If once in this world I win a moment with you...by Rumi

If once in this world 
I win a moment with you, 

both worlds I'd trample 
under a dance of triumph. 

Oh, Beloved,
in this world I'm so drunk

now only stories of drunkenness
and revelry pass my lips.

~ Rumi
From Breathing Truth Quotations from Jalaluddin Rumi
Muriel Maufroy, ( 1997)

What makes the Sufi ?...by Rumi

What makes the Sufi ?
Purity of heart;

Not the patched mantle and the lust perverse
Of those vile earth-bound men who steal his name.

He in all dregs discerns the essence pure:
In hardship ease, in tribulation joy.

The phantom sentries, who with batons drawn
Guard Beauty's palace-gate and curtained bower,

Give way before him, unafraid he passes,
And showing the King's arrow, enters in.

~ Rumi
Translated by R. A. Nicholson
'Persian Poems' an Anthology of verse
translations edited by A.J.Arberry,
Everyman's Library, 1972

O lovers! O lovers! I have lost my cup....by Rumi

O lovers! O lovers! 
I have lost my cup!

I have tasted the wine that does not fit into cups.
I am drunk with the wine of Love , inform the prosecutor

I have brought him and you some of that wine to taste!
I have brought him and you some of that wine to taste!

O king of the truthful!
have you ever seen and impostor like me?

With your lively servants I am alive,
With the dead ones I am dead!

With heart-ravishing beauties, beauties,
I am in bloom like a flower bush

With cold-hearted deniers
I am dispassionate like the autumn.

~ Rumi
Divan 1371:1-4
Translated by Fatemeh Keshavarz,
'Reading Mystical Lyric: The Case of Jalal al-Din Rumi',
University of South Carolina Press, 1998

No Place to Hide....by Rumi

When I set out, he is my goal. 
When I look in my heart, he is its ravisher. 
When I seek justice, he is the judge. 
When I go to war, he is my weapon. 

When I join the celebration, 
He is the wine and the sweetmeats. 
When I enter the garden, 
He is the narcissus in bloom. 

When I go into a mine,
He is the ruby and carnelian.
When I dive into the ocean,
He is the pearl at the bottom.

When I cross the desert,
He is the watering hole.
When I rise to the spheres,
He is the brightest star.

When I show my courage,
He is the shield.
When I burn from heartache,
He is the incense holder.

When I fight a battle,
He is the commander-in-chief.
When I enter the banquet hall,
He is the saaqi, the minstrel, and the cup.

When I write to my friends,
He is the pen and the paper.
When I need a rhyme for a poem,
He gives me the right clue.

When I awake
He is my pure awareness.
When I go to sleep
He is the one who plays in my dreams.

Whatever picture you paint
or poem you write
he is beyond that.
Whatever height you can reach,
he is higher than your "highest."

Get rid of your talking and your books
it is far better
to let Him be your book.

See his light fill the heavens.
And when you pass beyond the heavens
you'll find him hiding there.

O Wondrous Light of Love
Where will you hide ?
The brilliance ofyour Sun,
will always give you away.

~ Rumi
Version by Jonathan Star
"Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved"
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York 1997
Art by Greg Spalenka

Keep singing. ~ Rumi

The birds have 
flown to freedom, 

The cage 
lies empty. 

Your happy songs
bring to me
the scent of heaven.

Please
keep singing.

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

The journey that leads to the Beloved Is guided by His Love. ~ Sheikha Maryam Kabeer Faye

On the road that leads to the Beloved
Every stone is made of gold.
Every step we take brings knowledge to us.

Even what appears to be a mistake, or an error,
Can bring us closer to purity and truth.
Every good intention, thought and action
Guides the soul toward the Goal.

Every true word that is heard,
Every understanding received,
Every challenge met,

Every station, by his Grace, attained
Leads the traveler
Through the labyrinth
Of steps and tests

Surely, to the One
Who has left, at every turn in the Road,
Signs of His Existence,
Clear signs showing the Way
That lead to Him.

Not only do our successes show us the way,
But even more deeply, our apparent failures

Those moments in our journey
When we are most deeply humbled
And realize our limitations,

Realizing that every step we take
Is not due to our own power and will,
But occurs by the Grace of God.

The journey that leads to the Beloved
Is guided by His Love.

~ Sheikha Maryam Kabeer Faye
From Journey Through Ten Thousand Veils,
by Sheikha Maryam Kabeer Faye
Art by Arlissa Vaughn

LOVE IS THE MASTER....BY RUMI

Love is the One who masters all things; 
I am mastered totally by Love. 

By my passion of love for Love 
I have ground sweet as sugar. 

O furious Wind, I am only a straw before you;
How could I know where I will be blown next ?

Whoever claims to have made a pact with Destiny
Reveals himself a liar and a fool;

What is any of us but a straw in a storm ?
How could anyone make a pact with a hurricane ?

God is working everywhere his massive Resurrection;
How can we pretend to act on our own ?

In the hand of Love I am like a cat in a sack;
Sometimes Love hoists me into the air,
Sometimes Love flings me into the air,

Love swings me round and round His head;
I have no peace, in this world or any other.

The lovers of God have fallen in a furious river;
They have surrendered themselves to Love's commands.

Like mill wheels they turn, day and night, day and night,
Constantly turning and turning, and crying out.

~ Rumi
(LOVE IS THE MASTER)
Trans by Andrew Harvey
Art by Hayrettin Karaerkek