l.

o f e
Po e nl
O F

l3unl i

Born

Jaial ad-Din

Mohammad

Balkhi in Persia early in the thirteenth century. the poet known as Rumi (named after the ciry where

he lived) composed works of mysti-

cism and desire that inspired countless people ih his own time -and throughout the centuries. His poems expressed the deepest longings of the human'heart for its beloved,for that transcendentintimacy which is the source of the divine. This slender. beautiful volume

t
H

considtsofnew

translatio,ns by Farsi

scholar Fereydoun Kia, edited by Deepak Chopra to evoke the rich mood and nrusic of Rumi's love poems. Exalted yearning, ravishing ecstasy, and consuming desireemerge from these poelns as powerfully

today as they did on rheir creation more than 70U years.ago,

L9.99

H CONTENTS H
Acknowle ilgments- D eep ak C hopra Acknowle dgffi ents- F ercy doun Ki a Introduction The Agony and Ecstasyof Divine Discontent: The Moods of Rumi The Agony of Lovers The Alchemy of Love Aroused Passion The Awakening Behind the Scenes My Beloved Bittersweet My Burning Heart Caught in the Fire of Love Come to Me Defeated by Love Desire Do You Love Me? Dying to Love The Hunt I Am and I Am Not

7 9 tl 15 l7 18 20 2l 23 24 25 28 30 3l 33 34 35 37 39 40

I Am Yours Intoxicated by Love Looking for Love Looking for Your Face Lost in the Wilderness The Lover's Passion The Meaning of Love The Mythical Lover Precious Love Surrender The Privileged Lovers Excerpts fuom Birdsong: "Love is the waY messengers" "A lightwind coming downhill" "People want you to be haPPY" "In your light I learn how to love" Reading Recommended

42 43 44 45 48 49 50 51 53
55

56

59 60 61 62 63

of The Agonl and Flcstas.f D i o i n eD i s c o n t e n t : The Moods of Rumi

.El . In th. orchard and rose garden I long to seeyour face. In the taste of Sweetness I long to kiss your lips. In the shadowsof passion I long for your love.

Oh! S.rpr"me Lover! Let me leave asidemy worries. The flowers are blooming with the exultation of your Spirit.

By Allah!
the prison of mY ego I long to escape and lose mYself in the mountains and the desert'

l5

These sedand lonely people tire me' I long to revel'in the dtunken frenzy of your love and feel the strengthof Rustam in my hands'

I'm sick-of mortal kings' I long.to see Your light. With lamPs in hand the sheikhs and mullahs roam the dark alleYsof these towns not finding what theY seek.

Yoo "r. the Essenceof the Essence, The intoxication of Love. I long to sing Your Praises but stand mute with the agony of wishing in my heart'

r6

The Agonrf of l,ooers

tFE'

Th. "gor,y of lovers burns wirh the fire of passion. Lovers leave traces of where they,ve been. The wailing of broken hearrs is the doorway to God.

t7

You bewilder us with your grace. All evils transform into goodness.

Yor, "r" rhe master alchemist.

You hght the fire of love in earth and sky in heart and soul of every being.

Through your loving existenceand nonexistencemerge. All opposites unire. All that is profane becomessacredagain.

T h e A tl a ke n i n g .t[.
r In the early dawn of happiness you gave me three kisses so that I would wake up to this moment of love
Y

I tried ro remember in my heart what I'd dreamt about during the night before I became aware of this morning of life r I found my dreams but the moon took me away. It lifted me up ro rhe firmamenr and suspended me there. I saw how my heart had fallen on your path singing a song

2l

B"r*""r,

my love and my heart

things were happening which slowly, slowlY made me recall everYthing

Yoo .roor" me with your touch although I can't seeyour hands. You have kissed me with tenderness although I haven't seen your liPs. You are hidden from me

But it is you who keepsme alive

P.rh"pt the time will come when you will tire of kisses. I shall be happy even for insults from You. I only ask that you keep some attention on me

2Z

B e h i n dt h e S c e n e s
oFEr r

ls it your face that adorns this garden? ls it your fragrance that intoxicates this garden? Is it your spirit that has made this brook a river of wine?

Hundreds have looked for you . and died searching in rhis garden where you hide behind rhe scenes.

Dut this pain is not for rhose who come as lovers. You are easy to 6nd here. You are in the breeze and in this river of wine.

T't

23

BitterstJe et
tFBo

r In my hallucination saw my Beloved's flower garden

T ln

my vertigo

'

In my dizziness

In my drunken haze whirling and dancing like a spinning wheel I saw myself as the sourceof existence

f *", th.r. in the beginning and I was the spirit of love

No*

I am sober

There is only the hangover and the memory of love And only the sorrow

25

I y."ttt for haPPiness I ask for helP I want mercy At d mY love saYs Look at me and hear me that becauseI'm here just for I "* yoot moon and Your moonlight too I am Your flower garden and Your water too I h".t. come all this waY ' eager for You without shoesor shawl I *"tt, You to laugh to kilt all Your worries to love You to nourish You

26

Oh S*"n Eimerness!
I will soothe you and heal you I will bring you roses I too have been covered with thorns

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27

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M1 Burniag Heart
.!X. My heatt is burning with love All can see this ftame My heart is Pulsing with Passion like wa\fs on en oceen My fti"nds have become strangers and ['m surrounded bY enemies But ['n free as the wind no longer hurt by thosc who reproach me I'* ", home wherever I am

aad in the roorn of lovers I can see with closcd eYes . the beautY that dances Behind the veils intoxicated with love I too dance the rhYthm of this moving world

2E

I have lost my senses in my world of lovers

Caught in the F'ire of l,o$e

tU.

My heart is on fire! ln my madness I roam the desert The flames of my passion devour the wind and the sky

My cries of longing
My wails of sorrow are tormenting my soul

You wair
patienrly looking into my intoxicated eyes You accept my passion with the serenity of love You are the master of existence

One d"y I shallbe

a Lover like you

30

Cometo Me
'EE'
T

I'm your lover Come to my side I will open the gate to your love Co*. settle with me

Let us be neighbors to the stars Yo., ha*rebeen hiding so long aimlessly drifting in the sea of my love
I

Err"r,,o
you have'alwaysbeen connected to me Concealed, revealed in the known in the unmanifest
l

ji;
iti
ri
i.

ii

I am Life itself
\,2

Iou have been a prisoner of a little pond I am the ocean and its turbulent flood Come merge with me

leave this world of ignorance

e with me I will open the gate to your love

32

Defeated b1 l,ooe
.U. The sty waslit
by the splendor of the moon So powerful I fell to the ground

Yoor looe hasmademe sure 'I

"* readyto forsake this worldly life and surrender to the magnificence of your Being

33

Desire
.lE.
T

I desire you . more thanrfood or drink

My body
my senses mv mind hunger for your taste
Y

I can senseyour presence in my heart although you belong to all the world I *ait with'silent passion for one gesture one glance from you

Do tou l,orle Me?

.U.
A lorr", asked his beloved, Do you love yourself more than you love me? Th. b"lo.r"d replied, I have died to myself and I live for vou.
T

I've disappearedfrom myself and my attribures. I am present only for you. r I have forgotten all my learnings, but from knowing you I have become a scholar. I have lost all my strength, but from your power I am able.
Y

35

Dting to l,oie
.8.

Di"! pi"t
Die in this love! lf you die in this love your soul will be renewed

Di"t pi.t
Dont fear the death of that which is known lf you die to the temporal you will become timeless

Di"t pi"t
Cut off those chains that holdyou prisoner to the world of attachment

Di"t pi.t
Die to the deathless and you will be eternal

37

Di"t oi"t
and come out of this cloud 'When you leave the cloud you will be the effulgent moon

Di.! pi.r
Die to the din and the noise of mundane concerns In the silence of love you will find the spark of life

The Hunt
.S. Th. Lorr., comes, the Lover comes! Open the way for Him!

He's looking for a heart, let's show Him one.

L"r."*,
"What you cameto hunt is me!"

H" ,"yr laughingly, "I'm herenot to hunt you but to save you."

39

IAm and I Am Not

.Eil. f'm drenched in the flood which hasyet to come

I'm tied up in the prison which has yet to exist

Not having played the game of chess I'm alreadythe checkmate

Not having tasted a single cup of your wine I'm already drunk

40

' tNri-h*vi*geateffi
the battlefield
--:--:.i,: : . :

.'

I'm already wounded and slain

T

I no longer know rhe difference b9!3v.een imegq and rea-li.ty ,.

Lrt. the shadow

" lam 'and I am not

4l

I Am lours
.lX . B.""or. the idol is your face, I have become an idolater. Becausethe wine is from your cup, I have become a drunkard. ln the existence of your love, I have become nonexistent. This nonexistence linked to you is better than all existence.

42

Intoxicatedb.| l.oroe
.ES. B.""or. of your love I havelosr my sobriety
I am intoxicated by the madnessof love In this fog I have become a stranger to myself I'm so drunk I've lost the way to my house In the garden I see only your face From trees and blossoms I inhale only your fragrance Drunk with the ecsrasy of love I can no longer tell the difference between drunkard and drink Between Lover and Beloved

,l,ooking for tr.o{e

.U. A strange passion is movingin my head.
My heart has become a bird whieh searchesin the sky. Every part of me goes in different directions. ls it really so that the one I love is everywhere?

and wish to see you with a hundred eves

My heart has burned with passion and has searchedforever for this wondrous beauty that I now behold

I am ashamed to call this love human and afraid of God to call it divine

v Iour fragrant breath

like the morning breeze has come to the stillness of the garden You have breathed new life into me [ -havebecome your sunshine and also your shadow

46

l,ost in the $ilderness .En.

Oh lovers! Where are you going? Who are you looking for? Your Beloved is right here. Sh" h.,", in your own neighborhood. Her face is veiled. She hides behind screens calling for you while you search and lose yourself in the wilderness and the desert. C""r" looking for flowers!

There blooms a garden in your own home. While you look for trinkets the treasure house awaits you in your own being.

Th"r. is no needfor suffering.

God is here.

The.l,o{er's Passion
rltr r

A lo.r". knows only humility H" h"t no choice H" ,te"l, into your alley at night H" n.t no choice H" torrg, to kiss every lock of your hair Don't fret

H" n"t no choice In his frerrziedlove for you he longs to break the chainsof his imPrisonment H. n"t no choice

49

The Mean:n-,of l-o.W

.,t*tr

B"th light and shadow

are the danee of Love. Love has no caus; it is the astrolabe of Godls secrets. Lover and Loving are inseparable and timeless.

Although I mey try ro describe Love when I experience it I am speechless. Although I may try ro write about Love I am renderedhelpless; my pen breaks and the paper slips away at rhe ineffable place where Lover, Loving and Loved are one.

E,rrry momenr is made glorious by the light of Love.

50

The Mlthical l,orter

ril.

My love for you hasdriven me insane

f wandcr aimlessly the ruins of my life" my old self a strangerto me B""",rr" of your love
I have broken with my past
l r

IVIy longing for you keeps me in this moment My passron gives me courage
T
l I

I look for you in my innermost being

.,l'i

5l

read I u'"d to of love the mYths becorne Now t have lover the mYthical

52

I offr, my saluations to the spirit of passion that arousedand excited this universe and all it contains

I h"r,. fallen unable to rise What kind of trap is this? What chains have tied mv hands and feet?

It is so strange and so wonderful this loving helplessness of rnine

Be silent
do not reveal the secret of my precious love

54

Surrender
fn lo.r", norhing is eternal but drinking your wine, There is no reason for bringing my life ro you, other than losing it. I said, "tr just want to know you and then disappear.,, "Knowing She said, me does not mean dying.,,

The Prirlileged l.orlers

.EB. Th" -ron hasbecomea dancer
at this festival of love. Thir dance of light, This sacredblessing, This divine love, beckons us to a world beyond only lovers can see with their eyes of fiery passion. Tn.y are the chosen ones who have surrendered. Once they were particles of light now they are the radiant sun. They heve left behind the world of deceitful games. They are the privileged lovers who create a new world with their eyesof fiery passion.

56

for The ,Love poews oJ Rumi was Bjrd_ sotg: Fifty-three Shsrt poems, translated by Coleman Barks, a book that I highly recommend. There were tour poems in particular which I savored in memory, and I reprint them in the following pageswith grateful acknowledgment to Maypop publishers and Coleman

I!f,y inspilxion

.ll. A tgnt*irrd coming downhill, the nightbird's song.

Th" ,rr"og. writing I read on my lover's door

saysthe santemessage now being called out over the rooftops.

P"ople went You to be haPPY' Don't keeP serving them Your Pain!

I f yoo could untie Your wings and free your soul ofjealousY'

you and everyone around You would flY oP like doves'

.lI

to love' I n yoo, light I learn how make Poens' ln your beautY, how to

You dan"" inside mY chest' where no one seesYou'

that but sometimes I do' and sight becomes this art'

H RECOMMENDED READING H
Birilsong:FiJty-threeShort poems, rranslated by Coleman Barks.Athens, Ga.: Maypop, 1993. Crazy as We Are: SelectedRubais from Diuan-i Kebir,by Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi, introduction and transla_ tion by Dr. Nevit O. Ergin. prescot, Ariz.: Hohm Press, 1992. The Essential Rumi: Tianslationsby Coleman Barl<s with John Moyne,A.J.Arberry,Reynold Nicholson. New york: HarperCollins,1995. Feeling the Shoulderof the Lion: poetry anil TbachingStoriesof Rumi, translatedby Coleman Barks. Brattleboro, Vt.: ThresholdBooks, 1991. Loue ls a Stranger:SelectedLyric poetry of Jelatuddin Rumi, translatedby Kabir Edmund Helminski. Brattleboro, Vt.: ThresholdBooks,-1993. Rutni: In the Arms of the Beloved, translations by Jonathan Star. New York: Jeremy p. Tarcher/putnam, 1997. SayI AmYou: PoetryInterspersed with Stories of Rumi and Shams, translaredby John Moyne and Coleman Barks. Athens, Ga.: Maypop, 1994. The Way oJ Passion: A Celebrationof Rumi, by Andrew Harvey.Berkeley,Calif.: Frog, Ltd., 1994.