Thursday, May 14, 2009

Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, Poet of the Divine




Jalâluddîn Rumi was born in 1207 in Balkh in what is today Afghanistan. You can look him up anywhere online if you're interested in his amazing, fascinating life. He had the heart of a true poet/seeker and his writing is as fresh today as when he first wrote it. I have the book, "The Essentail Rumi" translated by Coleman Barks and it's dog-eared and worn, a real treasure. I highly recommend it if you want more Rumi.


Read and be washed in the beauty of his words:


"Listen to presences inside poems,
Let them take you where they will.

Follow those private hints
and never leave the premises."
~Rumi, from "The Tent"


Blessings,


~*~Marion, wishing you poems.......


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Wean Yourself
by Rumi


Little by little, wean yourself.
This is the gist of what I have to say.

From an embryo, whose nourishment comes in the blood,
move to an infant drinking milk,
to a child on solid food,
to a searcher after wisdom,
to a hunter of more invisible game.

Think how it is to have a conversation with an embryo.
You might say, "The world outside is vast and intricate.
There are wheatfields and mountain passes,
and orchards in bloom.

At night there are millions of galaxies, and in sunlight
the beauty of friends dancing at a wedding."
You ask the embryo why he, or she, stays cooped up
in the dark with eyes closed.

Listen to the answer.

There is no "other world."
I only know what I've experienced.
You must be hallucinating.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The Guest House


This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness
some momentary awareness
comes as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

~ Rumi ~
(The Essential Rumi, versions by Coleman Barks)

_____________________________

Ghazal 947

don't go to sleep this night
one night is worth
a hundred thousand souls

the night is generous
it can give youa gift of the full moon
it can bless your soul

with endless treasure
every night when you feel
the world is unjust
never ending grace
descends from the sky
to soothe your souls
the night is not crowded like the day
the night is filled with eternal love
take this night
tight in your arms
as you hold a sweetheart

remember the water of life
is in the dark caverns
don't be like a big fish
stopping the life's flow
by standing in the mouth of a creek

even Mecca is adorned
with black clothes
showing that the heavens
are ready to grace
the human soul

even one prayer
in the Mecca of a night
is like a hundred
no one can claim
sleep can build
a temple like this

during a night
the blessed prophet
broke all the idols and
God remained alone
to give equally to all
an endless love

Translated by Nader Khalili
Cal-Earth, September 1994


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Ghazal 2133

Rumi


wake up, wake up
this night is gone
wake up

abandon abandon
even your dear self
abandon

there is an idiot
in our market place
selling a precious soul

if you doubt my word
get up this moment
and head for the market now

don’t listen to trickery
don’t listen to the witches
don’t wash blood with blood
first turn yourself upside down
empty yourself like a cup of wine
then fill to the brim with the essence

a voice is descending
from the heavens
a healer is coming

if you desire healing
let yourself fall ill
let yourself fall ill


Translated by Nader Khalili
Cal-Earth, September 1994


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Cry Out in Your Weakness
By Rumi


A dragon was pulling a bear into its terrible mouth.
A courageous man went and rescued the bear.
There are such helpers in the world, who rush to save
anyone who cries out. Like Mercy itself,
they run toward the screaming.
And they can’t be bought off.
If you were to ask one of those, "Why did you come
so quickly?" he or she would say, "Because I heard
your helplessness."

Where lowland is,
that’s where water goes.
All medicine wants
is pain to cure.
And don’t just ask for one mercy.
Let them flood in. Let the sky open under your feet.
Take the cotton out of your ears, the cotton
of consolations, so you can hear the sphere-music.
Push the hair out of your eyes.
Blow the phlegm from your nose,
and from your brain.

Let the wind breeze through.
Leave no residue in yourself from that bilious fever.
Take the cure for impotence,
that your manhood may shoot forth,
and a hundred new beings come of your coming.

Tear the binding from around the foot
of your soul, and let it race around the track
in front of the crowd. Loosen the knot of greed
so tight on your neck.
Accept your new good luck.

Give your weakness
to one who helps.

Crying out loud and weeping are great resources.
A nursing mother, all she does
is wait to hear her child.

Just a little beginning-whimper,
and she’s there.
God created the child, that is your wanting,
so that it might cry out, so that milk might come.

Cry out! Don’t be stolid and silent
with your pain. Lament! And let the milk
of loving flow into you.
The hard rain and wind
are ways the cloud has
to take care of us.

Be patient.
Respond to every call
that excites your spirit.

Ignore those that make you fearful
and sad, that degrade you
back toward disease and death.

The Essential Rumi. Trans. Coleman Barks

4 comments:

Renee said...

I do have some books on Rumi, so maybe I do have some poetry here after all.

xoxo

Marion said...

He's a classic, (one of my favorites) and when I can't write, I always drag out my Rumi and get inspired.

Anonymous said...

I have not read much of this Chap. Shame on me. His words beautiful. I am especially liking 'Wean Yourself'
Thanks for such, you.

quid said...

Lovely.

quido