How many drops of tears have you shed really that you can claim to be His Lover?...by Pulok Benarjee

How many drops of tears have you shed really
that you can claim to be His Lover?

Without crossing over the thorny path
that makes your feet bleed,
how can you reach at the Divine Threshold?

How many sleepless solitary nights have you spent
dreaming the Paradisal state of His Presence?

What unbearable pain have you endured
that you can claim your right to be joyful?

Amidst thousand earthly chores of yours
have you had the time to listen to the unuttered words of His?

Why then you're lamenting today,
remorsefully building what history with the bygone days?

What happiness have you truly sacrificed
that you're now worthy of attaining His ocean of bliss?

~ Pulok Benarjee
Ko Fota Chokher Jol Felecho Je Tumi Bhalobashbe?
a Spiritual Translation
Art by Toni Thorne

If you are my lover....by Nizar Qabbani

If you are my lover, then help me leave you 
If you are my doctor, then help me recover from you 

If I had known Love is too dangerous, I would not have loved
If I had known the sea is too deep, I would not have sailed 

If I had known my end,
I would not have started

I missed you, so teach me not to
Teach me how to cut the roots of your love from my depths

Teach me how a tear dies in the eyes
Teach me how love dies and longings commit suicide

O, you who turned life to a poem in my eyes
and planted your wounds in my heart and took patience away

If I am dear to you, grab my hands
As I am deeply in love from head to heel
As I am deeply in love from head to heel

~ Nizar Qabbani
(“A message from under water”)

O lover, be mindless..Become mad...by Rumi

Put aside your clever schemes!
O lover, be mindless! Become mad!
Dive into the heart of the flame!
Become fearless! Be like a moth!


Turn away from the self
and tear down the house!
Then, come and dwell in the house of love!
Be a lover! Live with lovers!

Clean your chest from all hostility.
Wash it seven times.
Then, fill it with the wine of love!
Be a chalice for love! Be a chalice!

You must be all love
to be worthy of the beloved.
When going to the gathering of drunks,
be a drunk! Become drunk!

The earring of the lovely ones
is intimate with beauty!
If you long for love’s intimacy,
be a precious pearl. Be a pearl!

If your soul is lifted to heaven
when you hear this song,
dissolve in the melody of love.
Be a love song! Be a song!

Don’t dread the darkness of denial.
Be the radiance of creative power.
Be the light! Be a haven of the spirit!
Be a haven of light! Be a haven!

Your thought takes a course
dragging you in its wake.
Move beyond thought!
Let your heart lead! Be the leader!

Passion and caprice
are locks leashing our hearts.
Become the key to the locks!
Open your heart! Be the key!

The light of the Chosen One
made a pillar moan!
You are surely more than a post!
Yearn for love! Be the moaning!

Solomon tells us
to listen to the birds singing,
“Don’t be a trap to scare us away.”
Be the one who nestles! Be a nest!

When the grace of love is revealed,
be a mirror to reflect it.
When the beloved’s hair is loosened,
brush it like a comb! Be a comb!

Don’t move two-sided like a rook!
Don’t travel bit by bit like a pawn!
Don’t move every direction like a queen!
Be the master of the game! Be a master!

You gave away your vanity and wealth
to gain the approval of love!
Put those aside and give your self!
Sacrifice for love! Be gratitude!

Once you were the four elements!
Later you became an animal.
Now you are a lover!
Become all love! Be the beloved!

How long will you continue
to deliver words at the door?
Come in the house and close your mouth!
Don’t wag your jaw! Be silent!

~ Rumi
Divan of Shams
Poem 2131
From Rumi: The Alchemy of Transformation
painting by Rassouli
www.rassouli.com

That knowing can't be gained by thinking...by Rumi

The Lover said 
to himself, 

"If I'd known the real meaning 
of this being with Beloved, 

how should I have gone
searching for Him ?

But that knowledge
depended on this journeying:

that knowing
can't be gained by thinking,
no matter how precise."

~ Rumi
Mathnawi VI:4183-4184
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996