Ask the Way to the Spring

(Credit : DEVIANTART)

"When you do things from your soul,
you feel a river moving in you, a joy.

When actions come from another section,
the feeling disappears.

Don't let others lead you. They may be blind,
or worse, vultures. Reach for the rope
of God. And what is that?

Putting aside self-will.

Because of willfulness people sit in jail.
From willfulness, the trapped birds' wings are tied.
From willfulness, the fish sizzles in the skillet.

The anger of police is willfulness. You've seen
a magistrate inflict visible punishment.
Now see the invisible.

If you could leave selfishness, you would see
how your soul has been tortured.

We are born and live inside black water in a well.
How could we know what an open field of sunlight is?

Don't insist on going where you think you want to go.
Ask the way to the Spring.

Your living pieces will form a harmony.

There is a moving palace that floats through the air,
with balconies and clear water running in every part of it,
infinity everywhere, yet contained under a single tent.

  Mathnawi, VI, 3487-3510
Version by Coleman Barks
"We Are Three,"
Maypop, 1987

Heart and Mind..

if you dwell very long
in a heart depressed and dark
be aware you've fallen low
in will and quest
a heart filled with grief
whirling and spinning endlessly
can never feel at peace
what makes you
tremble in fear
that's your true worth now
whatever seems to be
your healing source
is the cause of your pain
whatever you think
is sure secure and forever
is what has hunted you down
whenever your mind flies
it can only land
in the house of madness
whenever love arrives
there is no more space
for your self claim
a heart filled with love
is like a phoenix
that no cage can imprison
such a bird can only fly
above and beyond
any known universe

   

Translated by Nader Khalili
"Rumi, Fountain of Fire"
Burning Gate Press, Los Angeles, 1994

Don't be surprised

 Here in KONYA...

When I die, lay out the corpse.
You may want to kiss my lips,
just beginning to decay. Don't be frightened
if I open my eyes.

  Version by Coleman Barks
Open Secret
Threshold Books, 1984

 when i die
hand me over
to my sweetheart
one kiss
on my dead lips
don't be surprised
if I come alive

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

When I die,
lay my copse to rest,
but do not be at all surprised
If His kiss on my tattered lips
brings me back to life.

  Translation by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 1999

 
If I die, lay me next to the Beloved.

If He looks at me, don't be surprised.
If He kisses me on the lips, don't be surprised.
If I open my eyes and smile, don't be surprised.

  Version by Jonathan Star
"A Garden Beyond Paradise:
The Mystical Poetry of Rumi"
Bantam Books, 1992