The Sufis do not view God as some harsh and distant master, but rather as their most intimate and cherished companion. Endearingly, they call themselves "lovers," and the God they seek, "the Beloved." All a Sufi strives for, all he reaches for, all he ever wants is the Beloved. This unswerving love causes him to see the form of his Beloved everywhere: as pure beauty and pure love, as the master and the playful "Friend," as the vibrant living presence that permeates every aspect of life.
Odes - 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.
Rumi, A Garden Beyond Paradise,
translated by Jonathan Star
A World Dense With Greeting
The world comes every day at dawn. "Good to see you again, my friend. The peace
of God be with you." No matter where you are or what you're doing, talking,
silent, asleep, soul comes and greets you like that. Your soul sees your
purity. Body sees your pretensions and deceit. You are a rose that heals
woundedness. "Hello again," call out the thorns. I go to the village chief.
I say, "God be with you." He gives me a glass of wine. "Hold this carefully.
Keep it safe." "The peace of God," I tell him. "But did you know that I am crazy?"
I like to sit in the fire with Abraham." Then I turn and thank God. Salaam
Aleichem. I walk out. The world is dense with greeting. I respond in kind,
then back into the cave with my Beloved. Subtle artwork appears everywhere.
It's so fine to be with you.
Rumi, The Glance, Songs of Soul-Meeting,
translated by Coleman Barks
Continuously
Listening to the prophet David play, psalms and music, a strange excitement
came, presence and patience. Egyptian graneries full of grain and Joseph's
handsomeness. Actual sun and nearness. Sky, undecided; earth, silent; in this
precarious unknowing we live love doesn't want to say the name of Hu.
You stay concealed. A falcon lights. How far away? Mount Sinai under Moses.
The indications are that you are the one who appears, not again, but continuously.
Rumi, The Glance, Songs of Soul-Meeting
translated by Coleman Barks
O my Beloved! Take me, Liberate my soul, Fill me with your love, and release me from both worlds.
If I set my heart On anything but you, O fire, burn me from inside!
Oh my Beloved Take away what I want, Take away what I do, Take away everything that takes me away from you.
A Garden Beyond Paradise, The Mystical Poetry of Rumi,
translated by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva
Out In Empty Sky
If you catch a fragrance of the unseen, like that, you won't be able to be
contained. You'll be out in empty sky. Any beauty the world has, any desire, will easily be yours. As you live deeper in the heart, the mirror gets
clearer and cleaner. Shams of Tabriz realized God in himself. When that
happens, you have no anxieties about losing anyone or anything. You break
the spells human difficulties cause. Interpretations come, hundreds, from
all the religious symbols and parables and prayers. You know what they mean,
when God lives through you like Shams.
Rumi, The Glance, Songs of Soul-Meeting
translated by Coleman Barks
For those in love, Muslim, Christian, and Jew do not exist. For those in love, faith and infidelity do not exist. For those in love, body, mind, heart, and soul do not exist.
Why listen to those who see it another way? - If they're not in love their eyes do not exist.
Rumi, A Garden Beyond Paradise,
translated by Jonathan Starr
Rumi
I know nothing of two worlds - All I know is the One - I seek only One, I know only One, I find only One, And I sing of only One.
I am so drunk On the wine of my Beloved that both worlds Have slipped from my reach.
Now I have no business here but to reach For the cup of my Beloved.
A Garden Beyond Paradise, The Mystical Poetry of Rumi,
translated by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva
My head is bursting with the joy of the unknown. My heart is expanding a thousand fold. Every cell, taking wings, flies about the world. All seek separately the many faces of my love.
Rumi
This soul comes once, the body a thousand times.
I am everything, coming in, going out How can I speak of another?
Like a wave my body is here and gone, Look closely - a million waves, one sea.
The soul comes once, this body a thousand times.
Why talk of the soul? Why mention the body when both are myself?
With much effort I have stayed on this path, and now this body finds a great soul within it.
Rumi, A Garden Beyond Paradise,
translated by Jonathan Starr
Autumn Rose Elegy
You've gone to the secret world. Which way is it? You broke the cage
and flew. You heard the drum that calls you home. You left this hu-
miliating shelf, this disorienting desert where we're given wrong
directions. What use now a crown? You've become the sun. No need for
a belt: you've slipped out of you waist! I have heard that near the
end you were eyes looking at soul. No looking now. You live inside
the soul. You're the strange autumn rose that led the winter wind in
by withering. You're rain soaking everywhere from cloud to ground. No
bother of talking. Flowing silence and sweet sleep beside the friend.
Rumi, The Glance, Songs of Soul-Meeting
translated by Coleman Barks
Your love has filled me with a madness no one could ever know.
Your gaze has enchanted my heart with a poem no one could ever write.
I was with Him last night, that one who raises my soul to heaven.
All i did was pray and beg, All he did was turn his head and smile.
The night was over before our story ended. But it's not the night's fault - this game's been going on a long time.
Rumi, A Garden Beyond Paradise,
translated by Jonathan Starr
The morning breeze has secrets to tell you, Don't sleep, It's a time of inquiry and prayer, Don't sleep.
O people of this world, From this moment to eternity, That unlocked door is open, Don't go to sleep.
A Garden Beyond Paradise, The Mystical Poetry of Rumi,
translated by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva
Listen, oh beautiful soul. Every day a new feast comes running into your life. Always a new experience.
Your body is like a guest house, receiving company from the hidden world. Some are positive, some are tragic, and still others who are frantic.
All mirroring your needs. All showing you ways to expand. All challenging your beliefs.
Whoever that comes from these unseen lands, receive it without regret. Welcome all that come to you, without judgment.
Remember, every visitor, is here a short time, meant only for your growth.
Rumi, translated by Shahram Shiva
No Religion Tonight, I see the realm of joy and pleasure. I've lost myself in it and it has lost itself in me.
No religion, No dogma, No conformity, No guilt, No shame, No fear, No conviction, No uncertainty remain.
In the middle of my heart, a star appears, and the seven heavens are lost in brilliance.
Rumi, translated by Shahram Shiva
DANCE UNIVERSE
When you dance the whole universe dances.
All the realms spun around you in endless celebration.
Your soul loses its grip. Your body loses its fatigue.
Hearing my hands clap and my drum beat, You begin to whirl.
Rumi, translated by Shahram Shiva
Love came, and became like blood in my body. It rushed through my veins and encircled my heart. Everywhere I looked, I saw one thing. Love's name written on my limbs, on my left palm, on my forehead, on the back of my neck, on my right big toe… Oh, my friend, all that you see of me is just a shell, and the rest belongs to love.
Rumi
A true Lover doesn't follow any one religion, be sure of that. Since in the religion of Love, there is no irreverence or faith. When in Love, body, mind, heart and soul don't even exist. Become this Love, and you will not be separated again.
Rumi
Love rests on no foundation. It is an endless ocean, with no beginning or end. Imagine, a suspended ocean, riding on a cushion of ancient secrets. All souls have drowned in it, and now dwell there. One drop of that ocean is hope, and the rest is fear.
Rumi, translated by Shahram Shiva
You think you are alive because you breathe air? Shame on you, that you are alive in such a limited way. Don't be without Love, so you won't feel dead. Die in Love and stay alive forever.
Rumi
A whale lives for the ocean, A panther lives for the forest, The miser lives for wealth, The lover lives for a sight of his Beloved.
Don't sit with a sad person, Only sit with those who are sweet and kind-hearted. When you've entered a beautiful garden Why spend your time with the weeds? Stay with the jasmine and the jonquil.
