Him.
Sitting by His side we ask,
"O Beloved, where is the Beloved?"
Enough with such questions! —
Let silence take you to the core of life.
All your talk is worthless
When compared to one whisper
of the Beloved.
Ode 442 trans. by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva
A Garden Beyond Paradise: The Mystical Poetry of Rumi
-
Pahlavon Mahmoud
Quatrains (rubais)
*****
The world's a beauty and you are its face,
Mind's a river and you're water - base.
Don't sit on flower leaf as dew,
In this orchard you're a sign of grace.
*****
It wishes a true man were a head of world affair,
To make evil deeds a villain would not dare,
The world's affair is like backgammon at all times,
A coward wins a brave man and it's unfair.
*****
I said to my beloved: "Hey, coquette, why
Does your voice from mouth slowly fly?"
"Because my mouth's tiny - every word
Being sliced goes out" was her reply.
*****
Oh, my sick heart's always become humble,
And my memory's not free from trouble.
This existence didn't give its fruits,
Thus my costly life, oh God, has crumbled.
*****
The worst sorrow in the world is parting,
But estrangement's the most devastating.
It's beyond my power to leave you,
You're my soul, to leave it means departing.
*****
Sometimes I feel that I am out of love,
A griefless pleasure lives with me above,
When I meet a beauty all at once,
To myself - to be fool - I allow.
*****
In the evening I wiped my looking-glass,
When it was clean I quickly cast a glance.
I saw so many faults of mine in it,
I forgot of other's faults at once.
*****
From everywhere I see a grievous stone,
I open my eyes and catch a glimpse of frown.
Till when I see a head instead of knee,
Should I smash my bright ideas down?
*****
Find a man of wisdom to converse,
Or call a beauty to sit face to face.
If you cannot search out them both
Don't waste time, sit yourself in this case.
*****
We are surprised of living in the world,
As a lantern, rangers we are called.
If the sun is light, the world's a lantern,
At nights we knock about as a doll.
*****
A man of note is a costly pearl,
Who thinks a little will remain to whirl.
Loveless one in this world can't be perfect,
To make not pots but a potter is the goal!
*****
Restraint is tasteless and piety's without salt,
It's a very pity that unsavory is fault.
Water washed away the salt of everything,
Wind blew off all flavor - everything was spoilt.
*****
We thought of God and went to bare steppe,
From the world of body to spirits took a step.
All day long I meditated seventy-two years,
I went surprised and vagabonded taking a nap.
*****
Until you have the bravery and zeal,
Do not give your beloved to reveal.
If a branch of tree grows over walls,
Passers-by - its nutty fruits - may steal.
*****
We are free from slavery of grief and we're not sad,
When we're hungry we eat sorrow and thus we're glad.
We don't care of smell and color of vigilance,
We are of one generation with narcissus, in fact.
*****
Our pearl is pure with red wine,
We drank and glasses shed banquet of brine.
We don't know today where are we,
On the wine or under it we pine.
*****
That pilgrim came back from Mekka and Mino,
Don't feel a man returned from Caaba, no, no.
Say: a snake turned into dragon in pilgrimage,
Say: a homeless changed his faith and credo.
*****
Don't make friends with the world, this heavy friend is empty,
There is nothing but enmity and its trend is empty.
You may live a thousand years but death will come at last,
You may have all the wealth, anyway, the end is empty.
*****
This world is torment from its starting moment,
Honest people can't avoid of lament.
I want to be a devoted person's dog,
The dog is better than a faithless mate.
*****
A ratty person always has heartache,
He'll be captive to go for God's sake.
Who debates with bad man for goodness,
A bright fortune for himself he'll make.
*****
Soil - it is heads of the people wise,
Sands are their pearl teeth, brow and eyes.
Those aren't cypress, tulip or willow,
It's their figure, hair and ruddy face, so nice.
*****
Poor is this heart and I'm tired of life at all,
Having felt for long time "it's a pitiable" I call.
As if I put a crown on my head
Anyway with a heavy load I will fall.
*****
Your refusal is better than your reception,
Evil-doing is better than your perception,
You're giaour but you pretend to be a Muslim,
If Muslims like you, better is tergiversation.
*****
Make the truth - verity and make untruth - curst,
Make a god man glad and a bad one the worst.
A sage is invaluable and ignoramus is respected,
Oh God, destroy this unjust world and burst.
*****
Hey, heart, again are you captive of the belle,
Have you been captured by the oppressor-girl?
Yet being not released from the other one,
Another fairy-like will take you prisoner as well.
*****
My sweetheart asked: "Why are you so sad and weary?
Did you fall in love with any fairy?
I gave her a looking glass and replied:
The one in the mirror made me dreary.
*****
On the ruddy face a cloud is mask until now,
Desire and wine - my soul could ask - until now.
Don't sleep; life is slipping at a run until now,
Drink wine, my beloved, wine is the sun until now.
*****
When I call you to mind, my heart will be pure,
In a morning breeze a blossoming yard will be pure.
Your face is a holiday for me, when I see it
Memory's good, soul's glad, every part will be pure.
*****
I washed my soul quite with my tear,
It became clean and shined as a mirror.
My eye-water washed the dust of sorrow,
I cried until my heart turned into a mirror.
*****
My naughty beloved's words are very sweet,
Making hundreds of tricks with eyebrows she'll greet.
She smiles a happy smile and asks me to kiss her,
And in a secret place she would like to meet.
*****
If I knew your coming I would place
A thousand of flowers on your ways.
Then my eyelashes would gather them to make
A pupil of my eyes from your pace.
*****
On this day the price of a log and wood is the same,
The rank of Haleel and Namrood is the same.
Who is proud and drunken of his own wealth,
Voice of donkey and Daoud is the same.
*****
Hey, good-looker, cypress-figured, ruddy face,
I wish your friend would never fall into disgrace.
Though a plane-tree is very beautiful in the garden,
Are a plane-tree and a branch of flower diverse?
*****
The world's elephant cannot stop our zeal,
And from our fame the world will thrill.
Suppose, an ant takes a place in our midst,
It turns to a lion in a blink from our will.
*****
If you've an elephant's strength, be like an ant,
Be like a naked man if you've the two world's grant.
When you see some people's mistakes in your life
Blind yourself about them, as blind, you act.
*****
When death came to my beloved to take,
I cried bitter tears and clouds stayed all of a shake.
Who visited her in the graveyard, they said:
"What a pity, such a beauty is in the ground-black."
*****
I am full with grief and distress, what can I do?
If I don't deserve love and grace, what can I do?
To my deep regret I cannot see you now,
It will be in doomsday, seeing your face, what can I do?
*****
I tell you, never go to a person's house,
Don't take to eat his food to your mouth.
Your own dry bread and water is better
Than the requiring gratitude of stranger's roast.
*****
Look at this way: all the main keys passed away,
From ignorance your friends - backing trees passed away.
Too close and dear for you they were,
They are not present, your devotees passed away.
-
Chulpan
BEAUTY
I look at sky at night in darks,
And ask you from the brightest star.
That star inclining head remarks:
"I always dream of her afar.
In my dream she pretty thus --
Finer than the Moon and us!"
Straight I sight to where moon rise,
From the moon to ask I start.
It says: "I met in dream so nice,
With a beauty that in white.
Wrapping up with white so pretty
Than the sun and me, such beauty!"
When by me with hanged hairs, I question ask the morning breeze
Tells it: "Once I see, lose stairs,
Still looking for in stone, trees.
Once I've seen, she's so attractive,
More than moon and sun, much active!"
It having left, the sun comes shiny,
Asking for you I entreat.
It runs away to hide, so shyly,
Says: "In actual I've met."
In my witness she is charming,
More than moon and sun, such darling.
Poor man, how fall in love me,
For her sake I was inflamed.
Gave my head to deal so lovely,
And for what so long I aimed?
Thus she's bonny that I fondle,
More than moon and sun, best angel!!!
SOUL
What is this, my heart, why such
With the fetters made you friends?
Neither wail you have nor much
Of the cry, and slowly sense.
Abuse will never hurt a soul,
Baseness does forever leave?
When will broken be all hobble,
Swords are cut, but who believes?
You're alive, not passed away,
You're a man, you - human be,
Refuse the fetters, don't obey,
In fact, you also were born free!
HOBBLE (CHAIN)
Hobble, ulcers in my body 've not been treated yet this moment,
Spots of iron fingers wholly leaving not still bear torment.
You have such embrace so awful, cold like and not so greedy,
Every leaf of people's story may appear blemish bloody.
Each of eyes non-closed, fury makes anger to one nation,
From one fastener only ever whole of world gets mental tension.
Many years with padlock ever wanting freedom stayed I banded
To get rid off you in every chance of stagger I intended.
Hobble, stain that in my body has not taken yet its treatment,
But reliance is so longer be in freedom, be a great man!
-
RAUF PARFI, national poet of Uzbekistan.
THERE IS A WORD
Beautiful as a fresh dawn,
As a bud opened in the morning,
Clean like dew in the bud.
There is a word like
Sweet child of honeyed feelings,
As if joy of eyes like endless sky.
There is a word,
Higher than the word truth,
Above the truth itself
There is a word:
***
Heart is shrinking in the empty home,
Black uncertainty prevailed at last.
I am a vagrant man, myself far from,
In my eyes fatigued mists sank fast.
But you don't come to listen to
My ardent words are audible no more:
Making farewells pass over you:
Still myself oh I am looking for: