Die before you die...by Rumi

O Generous Ones,
Die before you die, 
even as I have died before death
and brought this reminder from Beyond.

Become the resurrection of the spirit
so you may experience the resurrection.

This becoming is necessary
for seeing and knowing
the real nature of anything.

Until you become it,
you will not know it completely,
whether it be light or darkness.

If you become Reason,
you will know Reason perfectly

If you become Love,
you will know Love's flaming wick.

~ Rumi
Mathnawi VI: 754-758
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Daylight"
Threshold Books, 1994

love

love

With love you cannot bargain
there, the choice is not yours.

Love is a mirror, it reflects
only your essence,

If you have the courage
to look in its face.

~ Rumi
Translation by Azima Melita Kolin
and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 1999

You are my love. 
You are my friend. 

You are my way. 
You are my faith. 

You are my body.
You are my spirit.

You are my heart.
You are the spirit of my life.

You are my first, last,
inward, outward,
visible and the invisible .

~ Khawaja Farid

Spring is here, friends. Let’s stay in the garden And be guests to the strangers of the green.....by Rumi

Spring is here, friends.
Let’s stay in the garden
And be guests to the strangers of the green.

We’ll fly from one flower to the other,
Like bees making the six corners
Of this earth’s hives prosperous.

An envoy came from this fortress
And said, “Don’t beat the drum secretly.
With our yells, we would tear down the place
Where that Love’s drum is beating.”

Hear that voice which comes from the sky,
“Rise, all insane ones.
I sacrifice my Soul to the insane.
Let’s scatter our Soul today.”

Let’s break all the chains.
Every one of us is a blacksmith.
Let’s go to the fireplace where the pincers are.

Let’s fan the flame of the Heart’s fire
Like the furnace of blacksmiths.
So we can have iron Hearts
Under our control with breath.

We’ll put fire in this universe,
Incite riots in the sky,
Make his sober, resisting mind
Turn around, become dizzy like ours.

We are like a ball, without hands and feet,
Sometimes at the end
And sometimes at the beginning of the square.

Who told you we could do what we want?
Who told you we are independent?

No, no. We are like a club
In the hand of the Beloved 
We send hundreds of thousands of balls
To His feet.

Let’s be silent. Silence is made
With some material like craziness.

His mind is such a fire
That we hide this fire 
by wrapping it in cotton.

~ Rumi 
Translation by Nevit O. Ergin
“Divan-i Kebir” — Meter 1
Walla Walla, Washington: Current, 1995.
Art by Mary Leslie

Music we are ...by Rumi

Did you hear that winter’s over?
The basil and the carnations 
cannot control their laughter.

The nightingale, back from his wandering,
has been made singing master over the birds.

The trees reach out their congratulations.
The soul goes dancing through the king’s doorway.

Anemones blush
because they have seen the rose naked.

Spring, the only fair judge, walks in the courtroom,
and several December thieves steal away,
Last year’s miracles will soon be forgotten.

New creatures whirl in from non-existence,
galaxies scattered around their feet.
Have you met them?

Do you hear the bud of Jesus crooning in the cradle?
A single narcissus flower has been appointed
Inspector of Kingdoms.

A feast is set.
Listen: the wind is pouring wine!
Love used to hide inside images: no more!
The orchard hangs out its lanterns.
The dead come stumbling by in shrouds.

Nothing can stay bound or be imprisoned.
You say, “End this poem here,
and wait for what’s next.”

I will.
Poems are rough notations
for the music we are.

~ Rumi
(Music we are )
Art by Bryan Ubaghs