Ya Allahoo!

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.

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

Suddenly
           (yet somehow unexpected)
he arrived
           the guest…
the heart trembling
           “Who’s there?”
           and soul responding
                      “The Moon…”

came into the house
           and we lunatics
ran into the street
           stared up
                      looking
                                 for the moon.
Then-inside the house-
           he cried out
“Here I am!”
           and we
beyond earshot
           running around
                      calling him…
crying for him
           for the drunken nightingale
locked lamenting
           in our garden
while we
           mourning ring doves
                      murmured “Where
                                 where?”

As if at midnight
           the sleepers bolt upright
in their beds
           hearing a thief
break into the house
           in the darkness
they stumble about
           crying “Help!
                      A thief! A thief!”
but the burglar himself
           mingles in the confusion
echoing their cries:
           “…a thief!”
                      till one cry
                      melts with the others.

And He is with you27

Qur’an 4:57

           with you
in your search
           when you seek Him
look for Him
           in your looking
closer to you
           than yourself
                      to yourself:
Why run outside?
           Melt like snow.
wash yourself
           with yourself:
urged by Love
           tongues sprout
from the soul
           like stamens
                      from the lily…
But learn
           this custom
from the flower:
           silence
                      your tongue.

You can’t imagine how I’ve looked for something for you.
Nothing seemed appropriate.
You don’t take gold down into a goldmine,
or a drop of water to the sea of Oman!
Everything I thought of was like bringing cumin seed
to Kirmanshah where cumin seed comes from.You, have all seeds in your barn.You even have my love
and my soul, so I can’t even bring those.
I’ve brought you a mirror. Look at yourself,
and remember me.

All through eternity

Beauty unveils His exquisite form

in the solitude of nothingness;

He holds a mirror to His Face

and beholds His own beauty.

he is the knower and the known,

the seer and the seen;

No eye but His own

has ever looked upon this Universe.

His every quality finds an expression:

Eternity becomes the verdant field of Time and Space;

Love, the life-giving garden of this world.

Every branch and leaf and fruit

Reveals an aspect of His perfection-

They cypress give hint of His majesty,

The rose gives tidings of His beauty.

Whenever Beauty looks,

Love is also there;

Whenever beauty shows a rosy cheek

Love lights Her fire from that flame.

When beauty dwells in the dark folds of night

Love comes and finds a heart

entangled in tresses.

Beauty and Love are as body and soul.

Beauty is the mine, Love is the diamond.

They have together

since the beginning of time-

Side by side, step by step.

A moment of happiness,

you and I sitting on the verandah,

apparently two, but one in soul, you and I.

We feel the flowing water of life here,

you and I, with the garden’s beauty

and the birds singing.

The stars will be watching us,

and we will show them

what it is to be a thin crescent moon.

You and I unselfed, will be together,

indifferent to idle speculation, you and I.

The parrots of heaven will be cracking sugar

as we laugh together, you and I.

In one form upon this earth,

and in another form in a timeless sweet land.

[Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi]

How long
can i lament
with this depressed
heart and soul

how long
can i remain
a sad autumn
ever since my grief
has shed my leaves

the entire space
of my soul
is burning in agony

how long can i
hide the flames
wanting to rise
out of this fire

how long can one suffer
the pain of hatred
of another human
a friend behaving like an enemy

with a broken heart
how much more
can i take the message
from body to soul

i believe in love
i swear by love
believe me my love

how long
like a prisoner of grief
can i beg for mercy

you know i’m not
a piece of rock or steel
but hearing my story
even water will become
as tense as a stone

if i can only recount
the story of my life
right out of my body
flames will grow