O Friend of Heart......by Rumi

O Friend of Heart !
What a pity, you left us with sorrows and longing, and went away.

I know you didn't want to leave us. 
You complained and lamented. But this was not good. 
You obeyed the unchangeable judgment and walked away and left.

You ran in all directions.
You sought remedies (to change the situation and) to stay with us, you made up excuses.
But you couldn't find a remedy
and you went without having a remedy.

What happened to your lap full of roses,
to the luminous face like the moon?
How did it happen that you went under the soil lowly and in shame?

How did you leave the assemblies of friends
and the ranks of friends that were with you all the time
and go under the ground among ants and snakes?

What happened to those meaningful words and beautiful speeches? What happened to the. mind that was familiar with divine secrets?

What happened to those hands that were holding our hands?
What happened to those feet that walked
to the gardens of Meram, to the rose gardens?

You were graceful and gracious;
you knew how to win peo­ple's hearts and how to love people.
Now you went to the soil
which doesn't like people and swallows them.

What happened?
What kind of an idea came to your mind
so that you would take a curved and difficult road?

When you set off on that road crying,
the heavens, too, started shedding tears
and the moon scratched its face,

My heart has been filled with pain. What do I know?
What should I ask? You tell me, did you go awake?

Now that you left us,
did you choose the company of lovers of God and saints?
Or have you been deprived of love? Or did you go in denial?

What happened to those sweet answers
you gave to the questions you were asked?
Now you stopped talking and gave up on speaking.

What kind of a fire is this? What kind of a longing is this?
Like a guest, you never let anybody know and went away

Where did you go?
Even the dust of your way cannot be found.
The road that you took this time is indeed a road full of blood.

~ Rumi

The Lame Goat....by Rumi

You've seen a herd of goats
going down to the water.

The lame and dreamy goat
brings up the rear.

There are worried faces about that one,
but now they're laughing.

because look, as they return,
that goat is leading!

There are many different kinds of knowing.
The lame goat's kind is a branch
that traces back to the roots of presence.

Learn from the lame goat,
and lead the herd home.

~ Molana Jalaluddin Rumi
(THE LAME GOAT )
The Essential Rumi by Coleman Barks