How do you know you exist?

The Way of every Seeker

Gnats inside the wind

Some gnats came from the grass to speak with Solomon.

"O Solomon, you are the champion of the oppressed.
You give justice to the little guys, and they don't get
any littler than us! We are tiny metaphors
for frailty. Can you defend us?"

"Who has mistreated you?"

"Our complaint is against the wind."

"Well," says Solomon, "you have pretty voices,
you gnats, but remember, a judge cannot listen
to just one side. I must hear both litigants."

"Of course," agree the gnats.

"Summon the East Wind!" calls out Solomon,
and the wind arrives almost immediately.

What happened to the gnat plaintiffs? Gone.

Such is the way of every seeker who comes to complain
at the High Court. When the presence of God arrives,
where are the seekers? First there's dying,
then union, like gnats inside the wind.

  Mathnawi III: 4624 - 59
Poetic version by Coleman Barks
"The Essential Rumi"
HarperSanFrancisco, 1995

Speak Silently

Hidden from all eyes and ears
let us tell each other of our soul.
Smile like a rose with no lips
and keep silent like a thought.
Let us speak silently the secret like Spirit
and avoid talkers who use words in vain.
Let us join our hands
listen to every flutter of our heart
let us become one in silence.
Divine destiny knows our fate to the last detail
let our story be told in a silent way.

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

come let's speak
of our souls
let's even hide from
our ears and eyes

like a rose garden
always keep a smile
like imagination
talk without a sound

like the spirit
reigning the world
telling the secrets
uttering no word

let's get away from
all the clever humans
who put words in our mouth
let's only say what our hearts desire

even our hands and feet
sense every inner move
let's keep silence
but make our hearts move

the mystery of destiny
knows the life of
speck after speck of dust
let's tell our story as a particle of dust

Translation by Nader Khalili
"Rumi, Fountain of Fire"
Cal-Earth Press, 1995

A Small Market Between Towns

There's a town where the soul is fed, where love hears
truth and thrives, and

another town that produces lies that degrade and starve
love. Your voice is

a small market set up between the two towns. Goods arrive
from both directions, flimsy,

fake items and honestly made, wholehearted tools and wares.
Some travelers immediately know

which is which. Some voices open a shop and spend sixty
years chearting customers,

gossiping when they leave, and flattering women to get their
attention. Others weary

of the marketplace altogether and rarely go there.

Mathnawi VI, 4276, 4281-82, 4298-4300
Version by Coleman Barks
"The Soul of Rumi"
HarperCollins, 2001