

"You and I will be together



I have been tricked by flying too close

to what I thought I loved.



Now the candleflame is out, the wine spilled,

and the lovers have withdrawn

somewhere beyond my squinting.

The amount I thought I'd won, I've lost.

My prayers becomes bitter and all about blindness.

How wonderful it was to be for a while

with those who surrender.

Others only turn their faces on way,

then another, like pigeon in flight.

I have known pigeons who fly in a nowhere,

and birds that eat grainlessness,

and tailor who sew beautiful clothes

by tearing them to pieces.



Who is at my door?

He said, "Who is at my door?"

I said, "Your humble servant."

He said, "What business do you have?"

I said, "To greet you, 0 Lord."



He said, "How long will you journey on?"

I said, "Until you stop me."

He said, "How long will you boil in the fire?"

I said, "Until I am pure.



"This is my oath of love.

For the sake of love

I gave up wealth and position."



He said, "You have pleaded your case

but you have no witness."

I said, "My tears are my witness;

the pallor of my face is my proof.'

He said, "Your witness has no credibility;

your eyes are too wet to see."

I said, "By the splendor of your justice

my eyes are clear and faultless."



He said, "What do you seek?"

I said, "To have you as my constant friend."

He said, "What do you want from me?"

I said, "Your abundant grace."



He said, "Who was your companion on the 'ourney?

I said, "The thought of you, 0 King."

He said, "What called you here?"

I said, "The fragrance of your wine."



He said, "What brings you the most fulfillment?"

I said, "The company of the Emperor."

He said, "What do you find there?"

I said, "A hundred miracles."

He said, "Why is the palace deserted?"

I said, "They all fear the thief."

He said, "Who is the thief?"

I said, "The one who keeps me from -you.



He said, "Where is there safety?"

I said, "In service and renunciation."

He said, "What is there to renounce?"

I said, "The hope of salvation."



He said, "Where is there calamity?"

I said, "In the presence of your love."

He said, "How do you benefit from this life?"

I said, "By keeping true to myself



Now it is time for silence.

If I told you about His true essence

You would fly from your self and be gone,

and neither door nor roof could hold you back!



Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved, Jonathan Star

Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York 1997



In The Arc Of Your Mallet



Don't go anywhere without me.

Let nothing happen in the sky apart from me,

or on the ground, in this world or that world,

without my being in its happening.

Vision, see nothing I don't see.

Language, say nothing.

The way the night knows itself with the moon,

be that with me. Be the rose

nearest to the thorn that I am.

I want to feel myself in you when you taste food,

in the arc of your mallet when you work,

when you visit friends, when you go

up on the roof by yourself at night.

There's nothing worse than to walk out along the street

without you. I don't know where I'm going.

You're the road, and the knower of roads,

more than maps, more than love.

The Essential Rumi Coleman Barks