Song of the Reed
translated by Coleman Barks
Listen to the Poem
Listen to the story told by the reed,
of being separated.
"Since I was cut from the reedbed,
I have made this crying sound.
Anyone apart from someone he loves
understands what I say.
Anyone pulled from a source
longs to go back.
At any gathering I am there,
mingling in the laughing and grieving,
a friend to each, but few
will hear the secrets hidden
within the notes. No ears for that.
Body flowing out of spirit,
spirit up from body: no concealing
that mixing. But it's not given us
to see the soul. The reed flute
is fire, not wind. Be that empty."
Hear the love fire tangled
in the reed notes, as bewilderment
melts into wine. The reed is a friend
to all who want the fabric torn
and drawn away. The reed is hurt
and salve combining. Intimacy
and longing for intimacy, one
song. A disastrous surrender
and a fine love, together. The one
who secretly hears this is senseless.
A tongue has one customer, the ear.
A sugarcane flute has such effect
because it was able to make sugar
in the reedbed. The sound it makes
is for everyone. Days full of wanting,
let them go by without worrying
that they do. Stay where you are
inside such a pure, hollow note.
Every thirst gets satisfied except
that of these fish, the mystics,
who swim a vast ocean of grace
still somehow longing for it!
No one lives in that without
being nourished every day.
But if someone doesn't want to hear
the song of the reed flute,
it's best to cut conversation
short, say good-bye, and leave. |
The Promise
translation from Rumi's Divan by Fatemeh Keshavarz
Listen to the Poem
When pain arrives side by side with your love
I promise not to flee
When you ask me for my life
I promise not to fight
I am holding a cup in my hand
By God if you do not come
Till the end of time
I promise not to pour out the wine
Nor to drink a sip
Your bright face is my day
Your dark curls bring the night
If you do not let me near you
I promise not go to sleep…nor rise
Your magnificence has made me a wonder
Your charm has taught me the way of love
I am the progeny of Abraham
I'll find my way through fire
Please, let me drink water from the jug
This love is not a short-lived fancy
It is the daily prayer, the year-after-year fast
I live it, like an act of worship, till the end of my life
But then, a tree
Blessed not with fruits of your bounty
Will be dry wood for fire
Even if it drinks the ocean
On the wings of the Friend, fly o my heart!
Fly and look upward
For high on the peak of presence
Earthlings like you will not be let in
Others praise God at the time of affliction
You stay awake day and night
Steady, watchful like the wheel of the firmament
Time to stop speaking of the Friend
Jealousy won't let me scatter the perfume to the wind |
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Like This
translation from Rumi's Divan by Fatemeh Keshavarz
Listen to the Poem
If anyone asks you about the huris, show your face, say: like this!
If anyone asks you about the moon, climb up on the roof, say: like this!
If anyone seeks a fairy, let them see your countenance,
If anyone talks about the aroma of musk, untie your hair [and] say: like this!
If anyone asks: "How do the clouds uncover the moon?" untie the front of
Your robe, knot by knot, say: like this!
If anyone asks: "How did Jesus raise the dead?" kiss me on the lips, say:
like this!
If anyone asks: What are those killed by love like?" direct him to me, say:
like this!
If anyone kindly asks you how tall I am, show him your arched eyebrows,
say: like this! |
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On God
translation from Discourses of Rumi by Fatemeh Keshavarz
Listen to the Poem
When His light shines — without a veil — neither the sky remains nor the earth, not the sun, nor the moon.
God embraces all…there is nothing that is not a part of him already.
Remember God! His remembrance is the strength in the wings of the bird that is your soul
The souls of all friends of God are connected with one another
You must seek anything that you wish to find
Not so with the Friend…
You begin to seek after you find him |
On The World
translation from Discourses of Rumi by Fatemeh Keshavarz
Listen to the Poem
The world is a mountain
Whatever you say, good or bad, it will echo it back to you
Don't say I sang nicely and mountain echoed an ugly voice…
That is not possible
The human intellect is a place where hesitation and uncertainty take root
There is no way to overcome this hesitation…except by falling in love
To reach the sea and be happy with a jug water is a waste
The sea that has pearls…
And a hundred thousand other precious things. |
On Love
translation from Discourses of Rumi by Fatemeh Keshavarz
Listen to the Poem
Wherever you are, whatever you do, be in love… |
On Language
translation from Rumi's Masnavi by Fatemeh Keshavarz
Listen to the Poem
To speak the same language is to share the same blood, to be related
To live with strangers is the life of captivity
Many are Hindus and Turks who share the same language
Many are Turks who may be alien to one another
The language of companionship is a unique one
To reach someone through the heart is other than reaching them
through words.
Besides words, allusions and arguments
The heart knows a hundred thousand ways to speak |
A Great Wagon
Listen to the Poem
When I see your face, the stones start spinning!
You appear; all studying wanders.
I lose my place.
Water turns pearly.
Fire dies down and doesn't destroy.
In your presence I don't want what I thought
I wanted, those three little hanging lamps.
Inside your face the ancient manuscripts
Seem like rusty mirrors.
You breathe; new shapes appear,
and the music of a desire as widespread
as Spring begins to move
like a great wagon.
Drive slowly.
Some of us walking alongside
are lame!
~
Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don't open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
~
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I'll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other
doesn't make any sense.
~
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don't go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don't go back to sleep.
I would love to kiss you.
The price of kissing is your life.
Now my loving is running toward my life shouting,
What a bargain, let's buy it.
~
Daylight, full of small dancing particles
and the one great turning, our souls
are dancing with you, without feet, they dance.
Can you see them when I whisper in your ear?
~
They try to say what you are, spiritual or sexual?
They wonder about Solomon and all his wives.
In the body of the world, they say, there is a soul
and you are that.
But we have ways within each other
that will never be said by anyone.
~
Come to the orchard in Spring.
There is light and wine, and sweethearts
in the pomegranate flowers.
If you do not come, these do not matter.
If you do come, these do not matter. |
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