Thursday, 26 September 2013

I was the doorkeeper at the gate of my Beloved....by Rumi

All friends have vanished. 
Like fleeting thoughts they scattered 
and left me only with the thought 
of my Beloved. 

Now alone with every breath 
I call the only Friend of the forsaken.

I was taken by the stream of love
I tasted the fruit of love's tree,

surrounded with
such tenderness, such sweetness
I even had to chase the wasps away!

I was the doorkeeper
at the gate of my Beloved.

She left, and now, bewildered
I don't know which way to turn.

~ Rumi
(The Only Friend )
Ghazal 1596
Translation by Azima Melita Kolin
and Maryam Mafi
"Rumi: Hidden Music"
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2001
Art by 
 Laura Majcan

1 comment:

  1. All my friends
    departed like dreams
    left alone

    I called upon
    one friend
    to become
    my entire dream

    This is the one
    who soothes my heart
    with endless
    tenderness and love

    the one who
    one hour bestows
    inner peace
    and the next
    the nectar of life

    this dream too
    as it arrives
    i come alive and
    as it departs

    i'm helpless again
    ~ Rumi
    -Translation by Nader Khalili
    "Rumi, Fountain of Fire"
    Cal-Earth Press, 1991

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