and I am nowhere again. Inside the majesty. ~ Rumi

When it's cold and raining,
you are more beautiful.

And the snow brings me
even closer to your lips.

The inner secret,
that which was never born,

you are that freshness,
and I am with you now.

I can't explain the goings,
or the comings. You enter suddenly,

and I am nowhere again.
Inside the majesty.

~ Rumi

If a blow comes to you from Heaven....by Rumi

If a blow comes to you from Heaven,
be alert to a gift of honor after it;
for He is not the King to slap you
without giving you a crown
and a throne on which to rest.

The whole world
is worth only a gnat's wing,
but a single slap
may bring an infinite reward.

Slip your neck nimbly
out of this golden collar
that is the world,
and take the slaps that come from Beloved.

The Loved Ones suffered
those blows on the neck,
and from that affliction
they lifted their heads high.

But always be present, attentive,
and ready in yourself,
youthful one, in order
that He may find you at home.

Otherwise He will take back
His gift of honor,
saying
"I found no one there."

~ Rumi
Mathnawi VI: 1638-1643
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996

Give that wine whose ferment's fragrance pulls the dead out of their graves.....by Rumi

Show Thy Face to us!
Conceal it not, oh Thou
who like the moon art
famous throughout the seven heavens!

We are a group of lovers
whom desire has
brought from a distant place
on a journey

Oh Thou who hast
within Thine own Spirit
hundreds of thousands of paradises
and houris and palaces!

Look down from the roof
and behold with kindliness
this congregation
of afflicted lovers!

Oh Saki of the Sufis!
Give us a wine
that does not come
from vat or grapes!

Give that wine
whose ferment's fragrance
pulls the dead
out of their graves!

~ Rumi
Ghazal (Ode) 1160
Translation by William C. Chittick
"The Sufi Path of Love"
SUNY Press, Albany, 1983

Why do you stay in prison When the door is so wide open ? by Rumi

There is a community of the spirit.
Join it, and feel the delight
of walking in the noisy street
and being the noise.

Drink all your passion,
and be a disgrace.

Close both eyes
to see with the other eye.

Open your hands.
if you want to be held.
Sit down in the circle.

Quit acting like a wolf, and feel
the shepherd's love filling you.

At night, your beloved wanders.
Don't accept consolations.
Close your mouth against food.
Taste the lover's mouth in yours.

You moan, "She left me." "He left me."
Twenty more will come.
Be empty of worrying.
Think of who created thought !

Why do you stay in prison
When the door is so wide open ?

Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking.

Live in silence.
Flow down and down in always
widening rings of being.

~ Rumi

Here someone is hidden who has taken hold of me and does not let me go...by Rumi

Here someone is hidden
who has taken hold of me
and does not let me go.

Here someone is hidden
softer than the soul who led me
to the garden of spirit
and made me homeless.

Here someone is hidden
a radiant face as delicate and fleeting
as the ephemeral moment before sleep.

Here someone is hidden
like sweetness in sugar cane,
an invisible magician who has captured my soul.

Hidden somewhere inside, my beloved and I
have dissolved in each other.

No beauty in the world can ever tempt me
for I see only the face of my Beloved.
Tired and in pain I searched the world for help
until I found in love the cure for my pain.

Here someone hidden whispered:
"Pass beyond your tears and
you will see the broken hearted lovers
are the lords in heaven."

Here someone hidden appeared
holding love's wine
and to him I've given all my vows.

~ Rumi

I've Said It Before and I'll Say It Again....by Hafiz

I've said it before
and I'll say it again:

It's not my fault
that with a broken heart,
I've gone this way.

In front of a mirror
they have put me like a parrot,
And behind the mirror
the Teacher tells me what to say.

Whether I am perceived
as a thorn or a rose,
It's The Gardener
who has fed
and nourished me day to day.

O friends,
don't blame me
for this broken heart;
Inside me there is a great jewel
and it's to the Jeweler's shop I go.

Even though, to pious,
drinking wine is a sin,
Don't judge me;
I use it as a bleach to wash
the color of hypocrisy away.

All that laughing and weeping of lovers
must be coming from some other place;
Here, all night I sing with my wine-cup
and then moan for You all day.

If someone were to ask Hafiz,
"Why do you spend all your time
sitting in the Winehouse door?,"

to this man I would say,
"From there, standing,
I can see both
the Path and the Way."

~ Hafiz
(I've Said It Before and I'll Say It Again)
From: Drunk on the Wind of the Beloved
Translated by Thomas Rain Crowe
Art by Heather King

Laughing At the Word Two...BY Hafiz

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
(Laughing At the Word Two)
From: 'The Gift'
Translated by Daniel Ladinsky

From the Large Jug, Drink...by Hafiz

From the large jug,
drink the wine of Unity,
So that from your heart
you can wash away the futility of life's grief.

But like this large jug,
still keep the heart expansive.
Why would you want to keep the heart captive,
like an unopened bottle of wine?

With your mouth full of wine, you are selfless
And will never boast of your own abilities again.

Be like the humble stone at your feet
rather than striving to be like a Sublime cloud:
the more you mix colors of deceit,
the more colorless your ragged wet coat will get.

Connect the heart to the wine,
so that it has body,
Then cut off the neck of hypocrisy
and piety of this new man.

Be like Hafiz:
Get up and make an effort.
Don't lie around like a bum.

He who throws himself at the Beloved's feet
is like a workhorse and will be rewarded
with boundless pastures and eternal rest.

~ Hafiz
(From the Large Jug, Drink)
From: Drunk on the Wine of the Beloved
Translated by Thomas Rain Crowe

A Thief in The Night...by Rumi

Suddenly
(yet somehow expected)
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
lunning around, calling him...

crying for him
for the drunken nightingale
locked lamenting
in our garden
while we mourning ringdoves
murmured "Where Where?"

As if at midnight
the sleepers bolt upright
in their beds
hearing a thief
break into the house
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.

~ Rumi
(A Thief in The Night)
-- Ghazal (Ode) 2172
"The Drunken Universe"
Translation by Peter Lamborn Wilson with Nasrullah
Pourjavadi
Omega Publications, New Lebanon, 1987
Art by by haya

Love embraces all...by Rumi

Any one in love
will have no religion

In the religion of love
there is no heresy or faith

Love know no
body heart or soul

There is only
oneness
and no more..!

~ Rumi
--Translation by Nader Khalili
Rumi, Dancing the Flame
Cal-Earth Press, 2001

O Lovers.....by Rumi

O lovers
Love will lay a carpet
of treasures under your feet.

Musicians
Love will fill
your drums with gold.

Thirsty ones
Love will turn your scorched desert
into a meadow of paradise.

Forsaken ones
Love will open
the doors to the King's palace.

Alchemists
Love's alchemy
will reshape gallows into altars.

Sinners
Love will change
your apathy to faith.

Kings of the world
in love's hands
you will melt like a candle.

To the parched lips of those
who are willing to surrender

Love will bring the wine
that changes darkness into vision,
cruelty into compassion
and dust into precious incense.

Those who think
the heart is only in the chest
take two or three steps
and are content.

The rosary,
the prayer rug and repentance
are paths
that they mistake for the destination.

~ Rumi
-- Translation by Azima Melita Kolin
and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Hidden Music
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2001

My heart Sit only under a tree that is full of blossoms...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 heart, 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 sweet waters
like a tree you will bear fruit forever.

~ Rumi
--Translated by Azima Melita Kolin
and Maryam Mafi
"Rumi: Hidden Music"
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2001

On a day when the wind is perfect....BY Rumi

On a day
when the wind is perfect,
the sail just needs to open
and the world is full of beauty.
Today is such a
day.

My eyes are like the sun
that makes promises;
the promise of life
that it always
keeps
each morning.

The living heart gives to us
as does that luminous sphere,
both caress the earth with great
tenderness.

This is a breeze that can enter the soul.
This love I know plays a drum.
Arms move around me;
who can contain their self
before my beauty?

Peace is wonderful,
but ecstatic dance is more fun,
and less narcissistic;
gregarious He makes our lips.

On a day when the wind is perfect,
the sail just needs to open
and the love starts.
Today is such
a day.

~ Rumi
(Love Poems From God:
Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West by Daniel Ladinsky)

the sun at midnight – you...BY Khusrau

See, I tried everything, went everywhere,
But never found a friend as dear as you;

Drank from all the fountains, tried the grapes,
But never tasted wine as sweet as you.

I studied hundred learned manuscripts;
In every letter I saw only you.

I washed away the letters with my tears;
A mirror was the shining page for you.

I heard your voice in the rustling breeze;
The snow, the grass were lovely veils for you;

I divided the ocean without shore;
The lustrous pearls reflected only you.

Then came the storm.
The garden of my heart
Was shivering in the cold,
all leaves were shed.

There was the desert.
And the barren cloud.
And silence. And
the sun at midnight – you.

~ Khusrau
(The sun at midnight)
Art by Alberto Pancorbo

I offer ....by Rumi

I am dazed of
the thought of you,
night and day

I will place my head
at your feet
night and day

Day and night,
i will go mad for you.

Without you,
how can I pass
these nights and days?

In the path of Love,
a lover is asked to give away
his heart and his soul.

I offer
my heart and soul
night and day.

~ Rumi
(I offer )
Art by Irina Vitalievna Karkabi

O, my love...by Nazrul Islam

O, my love
Come silently in the middle of the night
As gliding moonlight

With your tender touch
Bring sweet dreams to my eyes

O, my love, never again
I will need to open the door,
Come quietly through the door of my heart
Be there forever in my sweet memory

Come as the fragrance of un-blossomed flowers
Swaying in the evening breeze
Sing out my name over and over again
Like love-stricken evening bird in the wilderness

Come as tear drops in my eyes
Whisper in my ears like soothing tune of flute
Come as my lost love
O my ever lost love
Be there as eternal pain in my heart.

~ Nazrul Islam
( O, my love)

Our Union Could Be Like This...by Hafiz

Our union could be like this:

You feel cold
So I reach for a blanket
to cover our shivering feet.

A hunger comes into your body
So I run to my garden
and start digging potatoes.

You ask for a few words
of comfort and guidance,
I quickly kneel at your side
offering you this,
as a Gift.

You ache with loneliness one night
so much you weep,
and I say,
Here's a rope tie it around me,
I will be your companion for life.

~ Hafiz
(Our Union Could Be Like This)
Art by by Gaston Bussiere

Only Union with the Friend can cure it. ~ Rabi´a al-Adawiyya

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,
Perfume of the Desert
Art by by Virgil Elliott

The Breaking Wave of Love....by Rumi

Ah, once more he put a fire in me,
And once more this crazy heart
is craving the open plains.
This ocean of love breaks into another wave
And blood pours from my heart
in all directions.

Ah, one spark flew
and burned the house of my heart.
Smoke filled the sky.
The flames grew fierce in the wind.

The fire of the heart is not easily lit.
So don't cry out: "O Lord, rescue me
from the burning flames!
Spare me from the army of thoughts
that is marching through my mind!"

O Heart of Pure Consciousness,
You are the ruler of all hearts.
After countless ages
you brought my soul
all it ever wished for.

The eyes of all people happy and sad,
are closed to the truth.
May their eyes be opened!
May they look upon Beloved
and get drunk on His beauty.

May their hands reach toward the Truth.
May their ears hear the voice of the Beloved.
May the shadow of a Master
fall upon everyone who has devotion.

All the world praises you,
But where did this "you" come from ?
All the universe is born of Love –
But where did this Love come from?

O Beloved,
you are the owner of the land of life
the light of every heart;
Even the King of Love
knows no love
that is not yours.

~ Rumi
(The Breaking Wave of Love)
- Ode 881
Version by Jonathan Star
"A Garden Beyond Paradise:
The Mystical Poetry of Rumi"
Bantam Books, 1992
Art by Gustave Wertheimer

Many wonders I have seen: I have not seen a wonder like you....by Rumi

Beloved..
No joy have I found
in the two worlds apart from you,

Many wonders I have seen:
I have not seen a wonder like you.

They say that blazing fire is the infidel's portion:
I have seen none, save any, excluded from your fire.

Often have I laid the spiritual ear at the window of the heart:
I heard much discourse, but the lips I did not see.

Of a sudden you did lavish grace upon your lover:
I saw no cause for it but your infinite kindness.

O chosen Sweetheart, O apple of mine eyes, the like of you
Ne'er appeared in Persia , nor in Arabia have I found it.

Pour out wine 'till I become a wanderer from myself;
For in selfhood and existence I have felt only fatigue.

O you who are milk and sugar, O you who are sun and moon,
O you who are Love and Lover, I have known no kin but you.

O indestructible Love, O divine Minstrel,
You are both stay and refuge: a name equal to you I have not found.

We are pieces of steel, and your love is the magnet:
You are the source of all aspiration, in myself I have seen none.

Silence, O Dear! put learning and culture away:
'Till you named culture, I knew no culture but you.

~ Rumi

Be drunk in love, since love is everything that exists...by Rumi

Be drunk in love,
since love is everything
that exists.

Without the occupation
and trading of love
there isn't (any) door
to the Beloved.

It is said,
"What is love?"
Say,
"Giving up free will."

There isn't
(any) free will
(for) anyone
who hasn't let go
of free will..!

~ Rumi
Art by Angela Bella Macario

I lay my wing as a bridge to you So that you can join me singing...by Hafiz

The Earth lifts its glass to the sun
And light–light is poured.

A bird comes and sits on a crystal rim
And from my forest cove I hear singing.

An emerald bird rises from inside me
And now sits upon the Beloved’s glass.

I have left that dark cave forever.
My body has blended with His.

I lay my wing as a bridge to you
So that you can join me singing.

~ Hafiz
Photo by Belle Heywood

I speak frankly and that makes me happy...BY Hafiz

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 Beloved 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
Art by Angela Bella Macario

Nothing evolves us like Love. ~ Hafiz

There is
The rising up
From light's embrace

You can see in a summer field or
In a child's dancing.

Every city is a dulcimer
That plays it's chorus against
Our ears.

The lid of a pot starts jumping
When water gets ecstatic from fire.

If I ever don't complete a sentence
While we are together
Accept my apologies and try to understand
This sweet drunk thought.

Birds initially had no desire to fly,
What really happened was this:

God once sat close to them
playing Music.
When He left
They missed him so much

Their great longing sprouted wings,
Needing to search the Sky.

Nothing evolves us like Love.

~ Hafiz

Love is the soul's light....by Rumi

Being closer and closer
is the desire of the body.
Don't wish for union!

There's a closeness beyond that.
Why would God want a second God ?

Fall in love in such a way
that it frees you from any connecting.

Love is the soul's light,
the taste of morning,
no me, no we,
no claim of being.

These words are the smoke
the fire gives off
as it absolves its defects,
as eyes in silence, tears, face.
Love cannot be said.

~ Rumi
From The Glance
by Coleman Barks

Love is the whole thing , we are only pieces....by Rumi

Love is the whole thing.
We are only pieces.
Love is the sea of no end.
We are a drop of it.
He brings forth hundreds of proofs.
We can find our way only through them.

The sky turns only with Love.
Without Love, even the stars
Are eclipsed, extinguished.
With Love, hunched back dal become elif.
Once elif loses Love, it turns into dal.

The word is the Fountain of Life,
Because it originates
From the Love of the knowledge
Of the real truth of things.

Don't keep Love away from your Soul,
So that your good deeds may bear fruit
And keep growing.

~ Rumi
Art Tendresse by Michel Pilon

When the heart becomes whole...by Rumi

When the heart becomes whole,
it will know
the flavors of falsehood and truth.

When Adam’s greed
for the forbidden fruit increased,
it robbed his heart of health.

Discernment flies
from one
who is drunken with desire.

He who puts down that cup
lightens the inner eye,
and the secret is revealed.

~ Rumi
– Mathnawi II: 2738-2743
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
“Rumi: Daylight”
Threshold Books, 1994
Art Awakening Heart by Marie Howell Gallery

The soul's mirror....by Rumi

The soul's mirror is naught but the face of the friend,

the face of that friend who is of yonder country (the spiritual land).

When your eye became an eye for my heart,

my blind heart went and became drowned in vision.

I saw that you are the Universal Mirror unto everlasting:

I saw my own image in your eye.

I said, "At last I have found myself:

in his eyes I have found the shining Way.”

(But) my image gave voice from your eye (and said),

"I am you and you arc I in (perfect) oneness.” 

~ Rumi 

I have been looking for your face....by Rumi

From the beginning of my life
I have been looking for your face
but today I have seen it

Today I have seen
the charm, the beauty,
the unfathomable grace
of the face
that I was looking for

Today I have found you
and those who laughed
and scorned me yesterday
are sorry that they were not looking
as I did

I am bewildered by the magnificence
of your beauty
and wish to see you
with a hundred eyes

My heart has burned with passion
and has searched forever
for this wondrous beauty
that I now behold

I am ashamed
to call this love human
and afraid of God
to call it divine

Your fragrant breath
like the morning breeze
has come to the stillness of the garden
You have breathed new life into me
I have become your sunshine
and also your shadow

My soul is screaming in ecstacy
Every fiber of my being
is in love with you

Your efflugence
has lit a fire in my heart
for me
the earth and sky

My arrow of love
has arrived at the target
I am in the house of mercy
and my heart
is a place of prayer.

~ Rumi
The Love Poems of RUMI
Edited by Deepak Chopra
Translations by
Farsi scholar Fereydoun Kia

Be the dust at Beloved's door, and speak...by Hafiz

O fool, do something,
so you won't just stand there looking dumb.

If you are not traveling and on the road,
how can you call yourself a guide?

In the School of Truth,
one sits at the feet of the Master of Love.

So listen, son,
so that one day you may be an old father, too!

All this eating and sleeping
has made you ignorant and fat;

By denying yourself food and sleep,
you may still have a chance.

Know this:
If Beloved should shine His lovelight on your heart,
I promise you'll shine brighter than a dozen suns.

And I say:
wash the tarnished copper of your life from your hands;
To be Love's alchemist, you should be working with gold.

Don't sit there thinking;
go out and immerse yourself in His sea.
Having only one hair wet with water
will not put knowledge in that head.

For those who see only Beloved, their vision
Is pure, and not a doubt remains.

Even if our world is turned upside down
and blown over by the wind,
If you are doubtless, you won't lose a thing.

O Hafiz,
if it is union with the Beloved that you seek,
Be the dust at Beloved's door, and speak !

~ Hafiz
From: 'Drunk On the Wind of the Beloved'
Translated by Thomas Rain Crowe

A CRYSTAL RIM....by Hafiz

The
Earth
Lifts its glass to the sun
And light - light
Is poured.

A bird
Comes and sits on a crystal rim
And from my forest cave I
Hear singing.

So I run to the edge of existence
And join my soul in love.

I lift my heart to Beloved
And grace is poured.

An emerald bird rises from inside me
And now sits
Upon the Beloved's
Glass.

I have left that dark cave forever.
My body has blended with His.

I lay my wing
As a bridge to you

So that you can join us
Singing.

~ Hafiz
(A CRYSTAL RIM)
("The Gift" - versions of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky)
Art by Rassouli

Love unexplained is clearer...by Rumi

A true lover is proved such by his pain of heart;
No sickness is there like sickness of heart.

The lover's ailment is different from all ailments;
Love is the astrolabe of HIS mysteries.

A lover may hanker after this love or that love,
But at the last he is drawn to the KING of love.

However much we describe and explain love,
When we fall in love we are ashamed of our words.

Explanation by the tongue makes most things clear,
But love unexplained is clearer.

When pen hasted to write,
On reaching the subject of love it split in twain.

When the discourse touched on the matter of love,
Pen was broken and paper torn.

In explaining it Reason sticks fast, as an ass in mire;
Naught but Love itself can explain love and lovers!

None but the sun can display the sun,
If you would see it displayed, turn not away from it.

Shadows, indeed, may indicate the sun's presence,
But only the sun displays the light of life.

Shadows induce slumber, like evening talks,
But when the sun arises the "moon is split asunder."

In the world there is naught so wondrous as the sun,
But the Sun of the soul sets not and has no yesterday.

Though the material sun is unique and single,
We can conceive similar suns like to it.

But the Sun of the soul, beyond this firmament,
No like thereof is seen in concrete or abstract.

Where is there room in conception for His essence,
So that similitudes of HIM should be conceivable?

~ Rumi

I taste what you taste....by Hafiz

I taste what you taste. I know the kind of lyrics
your Soul most likes. I know which sounds will become
Resplendent in your mind and bring such pleasure
Your feet will jump and whirl.

When anything touches or enters your body
Never say it is not He, for He is
Just trying to get close.

I have no use for divine patience -- my lips are always
Burning and everywhere. I am running from every corner
Of this world and sky wanting to kiss you;

I am every particle of dust and wheat -- you and I
Are ground from His Own Body. I am rioting at your door;
I am spinning in midair like golden falling leaves
Trying to win your glance.

I am sweetly rolling against your walls and your shores

All night, even though you are asleep. I am singing from
The mouths of animals and birds honoring our
Beloved's promise and need: to let
you know the Truth.

My dear, when anything touches or enters your body
Never say it is not He, for He and I are
Just trying to get close to you.

He and I are rushing
From every corner of existence, needing to say,
"We are yours."

~Hafiz