JALALU-DDIN AL-RUMI
Knock, and he'll open the door.
Vanish, and he'll make you shine like the sun.
Fall, and he'll raise you to the heavens.
Become nothing, and he'll turn you into everything.
* * * * *
From myself, I am copper,
Through you, friend, I am gold;
From myself I am a stone,
But through you I am a gem.
* * * * *
Don't treat me as a stranger
I am your neighbor.
My house is close to yours.
I may look different, by my heart is good.
My inside is shining even if my sayings are obscure.
* * * * *
There is a Soul inside your Soul.
Search that Soul.
There is a jewel in the mountain of body.
Look for the mine of that jewel.
Oh, Sufi, passing by,
Search inside if you can, not outside.
* * * * *
Oh reason, go away.
There is no wise one here.
Even if you become a small hair.
There is no place for you.
It is morning now.
Whatever candle you
burn Would be shamed in front of sunshine.
* * * * *
Love asked me last night, with pity,
"How could you live without Me?"
"I swear," I said,
"I am like a fish out of water."
"It is your fault," he answered.
"You are the one fleeing from Me.
* * * * *
Last night I asked an old wise man
To tell me all the secrets of the universe.
He murmured slowly in my ear,
"This cannot be told, but only learned."
* * * * *
I am a soul who has had
A hundred thousand bodies.
But I can't talk about it.
What can I do?
I am tongue-tied.
I have seen thousands
Of people who were all me.
But from them I haven't found
Any like me.
* * * * *
At the dawn of Eternal Love
Souls fly out of bodies
And man reaches the stage of perception
Where with every breath
He can see and touch
Without eyes and without hands.
* * * * *
How long am I going to tell
The color and smell of time?
It must be time to see that Beauty.
When I look at Him I see myself,
And when I look at myself, I see Him.
* * * * *
Come again, please, come again,
Whover you are.
Religious, infidel, heretic or pagan.
Even if you promised a hundred times
And a hundred times you broke your promise,
This door is not the door
Of hopelessness and frustration.
This door is open for everybody.
Come, come as you are
* * * * *
I am a river.
You are my sun.
You are the medicine
Of my broken heart.
I fly behind You, windless.
I am a needle.
You are my magnet.
* * * * *
I picked the rose in a hurry.
I was afraid of the Gardener.
Then I heard the soft voice of Him,
"What's the value of one rose?
I give you the whole garden."
* * * * *
I cannot sleep when I am with you
Because of your love.
I cannot sleep without you
Because of my screaming and yelling.
I am awake on both night,
But what a difference in between.
* * * * *
You are the water.
We are the plants.
You are teh King.
We are the poor.
You are the one who talks.
We are the echoes.
You are the one searching.
Why don't you come to all of us once?
* * * * *
"I'll fly like a pigeon from your hand."
"If you fly, you deserve to be
Chained with my grief," he answered.
I said, "I am tired and weak,
Dying from your love."
"Death would be an honor for you," he said,
"If you die with My love."
* * * * *
I see an eye in every fortune,
And a fortune sits in every eye.
Oh, cross-eyed one,
If you see two in one,
I only see one in two.