Some Modern Wisdoms...

There Is No Mean To It

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You may be tired by ten cycles of prayer;
I may not be worn out by five hundred.

One goes barefoot all the way to the Ka`bah,
and another is totally exhausted
just going as far as the mosque.

One in utter self-devotion gives away his life,
while another agonizes over the gift of a loaf.

This middle way belongs to the realm of the finite,
for that finite has a beginning and an end.
A beginning and end are necessary
to conceive of the middle point.

As the Infinite doesn't have limits,
how can you apply a mean to it?

Mathnawi II: 3537-3542
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Daylight", Threshold Books, 1994

Salam Aidil Fitri

M Nasir

Salam Dunia

Suara tangis yang kau dengar
Memecah hari kudus ini
Adalah aku
Mengenang pemilikmu

Kita pohon kemenangan
Meroboh kota keakuan
Ini saatnya
Yang kunanti-nanti

Mereka yang dilanda derita
Redhalah harimu kan tiba
Cahaya kekasih yang benar
Menghapus segala api kemarahan

Salam dunia
Salam semua
Salam Hari Raya
Bersinar akhirnya
Salam dunia
Salam semua
Salam Hari Raya
Bersinar akhirnya

Inilah hari kita
Tiada lagi rasa ketakutan

Inilah hari kita oh...

THE GLITTER OF THIS FANTASY

Now comes the final merging,

Now comes everlasting beauty.

Now comes abundant grace,

Now comes boundless purity.

The infinite treasure is shining,

The mighty ocean is roaring,

The morning of grace has come -

Morning? - No!

This is the eternal Light of God!

Who occupies this beautiful form?

Who is the ruler and the prince?

Who is the wise man? -

Nothing but a veil.

The wine of love removes these veils.

Drink with your head and your eyes -

Both your eyes,

and both your heads!

Your head of clay is from the earth,

Your pure awareness is from heaven.

O how vast is that treasure

which lies beneath the clay!

Every head you see depends on it!

Behind every atom of this world

hides an infinite universe.

O Saaqi, free us from the facade of this world.

Bring wine - barrels full!

Our eyes see too straight -

straight past the truth!

The Light of Truth shines from Tabriz.

It is beyond the beyond

yet it is here,

shining through every particle of this world.

Ghazal (Ode) 464, Version by Jonathan Star
"Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved "
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York 1997
 

Hush! Say No More!

Is this the Face of God?.....

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I am the slave of that perfect Moon!

Don't talk to me of suffering, I don't want to hear.

Talk about light, joy and sweetness

and if you can't, keep silent!

Last night Love found me shouting, mad

and beyond myself, and said:

"I am here, why are you so worried and afraid?"

O Love, I am overwhelmed with fear.

"Be silent, let me whisper a secret in your ear,

just nod your head and don't say a word."

Oh how delicate, how subtle is the path of love!

This most precious Moon-like beauty appeared to me!

My heart, is this the Moon or my imagination?

"Be silent, it is not for you to understand

don't you see, you have been blessed."

But what is this, the face of an angel or a man?

"Be silent, what you see is beyond angels or men."

But what is it, tell me, or I will go out of my mind.

"Do not torment yourself, leave this house of illusions

and say no more."

"O please", I begged, "tell me, is this the face of God"

My heart nodded silently.

Translated by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi

"Rumi: Hidden Music", HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2001

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i'm loyal

to the image and beauty

of my beloved

please speak of that image only

and say no more

whenever you're with me

speak only about

the generosity of candles

the generosity of the sugarcane

and say no more

don't speak of any suffering

show me the treasure that waits

at the end of the road

if you're ignorant of the path

then say no more

last night i was in flame

my beloved saw me and said

"i'm here at last

don't tear your clothes

lament no more"

i begged my beloved

to understand my condition

to sense my fear

my love said "when i'm present

you must seek no more

i'll whisper the words

of secrets into your ear

and you must promise not to answer

just nod your head

and say no more

the face of a sweetheart

has penetrated your heart

the tenderness is all there is

your journey is the journey of love

sense it to the depth and say no more"

i asked if the face

belongs to a human

or that of an angel

"neither this nor that

sense it but say no more"

i said if you don't

identify this for me at once

my life will be shattered

"be shattered at once

but say no more

you're dwelling in

a house filled with

images and dreams

pack all your belongings

move out but say no more"

you're simply expressing

the experience of God

i said to the beloved

"yes this is the answer

but for God's sake say no more"

Translation by Nader Khalili
"Rumi -- Fountain of Fire", Cal-Earth Press, 1994

(credit : http://islamiyya.xtgem.com)

I serve that orb in heaven

say no word but Orb!

speak to me of nothing

but sweetness and light

Not of bother, but of treasure

and if you cannot find the words

don't bother.

Yesterday a craze came over me

Love saw, came up to me:

Here I am,

don't shout,

don't rip off your shirt,

hush, shh!

I spoke:

Love, I'm scared of that other thing

There is no other thing, say nothing!

I will whisper secrets in your ear

you just nod in asseveration

speak in semaphore

A nova, a celestial love

burst bright above the heartpath

so exquisite the quest of heart,

it cannot be expressed

I asked:

Heart, what orb is this?

heart intimated

beyond fathom

be quiet, forget!

Is this the face of man or angel?

Beyond men and angels

hush!

What is it? Tell me, I'm in a whirl

Whirl on, keep quiet!

You sit within this room

whose walls reflect

mere forms and suppositions

Get up, go out, move on,

keep quiet!

I said:

Heart, befather me,

for doesn't this match God's description?

Yes, my son, it does,

but do not tell.

Translation by Franklin D. Lewis
"Rumi -- Past and Present, East and West"
Oneworld Publications, Oxford, 2000

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