The poverty of my small love....by Rabia

I die , and yet not dies in me
The ardor of my love for Thee.

Nor hath Thy love , my only goal
Assuaged the fever of my soul.

To Thee alone my spirit cries
In Thee my whole ambition lies.

And still Thy Wealth is far above
The poverty of my small love.

~ Rabia
The Essence of Sufism
by John Baldock

Belle art by Belle Heywood

My joy My Hunger My Shelter My Friend ...by Rabia

My joy 
My Hunger 
My Shelter 
My Friend 

My Food for the journey
My journey's End
You are my breath,
My hope,
My companion,
My craving,
My abundant wealth.

Without You
my Life, my Love
I would never have wandered
across these endless countries.

You have poured out so much grace for me,
Done me so many favors, given me so many gifts
I look everywhere for Your love
Then suddenly I am filled with it.

O Captain of my Heart
Radiant Eye of Yearning in my breast,
I will never be free from You
As long as I live.

Be satisfied with me, Love,
And I am satisfied.

~ Rabia
Art by Belle Heywood

In the sweetness of the Heart Lies the Secret of Surrender..via Belle Heywood

In the sweetness of the Heart 
Lies the Secret of Surrender

In the Flavors of Feelings 
Blooms the Flower of Love

Oh my foolish heart
pull out the lie of hope and fear

Oh my insane heart
give up the fruitless path..

Burn like incense crazy heart,
and stain these clothes with tears of sadness.

Be a fire of passion"s longing,
drunk on flames of loves" perfume.

Oh my mind, be like a woman,
tied by the thread of truly loving.

Be a room of invitation.
Be the space of emptiness.

Oh friend what use your endless prayer
if you have no love for the one
who"s next to you

What is real is you and my love for you.
It drives me mad with sweet embrace

Oh foolish mind, give up your fear
and drown within the swelling sea.

In the sweetness of the Heart
Lies the Secret of Surrender

In the Flavors of Feelings
Blooms the Flower of Love..!

~ Sweetness of the Heart: a song for yogis
Via Belle Heywood

The hearts all seek the Beloved...by Rumi

The spirits seek vision,
the hearts all seek the Beloved;

You in whose broad orchard
four streams are let flow --
one stream pure water, another honey,
the third fresh milk,
the fourth your ruby wine.

You never give me a chance,
you are giving wine upon wine;
where is the head,
that I may describe
the drinking-cup of your wine?

Yet who am I?
Heaven itself in the round of this heavy bumper
finds not a moment's peace
from your love and the craving for you.

Moon of silver girdle,
you have experience of love;
heaven, loverhood 
is apparent in your features.

When love is yoked to the heart
it wearies of the heart's chatter;
heart, be silent!
How long this striving and inquiring of yours?

The heart said,
"I am His reed pipe, I wail as the breath inn me."
I said,
"Be lamenting now, the slave of whose passion is the soul."

We have opened your door;
do not desert your companions;
in thankfulness for an all-embracing love
which has seized you from head to toe.

~ Rumi
Photo by Belle 
from Mystical Poems of Rumi: Volume 2, Translated by A. J. Arberry

You shine through my eyes......... .by Rumi

My love, you are closer to me than myself,
you shine through my eyes.

Your light is brighter than the Moon.
Step into the garden
so all the flowers, even the tall poplar
can kneel before your beauty.

Let your voice silence the lily
famous for its hundred tongues.

When you want to be kind you are
softer than the soul but when you withdraw
you can be so cold and harsh.

Dear one,
you can be wild and rebellious but
when you meet him face to face
his charm will make you docile like the earth.

Throw away your shield and bare your chest
there is no stronger protection than him.

That's why when the Lover withdraws
from the world he covers all the cracks in the wall,
so the outside light cannot come though.

He knows that only the inner light
illuminates his world...!

~ Rumi
-- Ghazal (Ode) 2798
Translated by Azima Melita Kolin
and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Hidden Music
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2001
Art by Belle Heywood

This is the music That transcends all coming and going..! ~ Kabir

Listen to the
unstruck bells and drums!

Love is here;
plunge into its rapture!

Rains pour down without water;
Rivers are streams of light.

How could I ever express
How blessed I feel

To revel in such vast ecstasy
In my own body?

This is the music
Of soul and soul meeting,
Of the forgetting of all grief.

This is the music
That transcends all
coming and going..!

~ Kabir
Art by Belle Heywood

Soul of souls is hidden...by Rumi

See how the hand is invisible
while the pen is writing;

the horse careening,
yet the rider is unseen;

the arrow flying,
but the bow out of sight;

individual souls existing,
while the Soul of souls is hidden.

~ Rumi,
Mathnawi II,1303-4
Art by Belle Heywood