Rumi on Radiance & Love

Discussion in 'Poetry' started by Trevathan, Oct 20, 2007.

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  1. Trevathan

    Trevathan New Member

    If ten lamps are in one place,
    each differs in form from another;
    yet you can't distinguish whose radiance is whose
    when you focus on the light.

    In the field of spirit there is no division;
    no individuals exist.
    Sweet is the oneness of the Friend with His friends.
    Catch hold of spirit.
    Help this headstrong self disintegrate;
    that beneath it you may discover unity,
    like a buried treasure.

    From: A Daybook of Spiritual Guidance
    365 Selections from Rumi's Mathnawi
    Translated by Camille and Kabir Helminski




    LOOK AT LOVE
    how it tangles
    with the one fallen in love

    look at spirit
    how it fuses with earth
    giving it new life

    why are you so busy
    with this or that or good or bad
    pay attention to how things blend

    why talk about all
    the known and the unknown
    see how unknown merges into the known

    why think separately
    of this life and the next
    when one is born from the last

    look at your heart and tongue
    one feels but deaf and dumb
    the other speaks in words and signs

    look at water and fire
    earth and wind
    enemies and friends all at once

    the wolf and the lamb
    the lion and the deer
    far away yet together

    look at the unity of this
    spring and winter
    manifested in the equinox

    you too must mingle my friends
    since the earth and the sky
    are mingled just for you and me

    be like sugarcane
    sweet yet silent
    don't get mixed up with bitter words

    my beloved grows
    right out of my own heart
    how much more union can there be

    Rumi
    ghazal number 2381,
    translated March 9, 1992
    by Nader Khalili.




    Consider also Sanai:


    listen truly -- and don't be fooled --
    this is not for fools:
    all these different shades
    become one color
    in the jar of unity.
     

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