"SUFISM POETRY AND POEMS"

[From_Alamut]

Awakened by your love,
I flicker like a candle's light
tryin to hold on in the dark.
Yet, you spare me no blows
and keep asking,
"Why do you complain?"

By: Mowlana Jelaluddin Balkhi Rumi (r.a)

[From_Alamut]

We are the guardians of His Beauty

We are the protectors
Of the Sun.

There is only one reason
We have followed God into this world:

To encourage laughter, freedom, dance
And love.

Let a noble cry inside of you speak to me
Saying,

"Hafiz,
Don't just sit there on the moon tonight
Doing nothing -

Help unfurl my heart into the Friend's Mind,
Help, Old Man, to heal my wounded wings!"

We are the companions of His Beauty
We are the guardians
Of Truth.

Every man, plant and creature in Existence,
Every woman, child, vein and note
Is a servant of our Beloved -

A harbinger of joy,
The harbinger of
Light.


By: Great Sufi Master Hafiz (r.a)

[From_Alamut]

O bird of the morning, learn love from the moth
Because it burnt, lost its life, and found no voice.
These pretenders are ignorantly in search of Him,
Because he who obtained knowledge has not returned.

By: Great Sufi Master Saadi Shirazi (r.a)

[rvirani01]

The love of God Surrounds us
Like the air we breathe around us-
As near as a heartbeat,
As close as a prayer,
And whenever we need Him,
He'll always be there.


Helen Steiner Rice


Beliefs Blessings

If we put our problems in God's hand,
There is nothing we need understand.
It is enough just to believe
That what we need we will receive.
The love of God is too great to conceive.
Don't try to explain it-just trust and believe!

Helen Steiner Rice

[From_Alamut]

Hidden behind the veil of mystery, Beauty is eternally free from the slightest stain of imperfection. From the atoms of the world, He created a multitude of mirrors; into each one of them He cast the image of His Face; to the awakened eye, anything that appears beautiful is only a reflection of that Face.
Now that you have seen the reflection, hurry to its Source; in that primordial Light the reflection vanishes completely. Do not linger far from that primal Source; when the reflection fades, you will be lost in darkness. The reflection is as transient as the smile of a rose; if you want permanence, turn towards the Source; if you want fidelity, look to the Mine of faithfulness. Why tear your soul apart over something here one moment and gone the next?

By: Great Sufi Master Jami (r.a)

[From_Alamut]

Those unable to grieve,
or to speak of their love,
or to be grateful, those
who can't remember God
as the source of everything,

might be described as a vacant wind,
or a cold anvil, or a group
of frightened old people.

Say the Name. Moisten your tongue
with praise, and be the spring ground,
waking. Let your mouth be given
its gold-yellow stamen like the wild rose's.

As you fill with wisdom,
and your heart with love,
there's no more thirst.

There's only unselfed patience
waiting on the doorsill, a silence
which doesn't listen to advice
from people passing in the street.

By: Great Sufi Master Sanai (r.a)

[From_Alamut]

How could I ever thank my Friend?
No thanks could ever begin to be worthy.
Every hair of my body is a gift from Him;
How could I thank Him for each hair?
Praise that lavish Lord forever
Who from nothing conjures all living beings!
Who could ever describe His goodness?
His infinite glory lays all praise waste.
Look, He has graced you a robe of splendor
>From childhood's first cries to old age!
He made you pure in His own image; stay pure.
It is horrible to die blackened by sin.
Never let dust settle on your mirror's shining;
Let it once grow dull and it will never polish.
When you work in the world to earn your living
Do not, for one moment, rely on your own strength.
Self-worshiper, don't you understand anything yet?
It is God alone that gives your arms their power.
If, by your striving, you achieve something good,
Don't claim the credit all for yourself;
It is fate that decides who wins and who loses
And all success streams only from the grace of God.
In this world you never stand by your own strength;
It is the Invisible that sustains you every moment.

By: Great Sufi Master Saadi (r.a)

[From_Alamut]

Those who enshrine the Lord in their hearts, O Bahu,
have both the worlds at their command.

Lovers remain completely intoxicated
in the ecstasy of their love for the Beloved.
They offer their souls to the Beloved
while still living
and thus immortalize themselves
in this life and the hereafter.

By: Great Sufi Master Sultan Bahu (r.a)

[kmaherali]

~
Today, Sunlight offers two presentations of Quatrain 910 - a
version by Barks, derived from a translation by Moyne, and a
version by Star, derived from a translation by Shiva:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I planted roses, but without you they were thorns.
I hatched peacock eggs. Snakes were inside.
Played the harp, sour music.
I went to the eighth heaven. It was the lowest hell.

- Version by Coleman Barks and John Moyne
Unseen Rain
Quatrains of Rumi
Threshold Books, 1986

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I plant some flowers without you,
they become thorns.
I see a peacock, it turns into a snake.
I play the rubaab – nothing but noise.
I go to the highest heaven, it's a burning hell.

- Version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva
A Garden Beyond Paradise
The Mystical Poetry of Rumi
Bantam Books, 1992

[From_Alamut]

If you do not give up the crowds
you won't find your way to Oneness.
If you do not drop your self
you won't find your true worth.
If you do not offer all you
have to the Beloved,
you will live this life free of that
pain which makes it worth living.

By: Great Sufi Master Abu Saeed Abil Kheir (r.a)

[kmaherali]

Love came

By Abu-Said Abil-Kheir
(967 - 1049)

English version by Peter Lamborn Wilson and Nasrollah Pourjavady

Love came
flowed like blood
beneath skin, through veins
emptied me of my self
filled me
with the Beloved
till every limb
every organ was seized
and occupied
till only
my name remains.
the rest is It.

[From_Alamut]

Ah Love! could thou and I with Fate conspire
To grasp this sorry Scheme of Things entire,
Would not we shatter it to bits -- and then
Re-mould it nearer to the Heart's Desire!

By: Great Sufi Master Omar Khayyam (r.a)

[kmaherali]

(101) Ever in my life have I sought thee with my songs (from Gitanjali)

By Rabindranath Tagore
(1861 - 1941)

English version by Rabindranath Tagore

Ever in my life have I sought thee with my songs. It was they who led me from door to door, and with them have I felt about me, searching and touching my world.

It was my songs that taught me all the lessons I ever learnt; they showed me secret paths, they brought before my sight many a star on the horizon of my heart.

They guided me all the day long to the mysteries of the country of pleasure and pain, and, at last, to what palace gate have they brought me in the evening at the end of my journey?

[From_Alamut]

Were it not for
the excess of your talking
and the turmoil in your hearts,
you would see what I see
and hear what I hear!

By: Great Sufi Master Ibn al Arabi (r.a)

[rvirani01]

No
One
In need of love
Can sit with my verse for
An hour
And then walk away without carrying
Golden tools,
And feeling that God
Just came
Near.


Hafiz
The Great Sufi Master.

[rvirani01]

Now
The Sky-drum plays
All by itself in my head
Singing all day long
"Allah, Allah, Allah".

Hafiz
The Great Sufi Master

[From_Alamut]

Repeat the Name of God, O Bahu,
and free yourself from the worries of life.

By: Great Sufi Master Sultan Bahu (r.a)

[From_Alamut]

Let sorrowful longing dwell in your heart,
never give up, never losing hope.
The Beloved says, "The broken ones are My darlings."
Crush your heart, be broken.

By: Great Sufi Master Abu Saeed Abil Kheir (r.a)

[From_Alamut]

Drink from this heart now,
for all this loving it contains.
When you look for it again,
it will be dancing in the wind.

By: Great Sufi Master Abu Saeed Abil Kheir (r.a)

[rvirani01]

God HAS planted in your heart the desire to search for Him. Do not look at your weaknesses but focus on the search. Every seeker is worthy of this search. Strive to redouble your efforts, so that your soul may escape from this material prison.

MASNAVI V:1733-5

THE SUNBEAM fell upon the wall;
The wall received a borrowed splendor,
Why set your heart on a piece of turf,
O simple one? Seek out the Source
Which shines for ever.


MASNAVI II:708-9

[From_Alamut]

Ah! my Beloved, fill the Cup that clears
To-day of past Regrets and future Fears
To-morrow?--Why, To-morrow I may be
Myself with Yesterday's Sev'n Thousand Years.

By: Great Sufi Master Omar Khayyam (r.a)

[From_Alamut]

Young lovers wisely say,


"Let's try it from this angle,

Maybe something marvelous will happen,


Maybe three suns and two moons

Will roll out

From a hiding place in the body

Our passion has yet to ignite."


Old lovers say,

"We can do it one more time,

How about from this longitude

And latitude -


Swinging from a rope tied to the ceiling,


Maybe a part of God

Is still hiding in a corner of your heart

Our devotion has yet to reveal."


Bottom line:


Do not stop playing

These beautiful

Love

Games.

By: Great Sufi Master Hafiz (r.a)

[From_Alamut]

The hidden worlds has its own clouds and rains, but in a different form.

Its skies and sunshine are of a different kind.

This is apparent only to a selected few who are the refined ones. Those who cannot be deceived by the seemingly completeness of the ordinary world.

By: Mowlana Jelaluddin Balkhi Rumi (r.a)

[kmaherali]

"On the Threshold"

O lovers, O lovers,
heaven's drum calls my spirit and says,
It's time to leave this world.

Look!
The camel driver has risen,
The caravan is about to leave.
He says, "Forgive me for waking you . . . .
But why, O pilgrim, are you asleep?
Before you and behind you
the camel-bells are ringing.
It's time to go.

With each passing moment
a soul sets off to find itself.
From the stars,
suspended like candles
from the blue vault of heaven,
wondrous souls have appeared
and the Unseen has revealed itself.

The revolving spheres have lulled you
into a deep sleep.
Beware of this floating life.
Beware of this weighty slumber.

O heart, seek the King of Hearts.
O friend, seek the Eternal Friend.

O watchman, be wakeful –
the whole city could be lost
if you fall asleep!

Tonight, amidst the shouts and din of the city,
Amidst the light of candles and torches –
Tonight this fecund world
will give birth to eternity.

You were dust and now you are spirit.
You were ignorant and now you are wise.
The one who brought you here
will bring you still further.
Your pain will become your pleasure
as He draws you near.
Don't be afraid –
His flames are like cooling water.
To give your soul life is His sacred duty,
To break your binding chains is His only mission.

O foolish puppet, popping up from your box,
You call out to the world,
This is mine!
How long will you jump up?
If you don't bend your neck
He will bend it for you!

You put others down
and spin a web of deception.
O imposter,
You think God is a plaything in your hand?

O donkey, you belong with the straw.
O cauldron, you deserve to be blackened!
O outcast,
you deserve to be at the bottom of a well!

"In me there's another force
that gives rise to these harsh words.
Scalding water
is caused by fire, not water."

I have no stone in my hand,
no argument with anyone.
I put down no one,
for I am as sweet as a bed of roses.

That Supreme Source speaks through me . . . .
It has given you a hint – that is enough.

Now let me sit here,
on the threshold of two worlds,
Lost in the eloquence of silence.

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

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"A Night for Departure"

O lovers, lovers, it is time
to set out from the world.
I hear a drum in my soul's ear
coming from the depths of the stars.

Our camel driver is a work;
the caravan is being readied.
He asks that we forgive him
for the disturbance he has caused us,
He asks why we travelers are asleep.

Everywhere the murmur of departure;
the stars, like candles
thrust at us from behind blue veils,
and as if to make the invisible more plain,
a wondrous people have come forth.

Beneath this water wheel of stars
your sleep has been heavy.
Observe that heaviness and beware...
for life is fragile and quick.

Heart, aim yourself at Love!
Friend, discover the Friend!
Watchman, wake up!
You're not here to sleep.

-- Version by Kabir Helminski
"Love is a Stranger"
Threshold Books, 1993

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lovers, lovers, it is time to migrate from the world; the drum
of departure is reaching my spirit's ear from heaven.
See, the driver has arisen, the camel train is arrayed, he has
begged us for quittance; caravaners, why are you asleep?
These sounds ahead and behind are the sounds of departure
and the camel-bells; every moment a soul and a breath is
setting off into placelessness.
From these inverted candles, from these indigo veils, there
issues a wondrous people that the things unseen may become
visible.
If heavy slumber fell upon you from this revolving sphere, alas
for this light life! Beware of this heavy slumber!
Heart, depart to the Sweetheart; friend, depart to the Friend;
watchman, be wakeful – a watchman should not sleep.
On every side are candles and torches, on every side noise
and tumult, for tonight the pregnant world gives birth to the eternal
world.
You were clay and became heart, you were ignorant and
became intelligent; he who has drawn you on so far will draw
you beyond [this world].
In drawing and drawing you his pains are delectable; his
flames are like water, do not frown thereon.
His business is to dwell in the soul, his business to break
penitence vows; by his abundant contrivance these motes are
trembling at heart.
Laughing stock, jumping out of your hole, as if to cry, "I am
the lord of the land," how long will you jump? Bend you neck,
or they will bent you like a bow.
You sowed the seeds of deceit, you indulged in mockery, you
deemed God nonexistent; now look, you cuckold!
Ass, you were apter for straw; a cauldron, you were better
black; you were better at the bottom of the well, you disgrace to
house and household!
In me there is Another from whom these angers leap; if water
scalds, it is through fire – realize this!
I have no stone in my hand; I have no quarrel with anyone; I
deal harshly with none, for I am gay as a rose bower.
My anger is therefore from that source; it is from the other
world; this side a world, that side a world – I am seated on the
threshold.
That man sits on the threshold who is mutely eloquent; you
have uttered this hint, that is enough; say no more, draw back
your tongue.

-- Translation by A. J. Arberry
Mystical Poems of Rumi 2
The University of Chicago Press, 1991

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[From_Alamut]

A raindrop, dripping from a cloud.

Ashamed when it saw the see.

‘Who am I where is a sea’, it said.

As it saw itself, from the eyes of humility

A shell embraced him and makes him a pearl.

By: Great Sufi Master Saadi (r.a)

[kmaherali]

Bring wine, oh Saki--may my head and turban
be Thy sacrifice!
Bring the spirit's cup from wherever it is
found!
Come drunk and strolling, goblet in hand--let it
not be lawful for Thee to be the Saki and us to be so sober!
Bring the cup, for my spirit in its desire has left
me--what place is this for patience and repose?
Bring the cup of Life, whose nature is the same
as Thine--for it is the friend of wounded hearts and the
confidant of the mysteries.
Were a drop of that wine to fall upon barren
ground, at once a rosegarden would blossom.
Were that ruby wine to bubble up at midnight,
its lights would fill the heavens and the earth.
Marvellous wine! Marvellous flagon! Marvellous
Saki, May spirits be strewn before them, strewn!
Come, for in my heart secrets are concealed--
pass around the ruby wine and leave not a single veil in
place!
When Thou hast made me drunk, then behold
how a lion-catcher enters the hunt!
Blesses God! What a moment!--when our
gathering is full of the cup's fragrance and the light of the
Beloved's Face!
A thousand drunkards place their spirits on
trays, like moths before the candle--"Take this, and bring
wine!"
The sweet-voiced minstrels and shouting
drunkards make the wine itself giddy in the Wine-seller's
veins!
Behold the state of the young men of the cave
who drank it: For three hundred nine years they slept ruined
and drunk in the cave!*
What wine did Moses pour upon the sorcerers?
Drunkenly they surrendered their hands and feet like selfless
men! (Qur'an VII 124)
What did the Egyptian women see in Joseph's
face that made them cut their beautiful arms to shreds?
What did the Holy Saki pour upon Saint
George's head so that all heartache left him and he had no
fear of the unbelievers?
They killed him a thousand times, yet he kept
on going: "I am drunk and unaware of 'one' or a 'thousand.'"*
The companions who went naked before arrows
were ruined and drunk because of Muhammad the chosen.
No wrong! For Muhammad was not the Saki--
he was a cup full of wine, and God was the Saki of the pious.
Which wine did the son of Adham drink so that
like a drunkard he became disgusted with his rule and
kingdom?*
Which intoxication gave the call, "Glory to
me!"?* Which spoke the mystery, "I am God," and went to
the gallows?
The fragrance of that wine made water bright
and pure--like a drunkard it goes toward the ocean making
constant prostrations.
Love for this wine made the earth full of colors,
its radiance lit up fire's sweet face.
If not for this wine, why did wind become an
intimate and a tale bearer, the animator of pastures and
gardens and a book of saying?
What joy these four elements derive from
mixing! Look how plants, animals, and men are their result!
What awareness-taking wine has this black
night? For one cup of it knocks out the creatures.
Which Gentleness and handiwork of the Maker
should I describe? The Sea of His Power has no shore!
Let us drink the wine of Love and carry Love's
burden, like a camel drunk in the midst of a caravan--
Not such a drunkenness that will make you
wish for intellect, but one that will awaken both intellect and
spirit.
The drunkards will vomit everything other than
God, for "other than God" is but headache and winesickness.
How is this pure wine related to the wine of
the grape? This is the water of Life, that other carrion.
For a while that wine makes you a pig, for a
while a monkey--in the end that red water makes you black
faced.
The heart is the vat of God's wine, so remove
its stopper: The ill-mannered natural temperament has stopped
it up with clay.
When you remove part of the clay from the top
of the vat, its fragrance and a thousand benefits rise up.
If I should try to number those benefits, I would
not be able to count them by the Last Day.
Since we are incapable, let us rest with the
Prophet's prayer: "I cannot count Thy blessings!" since it is
time to stop counting, lift the spirit's cup!
Enter into the gathering of Shams al-Din's
lovers! For the sun in heaven steals light from his sun.

-- Ghazal (Ode) 1135
Translation by William C. Chittick
"The Sufi Path of Love"
SUNY Press, Albany, 1983

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* The story of the "Companions of the Cave," or the Seven-
sleepers of Ephesus, Qur'an XVIII 9 ff.
* Jirjis is said to have been a prophet, although historically he
seems to be identical with saint George, who was put to death
in the year 303.
* Ibrahim Adham is one of the great saints of early Islam.
* "Glory be to me" is a famous "ecstatic utterance" of Bayazid, a
great Muslim saint.

[From_Alamut]

Do not speak of your heartache- for He is speaking

Do not seek him – for He is seeking

He feels even the touch of an Ant’s foot.

If a stone moves under water-He knows it.



If there is a worm in a rock.

He knows its body, smaller than an atom.

The sound of its praise and its hidden perceptions

He knows it by His divine knowledge

He has given the worm its sustenance

He has shown you the path of the teaching.

By: Great Sufi Master HAKIM SANAI (r.a)

[From_Alamut]

She has confused all the learned of Islam.

The one who has studies the Psalms.

Every Jewish Rabbi.

And every Christian Priest.


By: Great Sufi Master Ibn Arabi (r.a)

[rvirani01]

WHEN THE mirror of your heart becomes clear and pure,
You will behold images from beyond this realm of earth and water.
You will see both the images and the image-Maker,
Both the carpet of spiritual existence
And the carpet-Spreader.

MASNAVI II:72-3

SUFIS ARE a mirror for the soul - better than a mirror,
For they have polished their hearts in remembrance of God and meditation,
Until their heart's mirror reflects a true image of the Original.

MASNAVI I:3153-4

[From_Alamut]

In cell and cloister, in monastery and synagogue

Some fear Hell and others dream of Heaven

But no one knows that the Secrets of God

Who has planted seeds like these in his heart.

By:Great Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam (r.a)