[CM786]

Let Go of Your Worries Let go of your worries and be completely clear-hearted, like the face of a mirror that contains no images.
If you want a clear mirror, behold yourself and see the shameless truth, which the mirror reflects.
If metal can be polished to a mirror-like finish, what polishing might the mirror of the heart require?
Between the mirror and the heart is this single difference: the heart conceals secrets, while the mirror does not.
- Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi
[The Divani Shamsi Tabriz, XIII]

[CM786]

What was said to the rose that made it open
was said to me here in my chest.
What was told the Cypress that made it strong
and straight, what was
whispered the jasmine so it is what it is, whatever made
sugarcane sweet, whatever
was said to the inhabitants of the town of Chigil in
Turkestan that makes them
so handsome, whatever lets the pomegranate flower blush
like a human face, that is
being said to me now. I blush. Whatever put eloquence in
language, that's happening here.
The great warehouse doors open; I fill with gratitude,
chewing a piece of sugarcane,
in love with the one to whom every that belongs!
Rumi

[CM786]

The Desert

They say the wheat cannot grow
In the desert or amidst snow
Will the clouds bring their rain?
Will the snow melt once again?
In the meantime will wheat survive?
Will this grain become alive?
I seem to be that lone grain
In my desert silent remain
Endure the draught and sandy pain
Till the clouds wash me again.
They say clouds will only rain
When they decide. We wish in vain.
No matter how brilliant a mind
A soul that’s wise, a heart that’s kind
When lost in this endless space
Walking the desert pace after pace
When of grace there’s no trace
It is futile for us to chase
The spirit we try to embrace;
God in God’s time reveals God’s face.

Rumi

[CM786]

When you do things from your soul you feel a river moving in you, a joy.

When action come from another section, the feeling disappears.

Rumi

[CM786]

Our death is our wedding with eternity.

What is the secret? "God is One."

The sunlight splits when entering the windows of the house.

This multiplicity exists in the cluster of grapes;

It is not in the juice made from the grapes.

For he who is living in the Light of God,

The death of the carnal soul is a blessing.

Regarding him, say neither bad nor good,

For he is gone beyond the good and the bad.

Fix your eyes on God and do not talk about what is invisible,

So that he may place another look in your eyes.

It is in the vision of the physical eyes

That no invisible or secret thing exists.

But when the eye is turned toward the Light of God

What thing could remain hidden under such a Light?

Although all lights emanate from the Divine Light

Don’t call all these lights "the Light of God";

It is the eternal light which is the Light of God,

The ephemeral light is an attribute of the body and the flesh.

…Oh God who gives the grace of vision!

The bird of vision is flying towards You with the wings of desire.

Rumi

[WildFlower]

<3 SubhanAllah.


I discovered only yesterday that Mevlana was the best-selling poet in America in the 90's.

[CM786]

Those with mirror-like hearts

do not depend on fragrance and color:

they behold Beauty in the moment.

They've cracked open the shell of knowledge

and raised the banner

of the eye of certainty.

Thought is gone in a flash of light. (RUMI)

[CM786]

Friends Who Guide You

The reflection cast from good friends is needed
until you become, without the aid of any reflector,
a drawer of water from the Sea.
Know that the reflection is at first just imitation,
but when it continues to recur,
it turns into direct realization of truth.
Until it has become direct realization,
don't part from the friends who guide you?
don't break away from the shell
if the raindrop hasn't yet become a pearl.

[CM786]

Fly only with the Guide's wings

The Prophet (pbuh) said, “I am like a Ship in the Flood of Time.

I and my companions are like the Ark of Noah:

whoever clings to us will gain spiritual graces.”

When you are with the Guide you are far removed from evil:

day and night you are a traveler in a ship.

You are under the protection of a life-giving spirit:

you are asleep in the ship and proceeding on the way.

Don’t break with the prophet of your day;

don’t rely on your own skill and footsteps.

Lion though you are, to go on the way without a guide

is arrogant, foolish, and contemptible.

Step aboard the ship and set sail,

like the soul going toward the soul’s Beloved.

Without hands or feet, travel toward Timelessness

just as spirits flee from nonexistence.

[bahram]

Only Mercy

Night has wrecked the sea of my understanding and senses: no hope is left, nor fear, nor despair.
God has borne me into the sea of Mercy; I do not know with what specialty He will fill me, and send me back to the world.
In as much as my hand is made empty by this sovereign power of God's to loose and bind, oh, I wonder, from whom comes this self-conceit of mine?
I possess nothing. O Gracious One, except a heart constricted with anguish.
Do not lay another nothing, upon a nothing like this.
Truly the state of "I possess nothing" suits me better, since these hundred troubles arise from my imagining that I possess something.
I have suffered pain; do Thou increase my pleasure.
I will just stand naked in a flood of tears at your gate, since I have no sight.
O friend, do not refrain from calling on God: what business have you with God's acceptance or rejection of your prayer?

Mawlana Rumi (Vol. 6 2321-2339)

[CM786]

[CM786]

No mirror ever became iron again;
No bread ever became wheat;
No ripened grape ever became sour fruit.
Mature yourself and be secure from a change for the worse.
Become the light."~Rumi~

[Thebeliever]

was he a sufi mystic poet? Why do they call him Maulana if he was a SUFI mystic poet? or did he do work for ISLAM? can someone please guide me.

Thanks

[bahram]

Salam walaykum Believer,

The Mawlana is known in Afghanistan, where he was born as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī , and even in Afghanistan and elsewhere he is known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī. He was a hanafi scholar, and Asharite theologian. A very respected man of the community whom people went too to seek answers on fiqh and theology, hence the Mawlana title, which in Dari (one of the languages in Afghanistan), means teacher, or master. The story goes that one day the Mawlana was sitting by a lake with some of his books, then Shams-i-Tabriz, who was a Sufi Murshid, came to him, snatched his books from him, and threw them all in the lake. The Mawlana was obviously taken a back and outraged by this stranger, and then Shams somehow brought the books out of the lake in perfect condition, they had been left un-tainted by the water.

The Mawlana was amazed by this, and Shams told him, if you wish to know Allah, abandon the books, and follow me. The Mawlana and Shams went into Khalwa for 40 days, doing nothing but praying, dhikir and fasting, and the Mawlana fell in love with Shams, or more properly, for what Shams represented to him, the dhikrullah. Then one day without mention Shams left. It was this meeting with Shams that turned Mawlana from the already respect fiqh scholar and theologian, to the giant of his age, the qutb of Tassawuf for his time. He is one of the epic mountain tops of Sufism, a wonder, and after his direct and experimental knowledge of Allah, he had the ability to write his poetry. He is one of the greatest figures ever produced by Islam. His poetry is the fastest selling in the western world, and is more in demand than Shakespeare.

Just by way of example, here is the maqqam of the man:

Oh Beloved,
take me.
Liberate my soul.
Fill me with your love and
release me from the two worlds.
If I set my heart on anything but you
let fire burn me from inside.
Oh Beloved,
take away what I want.
Take away what I do.
Take away what I need.
Take away everything
that takes me from you.

[Thebeliever]

Interesting..ive also heard he had direct contact with Allah and spoke to Allah etc..is that rite?

But again does Islam allows Sufism?

[bahram]

Ummm, I've never heard this, and anybody who circulates stories like this is trying to slander the Mawlana.

As for Islam allowing Sufism, there are a lot of threads on it in MV. But I would recommend this article by Sheikh Nuh, The Place of Tassawuf in Traditional Islam.

Rumi speaks of Sufism and himself in the following poem:

I am the servant of the Qur'an as long as I have life.
I am the dust on the path of Muhammad, the Chosen One.
If anyone quotes anything except this from my sayings,
I am quit of him and outraged by these words.

- from The Quatrains of Rumi

[Thebeliever]

Well I have no idea about this person coz i never read about him. Just heard. I dont wanna offend anyone here. Its just coz i dont know so want to know rite and wrong.

Also i have not much idea about sufism. All i know is they leave the world and just fast and pray etc..which i personally believe hasnt been taught to us by our beloved Prophet Muhammad PBUH.

?????????

[CM786]

Thebeliever, on 10 June 2010 - 11:08 AM, said:

Well I have no idea about this person coz i never read about him. Just heard. I dont wanna offend anyone here. Its just coz i dont know so want to know rite and wrong.

Also i have not much idea about sufism. All i know is they leave the world and just fast and pray etc..which i personally believe hasnt been taught to us by our beloved Prophet Muhammad PBUH.

?????????

No offence at all but please kindly do not derail this lovely thread, if you want to know more about Sufism in Islam, do a search on MV or read the link given by Bahram. JazakAllah:)

[Thebeliever]

Appolgies !! Forgive me. Thanks

[Maribel]

I love this thread..full of wise words

[CM786]

Stay close, my heart, to the one who knows your ways;
Come into the shade of the tree that always has fresh flowers.
Don't stroll idly through the bazaar of the perfume-markers:
Stay in the shop of the sugar-seller.
If you don't find true balance, anyone can deceive you;
Anyone can trick out of a thing of straw,
And make you take it for gold
Don't squat with a bowl before every boiling pot;
In each pot on the fire you find very different things.
Not all sugarcanes have sugar, not all abysses a peak;
Not all eyes possess vision, not every sea is full of pearls.
O nightingale, with your voice of dark honey! Go on lamenting!
Only your drunken ecstasy can pierce the rock's hard heart!
Surrender yourself, and if you cannot be welcomed by the Friend,
Know that you are rebelling inwardly like a thread
That doesn't want to go through the needle's eye!
The awakened heart is a lamp; protect it by the hem of your robe!
Hurry and get out of this wind, for the weather is bad.
And when you've left this storm, you will come to a fountain;
You'll find a Friend there who will always nourish your soul.
And with your soul always green, you'll grow into a tall tree
Flowering always with sweet light-fruit, whose growth is interior.

[CM786]

Worth repeating:)


The Prophet (saw) said that women totally dominate men of intellect and possessors of hearts. But ignorant men dominate women, for they are shackled by an animal ferocity. They have no kindness, gentleness or love, since animality dominates their nature. Love and kindness are human attributes; anger and sensuality belong to the animals. She is the radiance of God, she is not your beloved. She is a creator - you could say that she is not created.

[CM786]

Emptiness
Jalaluddin Rumi

Consider the difference
in our actions and God's actions.

We often ask, "Why did you do that?"
or "Why did I act like that?"

We do act, and yet everything we do
is God's creative action.

We look back and analyse the events
of our lives, but there is another way
of seeing, a backward-and-forward-at-once
vision, that is not rationally understandable.

Only God can understand it.
Satan made the excuse, "You caused me to fall,
whereas Adam said to God, "We did this
to ourselves." After this repentance,
God asked Adam, "Since all is within
my foreknowledge, why didn't you
defend yourself with that reason?"

Adam answered, "I was afraid,
and I wanted to be reverent."

Whoever acts with respect will get respect.
Whoever brings sweetness will be served almond cake.
Good women are drawn to be with good men.

Honour your friend.
Or treat him rudely,
and see what happens!

Love, tell an incident now
that will clarify this mystery
of how we act freely, and are yet
compelled. One hand shakes with palsy.
Another shakes because because you slapped it away.

Both tremblings come from God,
but you feel guilty for the one,
and what about the other?

These are intellectual questions.
The spirit approaches the matter
differently. Omar once had a friend, a scientist,
Bu'l-Hakam, who was flawless at solving
empirical problems, but he could not follow Omar
into the area of illumination and wonder.

Now I return to the text, "And He is with you,
wherever you are," but when have I ever left it!

Ignorance is God's prison
Knowing is God's palace.

We sleep in God's unconsciousness.
We wake in God's open hand.

We weep God's rain.
We laugh God's lightning.

Fighting and peacefulness
both take place within God.

Who are we then
in this complicated world-tangle,
that is really just the single, straight
line down at the beginning of ALLAH?

Nothing.
We are
emptiness.

----

When you are with everyone but me,
you're with no one.
When you are with no one but me,
you're with everyone.

Instead of being so bound up with everyone,
be everyone.
When you become that many, you're nothing.
Empty.

[bahram]

Absolutely beautiful

Allah hu Akbar!

[CM786]

RUMI on Fasting


There's hidden sweetness in the stomach's emptiness.

We are lutes, no more, no less.

If the sound boxes stuffed full of anything, no music.

If the brain and belly are burning clean with fasting,

every moment a new song comes out of the fire.

The fog clears, and new energy makes you run

up the steps in front of you.

Be emptier and cry like reed instruments cry.

Emptier, write secrets with the reed pen.

When you're full of food and drink,

Satan sits where your spirit should,

an ugly metal statue in place of the Kaaba.

When you fast, good habits gather

like friends who want to help.

Fasting is Solomon's ring.

Don't give into some illusion and lose your power,
but even if you have, if you've lost all will and control,

they come back when you fast,

like soldiers appearing out of the ground,

pennants flying above them.

A table descends to your tents, Jesus' table.

Expect to see it, when you fast,

this table spread with other food,

better than the broth of cabbages.

[CM786]

Something opens our wings.
Something makes boredom and hurt disappear.
Someone fills the cup in front of us: We taste only sacredness.”~Rumi~