Come back my Soul......by Rumi

Come back
My Soul,

How much longer
will you linger 
in the garden of deceit ?

I have sent you
a hundred messages

I have shown you
a hundred ways

Either you
never read them

or you
ignore my advice.

Come back
my soul,

do not waste time
with the cold-hearted

they do not know
your worth.

Why do you seek water
when you are the stream ?

Have you forgotten?
You are the king's falcon,

You are a ray
of the Beloved,

a divine wonder.....!

~ Rumi
From Rumi's Little Book of Life: The Garden of the Soul, the Heart, and the Spirit
Art by Rassouli

The Light is the soul's food....by Rumi

Intelligence is the feast, not bread and roast meat:
the light of intelligence, my son, is the soul’s food.
Man has no food but the Light
the soul doesn’t obtain nourishment from anything but that.

Little by little cut yourself off from these material foods—
for they are the food of an ass, not that of a free man—
so that you might become capable
of absorbing that original food
and become accustomed to eating delicate morsels of Light.

It’s from the reflection of that Light
that this bread has become bread;
it’s from the overflowing of that rational soul
that this animal soul has become soul.

Once you eat of the Light
you won’t be attached to the bread and oven.

~ Rumi
( Mathnawi IV : 1954-1959 )
From The Rumi Daybook

Oh Beloved, take me. Liberate my soul.....by Rumi

Oh Beloved,
take me.
Liberate my soul.
Fill me with your love and
release me from the two worlds. 
If I set my heart on anything but you
let fire burn me from inside.

Oh Beloved,
take away what I want.
Take away what I do.
Take away what I need.
Take away everything
that takes me from you.

In the early dawn of happiness
you gave me three kisses
so that I would wake up
to this moment of love...

I tried to remember in my heart
what I’d dreamt about
during the night
before I became aware
of this moving
of life...!

I found my dreams
but the moon took me away
It lifted me up to the firmament
and suspended me there
I saw how my heart had fallen
on your path
singing a song

Between my love and my heart
things were happening which
slowly slowly
made me recall everything

You amuse me with your touch
although I can’t see your hands.
You have kissed me with tenderness
although I haven’t seen your lips
You are hidden from me.
But it is you who keeps me alive..!

Perhaps the time will come
when you will tire of kisses
I shall be happy
even for insults from you
I only ask that you
keep some attention on me.

~ Rumi

Come, return to the root of the root of your own soul......by Rumi

For ages you have come and gone
courting this delusion.

For ages you have run from the pain
and forfeited the ecstasy.

So come, return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

Although you appear in earthly form
Your essence is pure Consciousness.

You are the fearless guardian
of Divine Light.
So come, return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

When you lose all sense of self
the bonds of a thousand chains will vanish.

Lose yourself completely,
Return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

You descended from the pure Word of God,
but you turned your sight
to the empty show of this world.

Alas, how can you be satisfied with so little?
So come, return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

Why are you so enchanted by this world
when a mine of gold lies within you?
Open your eyes and come
Return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

You were born from the rays of God’s Majesty
when the stars were in their perfect place.
How long will you suffer from the blows
of a nonexistent hand?
So come, return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

You are a ruby encased in granite.
How long will you deceive Us with this outer show?
O friend, We can see the truth in your eyes!
So come, return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

After one moment with that glorious Friend
you became loving, radiant, and ecstatic.
Your eyes were sweet and full of fire.
Come, return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

The King of the Tavern
has handed you an eternal cup,
And God in all His glory is pouring the wine.
So come! Drink!
Return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

Soul of all souls, Life of all life – you are That.
Seen and unseen, moving and unmoving – you are That.

The road that leads to the City is endless;
Go without head and feet
and you’ll already be there.
What else could you be? – you are That.

~ Rumi

My soul, why do you tarry so long in the land of exile....by Rumi

My soul, 
why do you tarry so long in the land of exile? 

Return from this exile; 
how long will you be dispersed?

I sent a hundred letters, I signaled a hundred ways; either
you do not know the way or you do not read the letter.

If you do not read the letter, the letter itself reads you; and
if you do not know the way,
you are in the grip of Him who knows the way.

Return, for in this prison no one knows your worth; sit not
with the stonyhearted, for you are a gem of this mine.

You who have escaped from heart and soul,
washed your hands of heart and soul,
leaped forth from the snares of the world
return, for you are one of the falcons.

You are both water and stream and are seeking for water;
you are both lion and deer and are better than they.

How far is it from you to the Soul?
Are you more remarkable than the Soul?

Are you commingled with the Soul,
or a ray of the Beloved?

~ Rumi
From Mystical poems of rumi
by A.J Arberry

When you are not with me...by Rumi

When you are not with me, 
I sometimes resemble a fish put live in the skillet, 
writhing its little cooking time left, 
or the empty eyes of graffiti faces, or 
a house with no one home. 

Other times, my love for your soul
spreads out over the city like music.
Quadrant to quadrant
the jeweled tambourine feet move,
palace to ghetto.

The cultured, the craftsman, the slave,
all begin to hum and sing this.

~ Rumi
(Tambourine Feet)
Ghazal (Ode) 2323
Version by Coleman Barks, with Nevit Ergin
"The Glance"
Viking-Penguin, 1999

All My Youth Returns....by Rumi

You are the comfort of my soul
in the season of sorrow.
You are the wealth of my spirit
in the heartbreak of loss.

The unimaginable,
The unknowable
that is what you give my soul
when it moves in your direction.

By your grace
my eyes have looked upon eternity.
O Beloved, how could this crumbling empire
ever take me from you?

The voice that sings your name
is sweeter than midnight sleep
more graceful than the song of a royal poet.

When deep in prayer
my faith is bound by the thought of you,
not the seven verses of faith.

You greet sinners with mercy,
You melt stone hearts with love.

If I were offered a kingdom,
And the world's riches were placed at my feet,
I would bow with my face low and say,
"This does not compare to His love!"

Union is the pure wine.
My life is the cup.
Without your wine
what use is this cup?

I once had a thousand desires,
But in my one desire to know you
all else melted away.

The pure essence of your being
has taken over my heart and soul.
Now there is no second or third,
only the sound of your sweet cry.

Through your grace I have found
a treasure within myself.
I have found the truth of the Unseen world.

I have come upon the eternal ecstasy.
I have gone beyond the ravages of time.
I have become one with you!

Now my heart sings,
"I am the soul of the world."

From my first breath I have longed for You
This longing has become my life.
This longing has seen me grow old. . . .

But one mention of Beloved
and all my youth comes back to me.

~ Rumi
(All My Youth Returns)
Version by Jonathan Star
"Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved"
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York 1997

Love is the great work.....by Hafiz

Love
Is the great work

Though every heart is first an apprentice
That slaves beneath the city of Light.

This wondrous trade,
This magnificent throne your soul
Is destined for
you should not have to think
Much about it,

Is it not clear
An apprentice needs a teacher
Who himself
Has charmed the universe
To reveal its wonders inside his cup.

Happiness is the great work,
Though every heart must first become
A student
To one
Who really knows
About Love.

~ Hafiz

The Gift
versions of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky

My soul wants to fly away...by Rumi

My soul wants to fly away 
when your presence calls it so sweetly. 

My soul wants to take flight, 
when you whisper, “Arise.” 

A fish wants to dive from dry land into the ocean,
when it hears the drum beating “Return.”

A Sufi, shimmering with light,
wants to dance like a sunbeam
when darkness summons him.

~ Rumi.

If wheat sprouts out of my grave.....by Rumi

If wheat sprouts out of my grave,
the bread you make of it will get you drunk.

The baker and the dough will go insane,
and the oven will recite intoxicating verses.

If you come to visit my grave,
My tomb will appear to dance.

Dear! Don’t come without a tambourine,
for the sad can’t join in God’s celebration.

Though deep in the grave, the chin closed tight,
this mouth still chews the beloved’s opium and sugarplum.

If you tear a piece off that shroud and fasten it round your chest,
a tavern will open up from your soul.

From every direction comes the sound of the harp,
and hue and cry from the drunk.

Every action will perforce give rise to another one.
God has created me from love’s wine;
even if death takes me, I am the same love.

I am intoxication; my origin is the wine of love.
Tell me: what comes from wine except intoxication?

Toward the lofty soul of Shams of Tabriz
my soul is flying, lingering not even a single moment.

~ Rumi
Rumi translations courtesy of Reynold A. Nicholson.

Love has Befriended Hafiz so completely...by Hafiz

I
Have
Learned
So much from God 

That I can no longer
Call
Myself A Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim
A Buddhist, a Jew.

The Truth has shared so much of Itself
With me
That I can no longer call myself
A man, a woman, and angel
Or even pure
Soul.

Love has
Befriended Hafiz so completely
It has turned to ash
And freed
Me

Of every concept and image
My mind has ever known.

~ Hafiz,
Persian poet (1315 – 1390),
translated by Daniel Lazinsky.

Sour, Doughy, Raw, and Numb....by Rumi

If we are not together in the heart
what is point ?

When body and soul are not dancing,
there is no pleasure in colorful clothing.

Why have cooking pans
if there is no food in the house?

In this world full of fresh bread,
amber, and musk, what are they
to someone with no sense of smell?

If you stay away from fire,
you will remain sour,
doughy, raw, and numb.

You may have lovely just-baked loaves
around you, but those friends cannot help.
You have to feel the oven fire yourself.

~ Rumi
(Sour, Doughy, Raw, and Numb)
A Year with Rumi
Daily Readings
By Coleman Barks