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Ghazal 1400
I will run quickly, quickly, to reach the riders; I
will
become nonexistent, nothing, to reach the Beloved.
I have become joyful, joyful – I am a spark of
fire. I will burn my house and travel to the Desert.
I will become dust, dirt, so that Thou canst make
me verdant. I will become water and prostrate myself all
the way to the Rosegarden.
Fallen from the heavens, I waver like a dustmote –
I will attain security and stop my trembling when I reach
the Goal.
The spheres are a place of honor, the earth a place
of destruction – I will escape from these two dangers
when I reach the Sultan.
This world of earth and air is the substance of
unbelief and annihilation – I have entered the heart of
unbelief
in order to reach faith.
That balanced and harmonious King of the world
seeks a balanced lover – my face is as yellow as gold coin
so that I may be placed in His Balance.
God’s Mercy is water – it moves only towards low
ground. …I will become dust and Mercy’s object in
order to
reach the All-Merciful.
No physician gives pills and medicine without an
illness – I will become totally pain so that I may reach the
Remedy.
"The Sufi Path of Love- The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi,"
William C. Chittick, State University of New York Press, Albany, 1983
Running and leaping nonstop
till i catch up
with the fastest rider
annihilating forever
vanishing for good
till i reach the soul of the world
very happy i've become
ever since i changed
to a piece of fire
and with this fire
i'll burn my house and
dwell in the desert
i'll soften and humble
i'll change to earth
till i grow your flowers in me
i'll crawl and flow
i'll change myself to water
till i can reach your paradise garden
without pain no healer
will tend me
or give me potions
i'll change to
total pain
till i get total healing
ever since i was born
i was thrown into this world
helpless and shivering
like a speck of dust in the air
but as soon as i reach
the end of this journey
and settle down
i'll be secured and tranquil forever
"RUMI, Fountain of Fire",
Poetic translation by Nader Khalili
Burning Gate Press, Los Angeles, 1994.
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