When That Happens....

Out in Empty Sky

 
If you catch a fragrance of the unseen,
like that, you won't be able to be

contained. You'll be out in empty sky.
Any beauty the world has, any desire,

will easily be yours. As you live
deeper in the heart, the mirror gets
clearer and cleaner. Shams of Tabriz
realized God in himself. When that

happens, you have no anxieties about
losing anyone or anything. You break

the spells that human difficulties cause.
Interpretations come, hundreds, from

all the religious symbols and parables
and prayers. You know what they mean,

when God lives through you like Shams.

  Ghazal (Ode) 2931
Version by Coleman Barks, with Nevit Ergin
"The Glance"
Viking-Penguin, 1999

Each Sleepless Night

 

I cannot sleep in your presence.

In your absence, tears prevent me.

You watch me My Beloved

on each sleepless night and

only You can see the difference.

Translation by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Hidden Music
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2001

 

When I am with you, we stay up all night.

When you're not here, I can't go to sleep.

Praise God for these two insomnias!

And the difference between them.

  Version by Coleman Barks
Open Secret
Threshold Books, 1984
 

 

 

as long as I'm with you

I can't sleep

having you

as long as you are away

I can't sleep

crying for you

dear God

I'm sleepless

both nights

but look at the

difference in the

two insomnias

 
Translation by Nader Khalili
Rumi, Dancing the Flame
Cal-Earth Press, 2001

To put my finger on it, I cannot....

Kiss me on the lips..
LIKE THIS !!!... LIKE THIS !!!

Secrets bursting inside me

I can't let you know

all the secrets

I can't open to you

all the doors

there is something inside

that makes me happy

but I can't put my finger

on its source

Translation by Nader Khalili

"Rumi, Dancing the Flame"

Cal-Earth Press, 2001 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The secrets are bursting inside me

but to give them away and

expose them to mockery, I cannot.

Something inside me is bursting with joy

but to put my finger on it, I cannot.

Translation by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi

"Rumi: Hidden Music"

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2001

• The Secret

• In Silence The Secrets Speak... 

• Hush! Say No More!