quatrain 82

From sunlight, two more versions of quatrain #82 to add to the Houshmand version discussed at a hundred bows.

today like everyday
I'm in no sober mood
don't open the door
to my thoughts
begin the music instead
for the one who sees
only the beloved's face
there are a hundred
ways to pray
to prostrate
or to be humbled
to the ground

--Translation by Nader Khalili
Rumi, Dancing the Flame
Cal-Earth Press, 2001

Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don't open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.

Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

-- Version by Coleman Barks
Open Secret
Threshold Books, 1984

quatrain 269

From sunlight, two further interpretations of quatrain #269, to add to Houshmand's discussed at lovely one.

I see His face,
I see His smile –
There is my joy!
I feel His rage
I feel His painful blows –
There is my joy!

But what's this?
He has asked for my head!
At least He has asked me for something –
There is my joy!

-- Version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva
A Garden Beyond Paradise
Bantam Books, 1992

I am in love not only
with his smile and radiant face
but also with his wrath and contempt.
He has asked for my head
I do not care if I lose it
what makes me ecstatic is
Him asking.

-- Translation by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Hidden Music
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2001

quatrain 454

From sunlight, an interpretation of quatrain #454, to add to the translation by Houshmand discussed at winners and losers.

To that Beloved,
flower and thorn are one;
A verse of the Koran
And a Brahmin's thread are one.

Don't try to impress Him –
To that Beloved,
hero and fool are one.

-- Version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva
A Garden Beyond Paradise
Bantam Books, 1992