I wish I could speak like music......by Hafiz

I wish I could speak like music.

I wish I could put the swaying splendor
Of the fields into words
So that you could hold Truth
Against your body
And dance.

I am trying the best I can
With this crude brush, the tongue,
To cover you with light.

I wish I could speak like divine music.
I want to give you the sublime rhythms
Of this earth and the sky's limbs
As they joyously spin and surrender,

Surrender
Against Beloved's luminous breath.
Hafiz wants you to hold me
Against your precious
Body
And dance,
Dance.

~ Hafiz
From "The Gift" by Hafiz, translated by Daniel Ladinsky

Bring closer your lips and let your kiss release my soul. ~ Rumi

All doubt,
despair,
and fear become insignificant

once the intention of life
becomes love,
rather than dependence on love.

Bring closer your lips
and let your kiss release my soul.

~ Rumi

Bring closer your lips and let your kiss release my soul. ~ Rumi

All doubt,
despair,
and fear become insignificant

once the intention of life
becomes love,
rather than dependence on love.

Bring closer your lips
and let your kiss release my soul.

~ Rumi

Bring closer your lips and let your kiss release my soul. ~ Rumi

All doubt,
despair,
and fear become insignificant

once the intention of life
becomes love,
rather than dependence on love.

Bring closer your lips
and let your kiss release my soul.

~ Rumi

Beloved, I sought You here and there....

Beloved, I sought You
here and there,

asked for news of You
from all I met:

then saw You through myself
and found We were identical.

Now I blush to think I ever
searched for Signs of You.

~ Unknown

For a time let us revolve around Love...by Rumi

The creatures are set in motion by Love,
Love by Eternity-without-beginning​;

the wind dances because of the spheres,
the trees because of the wind.

God said to Love,
“If not for thy beauty,
how should I pay attention
to the mirror of existence?”

The world is like a mirror
displaying Love’s perfection.

OH Friend!
Who has ever seen a part
greater than
its whole?

Love is the kernel,
the world the shell;
Love is the sweetmeat,
the world the cauldron.

Like Adam and Eve,
Love gives birth to a thousand forms;
the world is full of its paintings,
but it has no form.

Oh Love who hast a thousand names
and a cup of sweet wine!
Oh Thou who bestowest a thousand skills!
Oh formless One with a thousand forms!
Oh Form-giver to the Turk, Greek, and Ethiopian!

The spheres turn for the sake of the lovers,
the wheel revolves for the sake of Love,
not for the baker or ironsmith,
nor for the
carpenter or druggist.

The heavens turn around about Love:
Rise, so that we also may turn!

Behold “But for thee, I would not have created…”
What did He say?
"the chosen one is Love’s mine.”

For a time let us revolve around Love.
How long will we circle this carrion ?

~ Rumi

Come to my house late at night Do not be shy....by Hafiz

Come to my house late at night
Do not be shy.
Hafiz will be barefoot and dancing.

I will be
In such a grand and generous mood!

Come to my door at any hour,
Even if your eyes
Are frightened by my light
My heart and arms are open
And need no rest
They will always welcome you.

Come in, my dear,
From that harsh world
That has rained elements of stone
Upon your tender face.

Every soul
Should receive a toast from us
For Bravery!

Bring all the bottles of wine you own
To this divine table―the earth
We share.

If your cellar is empty,
This whole Universe
Could drink forever
From mine!

Let’s dine tonight with exquisite music.
I might even hire angels
To play―just for you.

Look!
Hidden beneath your feet
Is a Luminous Stage
Where we are meant to rehearse
Our Eternal Dance!

And what is the price
of my Divine Instructions?
What could I ask of you?

All I could ever want
Is that
You have the priceless company
Of Someone
Who can Kiss God,

That you have the priceless gift
Of becoming a servant to the Friend!

Come to my window, dear world
Why ever be shy?

Look inside my playful Verse,
For Hafiz is Barefoot and Dancing
And in such a Grand and Generous
In such a Fantastic Mood.

~ Hafiz

Waiting for you to turn and look........by Rumi

Yesterday I sent a message
as clear and steady as a star.

You that turn stones to gold,
change me.

I showed you the longing
and rocked my own chest
like an infant
to hush it from crying.

Undo your breast.
Take me back to love's first place,
where we were in union.

How much longer
do I have to wander apart ?

I will be quiet now and patient,
waiting for you to turn and look.

~ Rumi

I love the dark hours of my being......by Ranier Maria Rilke

I love the dark hours of my being.
My mind deepens into them.

There I can find, as in old letters,
the days of my life, already lived,
and held like a legend,
and understood.

Then the knowing comes:
I can open to another life
that's wide and timeless.

So I am sometimes like a tree
rustling over a gravesite
and making real the dream
of the one its living roots

Embrace:
a dream once lost
among sorrows and songs.

~ Ranier Maria Rilke

Last night as I was sleeping, I dreamt—marvelous error..! by Antonio Machado

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!
that a spring was breaking
out in my heart.

I said: Along which secret aqueduct,
Oh water, are you coming to me,
water of a new life
that I have never drunk?

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.

And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures.

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!
that a fiery sun was giving
light inside my heart.

It was fiery because I felt
warmth as from a hearth,
and sun because it gave light
and brought tears to my eyes.

Last night as I slept,
I dreamt—marvelous error!
that it was God I had
here inside my heart.

~ Antonio Machado
Translated by Robert Bly

The way to You lies clearly in my heart...by Sanai

The way to You
lies clearly in my heart

and cannot be seen
or known to the mind.

As my words turn to silence,
Your sweetness surrounds me.

~ Sanai

My heart, sit only with those who know and understand you....by Rumi

My heart, sit only with those
who know and understand you.
Sit only under a tree
that is full of blossoms.

In the bazaar of herbs and potions
don’t wander aimlessly
find the shop with a potion that is sweet
If you don’t have a measure
people will rob you in no time.

You will take counterfeit coins
thinking they are real.
Don’t fill your bowl with food from
every boiling pot you see.

Not every joke is humorous, so don’t search
for meaning where there isn’t one.
Not every eye can see,
not every sea is full of pearls.

My hart, sing the song of longing
like nightingale.
The sound of your voice casts a spell
on every stone, on every thorn.

First, lay down your head
then one by one
let go of all distractions.
Embrace the light and let it guide you
beyond the winds of desire.

There you will find a spring
and nourished by its see waters
like a tree you will bear fruit forever.

~ Rumi

Cast all your votes for dancing...! ~ Hafiz

I know the voice of depression
Still calls to you.

I know those habits that can ruin your life
Still send their invitations.

But you are with the Friend now
And look so much stronger.
You can stay that way
And even bloom!...

Learn to recognize the counterfeit coins
That may buy you just a moment of pleasure,
Buyt then drag you for days
Like a broken man
Behind a farting camel...

O keep squeezing drops of the Sun
From your prayers and work and music
And from your companions' beautiful laughter
And from the most insignificant movements
Of your own holy body.

Now, sweet one,
Be wise.
Cast all your votes
for dancing...!

~ Hafiz

If You Want to Change the World...by Lisa Citore

If you want to change the world… love a woman-really love her.
Find the one who calls to your soul, who doesn’t make sense.

Throw away your check list and put your ear to her heart and listen.
Hear the names, the prayers, the songs of every living thing-
every winged one, every furry and scaled one,
every underground and underwater one, every green and flowering one,
every not yet born and dying one…

Hear their melancholy praises back to the One who gave them life.
If you haven’t heard your own name yet, you haven’t listened long enough.
If your eyes aren’t filled with tears, if you aren’t bowing at her feet,
you haven’t ever grieved having almost lost her.

If you want to change the world… love a woman-one woman
beyond yourself, beyond desire and reason,
beyond your male preferences for youth, beauty and variety
and all your superficial concepts of freedom.

We have given ourselves so many choices
we have forgotten that true liberation
comes from standing in the middle of the soul’s fire
and burning through our resistance to Love.

There is only one Goddess.
Look into Her eyes and see-really see
if she is the one to bring the axe to your head.
If not, walk away. Right now.
Don’t waste time “trying.”
Know that your decision has nothing to do with her
because ultimately it’s not with who,
but when we choose to surrender.

If you want to change the world… love a woman.
Love her for life-beyond your fear of death,
beyond your fear of being manipulated
by the Mother inside your head.
Don’t tell her you’re willing to die for her.
Say you’re willing to LIVE with her,
plant trees with her and watch them grow.

Be her hero by telling her how beautiful she is in her vulnerable majesty,
by helping her to remember every day that she IS Goddess
through your adoration and devotion.

If you want to change the world… love a woman
in all her faces, through all her seasons
and she will heal you of your schizophrenia-
your double-mindedness and half-heartedness
which keeps your Spirit and body separate-
which keeps you alone and always looking outside your Self
for something to make your life worth living.

There will always be another woman.
Soon the new shiny one will become the old dull one
and you’ll grow restless again, trading in women like cars,
trading in the Goddess for the latest object of your desire.

Man doesn’t need any more choices.
What man needs is Woman, the Way of the Feminine,
of Patience and Compassion, non-seeking, non-doing,
of breathing in one place and sinking deep intertwining roots
strong enough to hold the Earth together
while she shakes off the cement and steel from her skin.

If you want to change the world… love a woman, just one woman .
Love and protect her as if she is the last holy vessel.
Love her through her fear of abandonment
which she has been holding for all of humanity.
No, the wound is not hers to heal alone.
No, she is not weak in her codependence.

If you want to change the world… love a woman
all the way through
until she believes you,
until her instincts, her visions, her voice, her art, her passion,
her wildness have returned to her-
until she is a force of love more powerful
than all the political media demons who seek to devalue and destroy her.

If you want to change the world,
lay down your causes, your guns and protest signs.
Lay down your inner war, your righteous anger
and love a woman…
beyond all of your striving for greatness,
beyond your tenacious quest for enlightenment.

The holy grail stands before you
if you would only take her in your arms
and let go of searching for something beyond this intimacy.

What if peace is a dream which can only be re-membered
through the heart of Woman?
What if a man’s love for Woman, the Way of the Feminine
is the key to opening Her heart?

If you want to change the world…love a woman
to the depths of your shadow,
to the highest reaches of your Being,
back to the Garden where you first met her,
to the gateway of the rainbow realm
where you walk through together as Light as One,
to the point of no return,
to the ends and the beginning of a new Earth.

~Lisa Citore

Come, seek, for search is the foundation...by Rumi

Come, seek, for search is the foundation of fortune:
every success depends on focusing the heart.

Unconcerned with the business of the world,
keep saying with all your soul, "Coo, Coo," like the dove.

Consider this well, O you whom worldliness veils:
Beloved has linked our invocation
to the promise, "I will answer."

When weakness is cleared from your heart,
your prayer will reach the glorious Beloved .

~ Rumi

There is sun afterwards......by Rumi

Since the endowment of eternity set the
Seminary for the Love,

The difference between lover and Beloved
Has become the most difficult subject.

There are other ways besides causality,
And deductive reasoning to solve the problem,

But they are closed to jurists, doctors,
And someone who thinks he is a cosmologist.

They all talk about their differences, but
Everyone ended up at a dead end.

Then, they turned toward the mosque.
There, everything became more confused.

The thoughts were limited,
But the one who gathers and separates them is endless.
The limited disappeared in the unlimited.

Annihilation is the drunkenness,
Realization comes after annihilation.

It doesn't matter how long the shade becomes,
There is sun afterwards.

~ Rumi

Come on sweetheart ...by Rumi

Come on sweetheart
let's adore one another
before there is no more
of you and me

a mirror tells the truth
look at your grim face
brighten up and cast away
your bitter smile

a generous friend
gives life for a friend
let's rise above this
animalistic behavior
and be kind to one another

spite darkens friendships
why not cast away
malice from our heart

once you think of me
dead and gone
you will make up with me
you will miss me
you may even adore me

why be a worshiper of the dead
think of me as a goner
come and make up now

since you will come
and throw kisses
at my tombstone later
why not give them to me now
this is me
that same person

I may talk too much
but my heart is silence
what else can i do
I am condemned to live this life.

~ Rumi
© LoveringArts -loveringarts

Let the One who creates the words speak...by Rumi

When I entered the city
you moved away.
When I left the city
you didn't even look up to say good-bye.

I'll accept your kindness,
I'll accept your insult.
I'll accept whatever you have to give.

Your radiance shines
in every atom of creation
yet our petty desires keep it hidden.

Like the beautiful wife of a prince
You dwell in a lonely place.
If you came out of hiding
the veil on every face would fall.

You confound the doubting heart,
Your intoxicate the faithful head.
You have robbed every soul of its senses,
You have brought every heart to your breast.

All roses fall prey to December.
All intellect falls prey to love's glory.

Since the rose is not eternal
Why be captured by its scent?
Let me know your secrets -
Only the ones that last forever.

How many men have found tragic ends
running after beauty?
Why don't they look for you? -
the heart and spirit of all beauty.

You formed man from a handful of dust.
You gave him the power to know the highest truth.
You freed him from the snares of this world
with one breath of your spirit.

O love,
O heart,
Find the way to heaven.
Find the way to Beloved's pasture.
You have spent enough time
in this pasture made for cattle.

Set your sights on a place
Higher than your eyes can see.
For it was the higher aim
that brought you here
in the first place.

Now be silent.
Let the One who creates the words speak.
He made the door.
He made the lock.
He also made the key.

~ Rumi
Version by Jonathan Star

This meeting again with you......by Rumi

A shout comes out of my room
where I've been cooped up.

After all my lust and dead living
I can still live with you.
You want me to.

You fix and bring me food.
You forget the way I've been.

The ocean moves and surges in the heat
of the middle of the day,
in the heat of this thought I'm having.

Why aren't all human resistances
burning up with this thought?

It is a drum and arms waving.
It is a bonfire at midnight on the top edge of a hill,
this meeting again with you.

~ Rumi

When you lose yourself...by Rumi

When you don’t lose yourself, the beloved is like a thorn
When you lose yourself, the beloved is the purest gold

When you don’t lose yourself, a fly can fell you
When you lose yourself, elephants fall before you

When you don’t lose yourself, you’re a cloud of grief
When you lose yourself, mist and fog parts for you

When you don’t lose yourself, the beloved turns away
When you lose yourself, the sweetest wine comes your way

When you don’t lose yourself, you’re as dispirited as autumn
When you lose yourself, your January is like spring

All your restlessness is out of your desire for stillness
Just desire restlessly, then, love will fill and still you

All your unhealthiness is out of your desire for health,
Just abandon health, then, even poison will heal you…

~ Rumi
Translated by Nilou Mobasser

This is the Ultimate....by Kabir

THE light of the sun, the moon,
and the stars shines bright:

The melody of love swells forth,
and the rhythm of love's detachment beats the time.

Day and night, the chorus of music fills the heavens;
and Kabîr says
"My Beloved One gleams like the lightning flash in the sky."

Do you know
how the moments perform their adoration?
Waving its row of lamps,
the universe sings in worship day and night,

There are the hidden banner and the secret canopy:
There the sound of the unseen bells is heard.

Kabîr says:
"There adoration never ceases;
there the Lord of the Universe sitteth on His throne."

The whole world does its works and commits its errors:
but few are the lovers who know the Beloved.

The devout seeker is he who mingles in his heart
the double currents of love and detachment,
like the mingling of the streams of Ganges and Jumna;

In his heart the sacred water flows day and night;
and thus the round of births and deaths is brought to an end.

Behold what wonderful rest is in the Supreme Spirit!
and he enjoys it, who makes himself meet for it.

Held by the cords of love,
the swing of the Ocean of Joy sways to and fro;
and a mighty sound breaks forth in song.

See what a lotus blooms there without water!
and Kabîr says
"My heart's bee drinks its nectar."
What a wonderful lotus it is,
that blooms at the heart of the spinning wheel of the universe!
Only a few pure souls know of its true delight.

Music is all around it,
and there the heart partakes of the joy of the Infinite Sea.
Kabîr says: "Dive thou into that Ocean of sweetness:
thus let all errors of life and of death flee away."


Behold how the thirst of the five senses is quenched there!
and the three forms of misery are no more!
Kabîr says: "It is the sport of the Unattainable One:
look within, and behold
how the moon-beams of that Hidden One shine in you."

There falls the rhythmic beat of life and death:
Rapture wells forth, and all space is radiant with light.
There the Unstruck Music is sounded;
it is the music of the love of the three worlds.

There millions of lamps of sun and of moon are burning;
There the drum beats, and the lover swings in play.
There love-songs resound, and light rains in showers;
and the worshipper is entranced in the taste of the heavenly nectar.

Look upon life and death;
there is no separation between them,
The right hand and the left hand are one and the same.
Kabîr says: "There the wise man is speechless;
for this truth may never be found in Vadas or in books."

I have had my Seat on the Self-poised One,
I have drunk of the Cup of the Ineffable,
I have found the Key of the Mystery,
I have reached the Root of Union.

Travelling by no track,
I have come to the Sorrowless Land:
very easily has the mercy of the great Lord come upon me.
They have sung of Him as infinite and unattainable:
but I in my meditations have seen Him without sight.

That is indeed the sorrowless land,
and none know the path that leads there:
Only he who is on that path has surely transcended all sorrow.
Wonderful is that land of rest, to which no merit can win;
It is the wise who has seen it, it is the wise who has sung of it.

This is the Ultimate Word:
but can any express its marvellous savour?
He who has savoured it once, he knows what joy it can give.

Kabîr says: "Knowing it, the ignorant man becomes wise,
and the wise man becomes speechless and silent,
The worshipper is utterly inebriated,
His wisdom and his detachment are made perfect;
He drinks from the cup of the inbreathings and the outbreathings of love."

There the whole sky is filled with sound,
and there that music is made without fingers and without strings;
There the game of pleasure and pain does not cease.
Kabîr says: "If you merge your life in the Ocean of Life,
you will find your life in the Supreme Land of Bliss."

What a frenzy of ecstasy there is in every hour!
and the worshipper is pressing out and drinking the essence of the hours:
he lives in the life of Brahma.

I speak truth, for I have accepted truth in life;
I am now attached to truth, I have swept all tinsel away.
Kabîr says:
"Thus is the worshipper set free from fear;
thus have all errors of life and of death left him."

There the sky is filled with music:
There it rains nectar:
There the harp-strings jingle, and there the drums beat.
What a secret splendour is there, in the mansion of the sky!

There no mention is made of the rising and the setting of the sun;
In the ocean of manifestation, which is the light of love,
day and night are felt to be one.

Joy for ever, no sorrow,--no struggle!
There have I seen joy filled to the brim, perfection of joy;
No place for error is there.
Kabîr says: "There have I witnessed the sport of One Bliss!"

I have known in my body the sport of the universe:
I have escaped from the error of this world..

The inward and the outward are become as one sky,
the Infinite and the finite are united:
I am drunken with the sight of this All!

This Light of Thine fulfils the universe:
the lamp of love that burns on the salver of knowledge.
Kabîr says: "There error cannot enter,
and the conflict of life and death is felt no more."

~ Kabir
The Songs of Kabir,
tr. by Rabindranath Tagore

I was at home...by Lalla

I was passionate,
filled with longing,

I searched
far and wide.

But the day
that the Truthful One
found me,
I was at home.

~ Lalla
Art by Aleonart

This is the Ultimate Word...by Kabir

THE light of the sun, the moon,
and the stars shines bright:

The melody of love swells forth,
and the rhythm of love's detachment beats the time.

Day and night, the chorus of music fills the heavens; and Kabîr says
"My Beloved One gleams like the lightning flash in the sky."

Do you know
how the moments perform their adoration?
Waving its row of lamps,
the universe sings in worship day and night,

There are the hidden banner and the secret canopy:
There the sound of the unseen bells is heard.

Kabîr says:
"There adoration never ceases;
there the Lord of the Universe sitteth on His throne."

The whole world does its works and commits its errors:
but few are the lovers who know the Beloved.

The devout seeker is he who mingles in his heart
the double currents of love and detachment,
like the mingling of the streams of Ganges and Jumna;

In his heart the sacred water flows day and night;
and thus the round of births and deaths is brought to an end.

Behold what wonderful rest is in the Supreme Spirit!
and he enjoys it, who makes himself meet for it.

Held by the cords of love,
the swing of the Ocean of Joy sways to and fro;
and a mighty sound breaks forth in song.

See what a lotus blooms there without water!
and Kabîr says
"My heart's bee drinks its nectar."
What a wonderful lotus it is,
that blooms at the heart of the spinning wheel of the universe!
Only a few pure souls know of its true delight.

Music is all around it,
and there the heart partakes of the joy of the Infinite Sea.
Kabîr says: "Dive thou into that Ocean of sweetness:
thus let all errors of life and of death flee away."


Behold how the thirst of the five senses is quenched there!
and the three forms of misery are no more!
Kabîr says: "It is the sport of the Unattainable One:
look within, and behold
how the moon-beams of that Hidden One shine in you."

There falls the rhythmic beat of life and death:
Rapture wells forth, and all space is radiant with light.
There the Unstruck Music is sounded;
it is the music of the love of the three worlds.

There millions of lamps of sun and of moon are burning;
There the drum beats, and the lover swings in play.
There love-songs resound, and light rains in showers;
and the worshipper is entranced in the taste of the heavenly nectar.

Look upon life and death;
there is no separation between them,
The right hand and the left hand are one and the same.
Kabîr says: "There the wise man is speechless;
for this truth may never be found in Vadas or in books."

I have had my Seat on the Self-poised One,
I have drunk of the Cup of the Ineffable,
I have found the Key of the Mystery,
I have reached the Root of Union.

Travelling by no track,
I have come to the Sorrowless Land:
very easily has the mercy of the great Lord come upon me.
They have sung of Him as infinite and unattainable:
but I in my meditations have seen Him without sight.

That is indeed the sorrowless land,
and none know the path that leads there:
Only he who is on that path has surely transcended all sorrow.
Wonderful is that land of rest, to which no merit can win;
It is the wise who has seen it, it is the wise who has sung of it.

This is the Ultimate Word:
but can any express its marvellous savour?
He who has savoured it once, he knows what joy it can give.

Kabîr says: "Knowing it, the ignorant man becomes wise,
and the wise man becomes speechless and silent,
The worshipper is utterly inebriated,
His wisdom and his detachment are made perfect;
He drinks from the cup of the inbreathings and the outbreathings of love."

There the whole sky is filled with sound,
and there that music is made without fingers and without strings;
There the game of pleasure and pain does not cease.
Kabîr says: "If you merge your life in the Ocean of Life,
you will find your life in the Supreme Land of Bliss."

What a frenzy of ecstasy there is in every hour!
and the worshipper is pressing out and drinking the essence of the hours:
he lives in the life of Brahma.

I speak truth,
for I have accepted truth in life;
I am now attached to truth, I have swept all tinsel away.
Kabîr says: "Thus is the worshipper set free from fear;
thus have all errors of life and of death left him."

There the sky is filled with music:
There it rains nectar:
There the harp-strings jingle, and there the drums beat.
What a secret splendour is there, in the mansion of the sky!

There no mention is made of the rising and the setting of the sun;
In the ocean of manifestation, which is the light of love,
day and night are felt to be one.

Joy for ever, no sorrow,--no struggle!
There have I seen joy filled to the brim, perfection of joy;
No place for error is there.
Kabîr says: "There have I witnessed the sport of One Bliss!"

I have known in my body the sport of the universe:
I have escaped from the error of this world..

The inward and the outward are become as one sky,
the Infinite and the finite are united:
I am drunken with the sight of this All!

This Light of Thine fulfils the universe:
the lamp of love that burns on the salver of knowledge.
Kabîr says: "There error cannot enter,
and the conflict of life and death is felt no more."

~ Kabir
The Songs of Kabir,
tr. by Rabindranath Tagore
Art by Shoaib

Listen to me, Dear: he understands who loves...by Kabir

I PLAYED day and night with my wishes,
and now I am greatly afraid.

So high is my Beloved's palace,
my heart trembles to mount its stairs:
yet I must not be shy,
if I would enjoy His love.

My heart must cleave to my Lover;
I must withdraw my veil,
and meet Him with all my body:

Mine eyes must perform
the ceremony of the lamps of love.

Kabîr says: "Listen to me, Dear:
he understands who loves.

If you feel not love's longing
for your Beloved One,
it is vain to adorn your body,
vain to put unguent on your eyelids.

~ Kabir
The Songs of Kabir,
tr. by Rabindranath Tagore
Art by Bianca Imoree

O FRIEND...! Hope for Him whilst you live...by Kabir

O FRIEND...!
Hope for Him whilst you live,
know whilst you live,
understand whilst you live:
for in life deliverance abides.

If your bonds be not broken whilst living,
what hope of deliverance in death?

It is but an empty dream,
that the soul shall have union with Him
because it has passed from the body:

If He is found now, He is found then,
If not, we do but go to dwell in the City of Death.
If you have union now, you shall have it hereafter.

Bathe in the truth,
know the true Beloved,
have faith in the true Name!

Kabîr says:
"It is the Spirit of the quest which helps;
I am the slave of this Spirit of the quest."

~ Kabir
The Songs of Kabir,
tr. by Rabindranath Tagore
Art by Crowmanic

Such beauty has come to us That all the world is lit by its splendor tonight by Attar

Such beauty has come to us
That all the world is lit by its splendor tonight

We do not need the light of candles or of the moon
Or of the evening star tonight

I will not welcome the dawn
For a gentle friend has come tonight

Nothing can come between us
For we are sheltered by the darkness tonight

Let the musicians play their songs of love
And of praise tonight...!

~ Attar

Everyone is a child except the one who's intoxicated with Love.....by Rumi

Let's ask Beloved to help us to self-control:
for one who lacks it, lacks His Grace.

The undisciplined person doesn't wrong himself alone
but sets fire to the whole world.

Discipline enabled Heaven to be filled with light;
discipline enabled the angels to be immaculate and holy.

The peacock's plumage is his enemy.
The world is the mountain,
and each action, the shout that echoes back.

This discipline and rough treatment are a furnace
to extract the silver from the dross

The spiritual path wrecks the body
and afterwards restores it to health.

Anger and lust make a man squint;
When self-interest appears, virtue hides:

Fortunate is he who does not carry envy as a companion.

If ten lamps are present in one place,
each differs in form from another;
yet you can't distinguish whose radiance is whose
when you focus on the light.

In the field of spirit there is no division;
no individuals exist.

The idol of your self is the mother of all idols.
To regard the self as easy to subdue is a mistake.
If you wish mercy, show mercy to the weak.

The stoppered jar, though in rough water,
floated because of its empty heart.

When the wind of poverty is in anyone,
she floats in peace on the waters of this world.

As long as desires are fresh, faith is not;
for it is these desires that lock that gate.

The tongue of mutual understanding is quite special:
to be one of heart is better than to have a common tongue.

If you dig a pit for others to fall into,
you will fall into it yourself.

Many of the faults you see in others, dear reader,
are your own nature reflected in them.

With will, fire becomes sweet water.

The lion who breaks the enemy's ranks
is a minor hero
compared to the lion who overcomes himself.

O dear, only those whose spiritual eye has been opened
know how compulsive we are.

Whoever gives reverence
receives reverence.

The intellectual quest,
though fine as pearl or coral,
is not the spiritual search.

The intelligent desire self-control;
children want candy.

Since in order to speak, one must first listen,
learn to speak by listening.

When, with just a taste, envy and deceit arise,
and ignorance and forgetfulness are born,
know you have tasted the unlawful.

Know that a word suddenly shot from the tongue
is like an arrow shot from the bow.

O tongue, you are an endless treasure.
O tongue, you are also an endless disease.

I am burning.
If any one lacks tinder,
let him set his rubbish ablaze with my fire.

Although your desire tastes sweet,
doesn't the Beloved desire you
to be desireless?

The world's flattery and hypocrisy is a sweet morsel:
eat less of it, for it is full of fire.

Forgetfulness of God, beloved,
is the support of this world;
spiritual intelligence its ruin.

For Intelligence belongs to that other world,
and when it prevails,
this material world is overthrown.

Were there no men of vision,
all who are blind would be dead.

All these griefs within our hearts
arise from the smoke and dust
of our existence and vain desires.

Whoever lives sweetly dies painfully:
whoever serves his body doesn't nourish his soul.

Your thinking is like a camel driver,
and you are the camel:
it drives you in every direction under its bitter control.

If you are wholly perplexed and in straits,
have patience, for patience is the key to joy.

Fast from thoughts, fast:
thoughts are like the lion and the wild ass;
men's hearts are the thickets they haunt.

If you are irritated by every rub,
how will your mirror be polished?

Anyone in whom the troublemaking self has died,
sun and cloud obey.

If you wish to shine like day,
burn up the night of self-existence.
Dissolve in the Being who is everything.

There is no worse sickness for the soul,
O you who are proud,
than this pretense of perfection.

The heart and eyes must bleed a lot
before self-complacency falls away.

Can the water of a polluted stream
clear out the dung?

Can human knowledge sweep away
the ignorance of the sensual self?
How does a sword fashion its own hilt?

Go, entrust the cure of this wound to a surgeon,

Many are the unbelievers who long for submission,
but their stumbling block
is reputation and pride and continual desires.

I'm the devoted slave
of anyone who doesn't claim
to have attained dining with Beloved
at every way station.

Everyone is a child
except the one who's intoxicated with Love.

He has said,
Knowledge that isn't from Him is a burden.
like a woman's makeup, it doesn't last.

Be cleansed of the (false) self's features, and see your pure Self:
Know the mirror of the heart is infinite.

Either the understanding falls silent, or it leads you astray,
because the heart is All,
or indeed the heart is He.

Everything,
except love of the Most Beautiful,
is really agony.

It's agony
to move towards death
and not drink the water of life.

Fiery lust is not diminished by indulging it,
but inevitably by leaving it ungratified.

Anger is a king over kings,
but anger once bridled may serve.

~ Rumi
Rumi on the Nafs
Selected by Kabir Helminski

The door has opened so there is no escape...! by Shams

The door has opened
so there's no escape.

I like unbelievers
because they
don't claim
friendship.

The one who
claims to be
a friend
but is not
is full of
Danger.

If someone comes
to someone else
he's one of
three sorts

either a disciple
or a companion
or a great one

Which sort are you ?
haven't you come to me ?

Everyone has
had a suffering
without cure.

Cure is this:
I do not suffer

The soul is
that form
which you
should be
at ease.

How can it
make you
suffer ?

When you see
something that
the heart
can't bear.

Why do
you put it there ?

The door has opened
so there is no escape...!

~ Shams

Art by Crowmanic

Ways of worship are not to be ranked ...by Rumi

Ways of worship
are not to be ranked
as better or worse
than on another

Its all Praise its all right
Its not me
who is glorified
in acts of worship
It's the worshipers !

Forget phraseology
I want burning, burning

There are many languages
in the world,
in meaning all are the same.

If you break the cups,
water will be unified
and will flow together

~ Rumi
Art by LESLIE ROBINSON

It is our own Buddha calling us home. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

The bell of mindfulness
is the voice of the Buddha
calling us back to ourselves.

We have to respect each sound of the bell,
stop our thinking and talking,
and get in touch with ourselves,
breathing and smiling.

This is not a Buddha from the outside.
It is our own Buddha calling us home.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Art by Crowmanic

All your suffering comes from desiring.....by Rumi

All your suffering comes
from desiring
things that cannot be had.

Stop desiring
and you won’t suffer.

Unless you pass through here
You will never reach the beyond

The window determines
how much light enters the house,
even if the moon’s radiance fills
the east and the west.

Although your desire tastes sweet,
doesn’t the Beloved desire you
to be desireless?

The life of lovers is in death:
you’ll not win the Beloved’s heart
unless you lose your own.

~ Jalaal ud-Deen Rumi
Art by Crowmanic

I wait with silent passion for one gesture one glance from you. ~ Rumi

A lover knows only humility, he has no choice.

He steals into your alley at night, he has no choice.

He longs to kiss every lock of your hair, don't fret,

he has no choice.

In his frenzied love for you,

he longs to break the chains of his imprisonment,

he has no choice.

A lover asked his beloved:

- Do you love yourself more than you love me?

Beloved replied: 

I have died to myself and I live for you.

I've disappeared from myself and my attributes,

I am present only for you.

I've forgotten all my learnings,

but from knowing you I've become a scholar.

I've lost all my strength, 

but from your power I am able.

I love myself...I love you.

I love you...I love myself.

I am your lover, come to my side,

I will open the gate to your love.

Come settle with me, 

let us be neighbours to the stars.

You have been hiding so long,

endlessly drifting in the sea of my love.

Even so, you have always been connected to me.

Concealed, revealed, in the unknown, in the un-manifest.

I am life itself.

You have been a prisoner of a little pond,

                                       I am the ocean and its turbulent flood.

Come merge with me,

leave this world of ignorance.

Be with me, I will open the gate to your love.

I desire you more than food or drink

My body my senses my mind hunger for your taste

I can sense your presence in my heart

although you belong to all the world

I wait with silent passion 

for one gesture one glance

from you.

~ Rumi

Poetry by RUMI -- Who Says Words with My Mouth

Who Says Words With My Mouth? ...by Rumi

Who Says Words With My Mouth?

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
From The Essential Rumi.
Translated by Coleman Barks.
Art by Rassouli

Anything but love upon this path is idolatry ...by Rumi

Anything but love
upon this path is idolatry
Other than light of thy union
is doubtful oratory

Whoever sees but the Beloved,
sees astray
The lover’s seeing eye
can only see Beloved’s glory.

Pass up all spirits,
pick your cup from the divine tray
Drink of the spirit of love,
the sole elixir in history.

The soul of the lovers
was woven of manly and earthly clay
Follower of the path of love,
for the worldly will not worry.

Through the highest wisdom
in poverty secrets lay
Choose detachment,
this path is the lovers’ story.

To that unequalled essence
even the angels will pray
His throne and His court
is outside the world’s laboratory.

O true Beloved, Pride of my soul ,
fault me not, turn me not away
Engulfed in fiery flames
is my heart and soul’s observatory.

~Rumi
Translations from Divan-e Shams

Art by Esther Johnson

Rarely did my heart desire another lover Then when it did, you came to me in the other. ~ Sarmad

Along the road,
you were my companion
Seeking the path,
you were my guide

No matter to whom I spoke,
it was you who answered
When Sun called Moon to Sky,
it was you who shined

In the Night of aloneness,
you were my comforter

When I laughed,
you were the smile on my lips
When I cried,
you were the tears on my face

When I wrote,
you were the verse
When I sang,
you were the song

Rarely did my heart desire
another lover
Then when it did,
you came to me in the other.

~ Sarmad

Along the road, you were my companion...by Sarmad

Along the road,
you were my companion
Seeking the path,
you were my guide

No matter to whom I spoke,
it was you who answered
When Sun called Moon to Sky,
it was you who shined

In the Night of aloneness,
you were my comforter

When I laughed,
you were the smile on my lips
When I cried,
you were the tears on my face

When I wrote,
you were the verse
When I sang,
you were the song

Rarely did my heart desire
another lover
Then when it did,
you came to me in the other.

~ Sarmad