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)

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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

Rumi, Fountain of Fire

Cal-Earth, September 1994

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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

Rumi, Fountain of Fire

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.

Jelaluddin Rumi, "Cry out in Your Weakness."

The Essential Rumi. Trans. Coleman Barks