TO ALL,have you ever enjoyed the poems of Rumi(a great muslim spritual poet),like these in text?

Question

"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”

or these one about muslims`s prayer-(second one morning prayer

"let the beauty you love be what you do
there are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the gound"

"do not go back to sleep there are secrets in the morning breez"

please write any other poems from him that you like

links
http://www.khamush.com
http://www.khamush.com/poetry/

to dear mank:
yes I believe that if rumi were tought in US and every where else , we would live in a better place.
I am persian myself so I am lucky to read rumi and hafiz and others in persian
they are great,
However you cant compare them by the holy quran becouse the holy quran is the literal word of god .and it is a perfect writing in all the respects.and rumi`s and hafiz and saadi and ... poetry is so great but cannot be compared to the holy quran.
because quran is god's word but those are
human words.
although they were inspired by the quran.
"Hafiz" in persian means memorizer and in was his nickname beacause he had memorized all af the quran.
in one of his poems he sais ..."from the quran that I have in my heart"... means the quran which he had memorized it.
or rumi says in a poem that quran has several layers of beauty, the first one is for ordinary people, the second is for spritual people .
the next one only saints and special sprotual people can undrestand

and for the fourth level only god undrestand it.and quran is a sourse to all persian spritual literature.and inspired all of great
persian poets like Rumi, Saadi Hafiz,Nezami,Attar,Baba taher,and.......
if you read Masnavi book of rumi it is full of praise of quran and prophet mohammad.
but as you said unfortunately some people of the world today dont know muslims well
and they think islam is what some extremists are doing, while it is really the religion of love and peace that inspired rumi, hafiz. architects of hundreds of beautiful mosques , and .... . . . ....

to dear Mank:
I know what you mean by what you said,but there are alot of people who doesnt know islam and muslims , and they really think it is a religion based on war and ..
and on the other hand I know lot of muslim people who are so spritualy-advanced like rumi hafiz....
and I some how want to share what I know
that I think they dont know.
for example about miracles in the quran
do every body knows that ??
when someone knows something that think it may help others why shouldnt he show them.
like in a forest if someone find a campus
why shouldnt he show others.
I respect every boy elses beliefs and I dont try to irritate them , if I done that I am really sorry.
any ways tell me your comment.

to dear Mank:
I know what you mean by what you said,but there are alot of people who doesnt know islam and muslims , and they really think it is a religion based on war and ..
and on the other hand I know lot of muslim people who are so spritualy-advanced like rumi hafiz....
and I some how want to share what I know
that I think they dont know.
for example about miracles in the quran
do every body knows that ??
when someone knows something that think it may help others why shouldnt he show them.
like in a forest if someone find a campus
why shouldnt he show others.
I respect every boy elses beliefs and I dont try to irritate them , if I done that I am really sorry.
any ways tell me your comment.

other Translations Ilike:

As salt resolved in the ocean
I was swallowed in God's sea,
Past faith, past unbelieving,
Past doubt, past certainty.

Suddenly in my bosom
A star shone clear and bright;
All the suns of heaven
Vanished in that star's light.

Do not build much, for I intend to have you in ruins. If you build two hundred houses in a manner that the bees do; I shall make you as homeless as a fly. If you are the mount Qaf in stability. I shall make you whirl like a millstone

Happy the one who has become like us;
who has become all surrender and contenment;
Who has become the pledge of love and madness;
who has become a jewel in the sea of purity.

Wealth has no permanence: it comes in the morning,
and at night it is scattered to the winds.
Physical beauty too has no importance,
for a rosy face is made pale by the scratch of a single thorn.
Noble birth also is of small account,
for many become fools of money and horses.
Many a nobleman's son has disgraced his father by his wicked deeds.
Don't court a person full of talent either,
even if he seems exquisite in that respect:
take warning from the example of Iblis1 Devil.
Iblis had knowledge, but since his love was not pure,
he saw in Adam nothing but a figure of clay.



A Marriage at Daybreak


Do you know, brother, that you are a prince?
A son of Adam. And that the witch of Kabul,
who holds you with her color and her perfume,
is the world?
Say the words, I take refuge
with the Lord of the Daybreak.

Avoid the hot breathing that keeps you tied
to her. She breathes on knots and no one
can unknot them. That’s why the prophets came.

Look for those whose

Wealth has no permanence: it comes in the morning,
and at night it is scattered to the winds.
Physical beauty too has no importance,
for a rosy face is made pale by the scratch of a single thorn.
Noble birth also is of small account,
for many become fools of money and horses.
Many a nobleman's son has disgraced his father by his wicked deeds.
Don't court a person full of talent either,
even if he seems exquisite in that respect:
take warning from the example of Iblis1 Devil.
Iblis had knowledge, but since his love was not pure,
he saw in Adam nothing but a figure of clay.

Be Lost in the Call
Lord, said David, since you do not need us,
why did you create these two worlds?
Reality replied: O prisoner of time,
I was a secret treasure of kindness and generosity,
and I wished this treasure to be known,
so I created a mirror: its shining face, the heart;
its darkened back, the world;
The back would please you if you've never seen the face.
Has anyone ever produced a mirror out of mud and straw?
Yet clean away the mud and straw,
and a mirror might be revealed.
Until the juice ferments a while in the cask,
it isn't wine. If you wish your heart to be bright,
you must do a little work.
My King addressed the soul of my flesh:
You return just as you left.
Where are the traces of my gifts?
we know that alchemy transforms copper into gold.
This Sun doesn't want a crown or robe from God's grace.
He is a hat to a hundred bald men,
a covering for ten who were naked.
Jesus sat humbly on the back of an ***, my child!

How could a zephyr ride an ***?
Spirit, find your way, in seeking lowness like a stream.
Reason, tread the path of selflessness into eternity.

Remember God so much that you are forgotten.
Let the caller and the called disappear;
be lost in the Call.

Come, come, whoever you are.
Wonderer, worshipper, lover of leaving.
It doesn't matter.
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come, even if you have broken your vow
a thousand times
Come, yet again, come, come.

We are as the flute, and the music in us is from thee;
we are as the mountain and the echo in us is from thee.

We are as pieces of chess engaged in victory and defeat:
our victory and defeat is from thee, O thou whose qualities are comely!

Who are we, O Thou soul of our souls,
that we should remain in being beside thee?

We and our existences are really non-existence;
thou art the absolute Being which manifests the perishable.

We all are lions, but lions on a banner:
because of the wind they are rushing onward from moment to moment.

Their onward rush is visible, and the wind is unseen:
may that which is unseen not fail from us!

Our wind whereby we are moved and our being are of thy gift;
our whole existence is from thy bringing into being.

** by the way if you could send me some poems from Blake and John Donne, or Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson
I am sure that west and east both have great treasures that they can share.
and also shakespear is great too

Answer 1

Absolutely. I think the poetry of Rumi should be taught in all US schools. If youngsters of the Middle East and of the West could read and understand Rumi's poetry together, the world would be a happier, safer place in the future, I'm convinced.

Coleman Barks' translations brought Rumi's poems to the attention of US readers; for example, The Essential Rumi (Harper). Another, with less cryptic translations, is The Rumi Collection, ed. Kabir Helminski.

If US readers like Rumi, they should also try the works of Hafiz (1320-1389). A great Persian poet, admired by Ralph Waldo Emerson, his works have been said to sell more copies in Iran now than the Koran which is like saying an author in the US is selling more copies than the Bible.

Such readers might also want to sample the "translations" of Daniel Ladinsky; for example, Love Poems from God, which highlights the work of twelve "mystic" poets, including Rumi, Hafiz, St. Francis, Kabir, St. Teresa, and others. They should be aware, however, that Ladinsky's "translations" are really adaptations, Ladinsky's own poetry simply inspired by the original. Some critics speak very negatively of the freedom he takes. Cf.

http://home.jps.net/~nada/hafiz.htm

as well as some of the 22 customers quoted on Amazon.com. Personally, I think he is doing a great service bringing these poets and this kind of poetry to public attention. I just wish he didn't call himself a "translator."

One hopes that, just as US readers are discovering Rumi and Hafiz, Muslim readers would be discovering William Blake and John Donne, or Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. Fine poetry does speak across the borders of nation, time, and creed.

Afshin, I'd be curious to know what your other favorite translations of Rumi's work are. Thanks much for the web addresses. [Later: Afshin, I have now read a number of your other posts. I hope you are sincerely asking for our responses, not trying to convert us to a specific creed of yours. I also commend Hassannacir's response to you: "Moreover, our duty as a Muslim is to spread right knowledge of Islam, it is not just making the question that irritate others, by this they would never come close to Islam. They would go fartherer and fartherer." I regret that many "Christian" responses to you seem also designed to "irritate." We must learn to live together in peace and teach our children likewise. From what little I know of Rumi and Hafiz, that is what they would want us to be doing with their poetry.]

[Later, later, responding to your request, Afshin: There are peacemakers in all nations and among all religions. This I firmly believe; and I fear that there are warmongers among us -- jihadists among us all. Their work is to be deplored--and opposed. I am ashamed to admit that there are warmongers who call themselves "Christian." However, my understanding of Christianity is that it focuses on "peace on earth and good will among humankind," that peacemakers are blessed for they shall be called sons of God.

Here are scriptures that are meaningful to me.

1. Hebrews 12:14 - “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:”

2. Luke 6:35,36 - “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”

3. Romans 12:18 - “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”

And here are some poems by William Blake, a British poet of the late 18th, early 19th century, who spoke of the ultimate need for visionary men and women who see beyond materialistic reality to the inner sancitity of the human imagination, spiritual men and women who attempt to embody mercy, pity, peace, and love in their lives::

The Lamb

Little lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee,
Gave thee life, and bade thee feed
By the stream and o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, wooly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
Little lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?

Little lamb, I’ll tell thee;
Little lamb, I’ll tell thee:
He is called by thy name,
For He calls Himself a lamb,
He is meek, and He is mild,
He became a little child;
I a child, and Thee a Lamb,
We are called by His Name.
Little lamb, God bless thee!
Little lamb, God bless thee!

The Divine Image

To Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love
All pray in their distress;
And to these virtues of delight
Return their thankfulness.

For Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love
Is God, our father dear,
And Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love
Is Man, his child and care.

For Mercy has a human heart,
Pity a human face,
And Love, the human form divine,
And Peace, the human dress.

Then every man, of every clime,
That prays in his distress,
Prays to the human form divine,
Love, Mercy, Pity, Peace.

And all must love the human form,
In heathen, turk, or jew;
Where Mercy, Love, & Pity dwell
There God is dwelling too.

A Cradle Song

Sweet dreams, form a shade
O'er my lovely infant's head!
Sweet dreams of pleasant streams
By happy, silent, moony beams!

Sweet Sleep, with soft down
Weave thy brows an infant crown!
Sweet Sleep, angel mild,
Hover o'er my happy child!

Sweet smiles, in the night
Hover over my delight!
Sweet smiles, mother's smiles,
All the livelong night beguiles.

Sweet moans, dovelike sighs,
Chase not slumber from thy eyes!
Sweet moans, sweeter smiles,
All the dovelike moans beguiles.

Sleep, sleep, happy child!
All creation slept and smiled.
Sleep, sleep, happy sleep,
While o'er thee thy mother weep.

Sweet babe, in thy face
Holy image I can trace;
Sweet babe, once like thee
Thy Maker lay, and wept for me:

Wept for me, for thee, for all,
When He was an infant small.
Thou His image ever see,
Heavenly face that smiles on thee!

Smiles on thee, on me, on all,
Who became an infant small;
Infant smiles are His own smiles;
Heaven and earth to peace beguiles.

Holy Thursday

'Twas on a holy Thursday, their innocent faces clean,
The children walking two and two, in red, and blue, and green:
Grey-headed beadles walked before, with wands as white as snow,
Till into the high dome of Paul's they like Thames waters flow.

O what a multitude they seemed, these flowers of London town!
Seated in companies they sit, with radiance all their own.
The hum of multitudes was there, but multitudes of lambs,
Thousands of little boys and girls raising their innocent hands.

Now like a mighty wind they raise to heaven the voice of song,
Or like harmonious thunderings the seats of heaven among:
Beneath them sit the aged men, wise guardians of the poor.
Then cherish pity, lest you drive an angel from your door.

Mock On, Mock On, Voltaire, Rousseau

Mock on, mock on, Voltaire, Rousseau;
Mock on, mock on; 'tis all in vain!
You throw the sand against the wind,
And the wind blows it back again.

And every sand becomes a gem
Reflected in the beams divine;
Blown back they blind the mocking eye,
But still in Israel's paths they shine.

The Atoms of Democritus
And Newton's Particles of Light
Are sands upon the Red Sea shore,
Where Israel's tents do shine so bright.

And there could be many, many more.]

Answer 2

Ah, Jelalludin Rumi. Do I read his works? Yes, yes, and YES! I have a number of his collections as translated by Coleman Barks. I have also read a few books of Hafiz's works as well. While I acknowledge that the Sufi path is not exclusively Muslim and anyone can follow it, Persian poetry is the most beautiful in the world. :)

Answer 3

nope can u give me any link 2 read abt diz poet

Answer 4

no