Soul and the Old Woman

From sunlight:

Soul And The Old Woman

What is the soul? Consciousness. The more awareness, the
deeper the soul, and when

such essence overflows, you feel a sacredness around. It's
so simple to tell one who

puts on a robe and pretends to be a dervish from the real
thing. We know the taste

of pure water. Words can sound like a poem but not have
any juice, no flavor to

relish. How long do you look at pictures on a bathhouse
wall? Soul is what draws

you away from those pictures to talk with the old woman
who sits outside by the door

in the sun. She's half blind, but she has what soul loves
to flow into. She's kind; she weeps.

She makes quick personal decisions, and laughs so easily.

-- Mathnawi: VI: 148-50
Version by Coleman Barks

The line numbering here is really incomplete as Barks has used ideas from preceding lines. Here are the lines as provided at IntraText (trans Whinfield):


O son, did you ever present your silver body
As an offering to the damsels pictured on bath walls?
Nay, you pass by those pictures though fair as Huris,
And offer yourself sooner to half-blind old women.
What is there in the old women which the pictures lack,
Which draws you from the pictures to the old women?
Say not, for I will say it in plain words,
'Tis reason, sense, perception, thought, and life.
In the old woman life is infused,
While the pictures of the bath have no life.
If the pictures of the bath should stir with life (soul),
They would uproot your love to all the old women.

What is soul? 'Tis acquainted with good and evil,
Rejoicing at pleasant things, grieving at His.
Since, then, the principle of soul is knowledge,
He who knows most is most full of soul.
Knowledge is the effect flowing from soul;
He who has most of it is most godlike.


Seeing then, beloved, that knowledge is the mark of soul,
He who knows most has the strongest soul.
The world of souls is itself entirely knowledge,
And he who is void of knowledge is void of soul.
When knowledge is lacking in a man s nature,
His soul is like a stone on the plain.
Primal Soul is the theatre of God's court,
Soul of souls the exhibition of God Himself.

...

quatrain 334

From sunlight, two versions of quatrain #334 to add to the Houshmand version discussed at living without me:

The Beloved looked at me
With compassion and said,
How can you go on living without me?
I said, I swear, like a fish out of water.
He said, Then why do you hold so tight
to the dry land?

Version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva
A Garden Beyond Paradise

After being with me one whole night,
you ask how I live when you're not here.
Badly, frantically, like a fish trying to
breathe dry sand.
You weep and say,
but you choose that.

Version by Coleman Barks
"Unseen Rain"

realizing God

From sunlight:

Out in Empty Sky

If you catch a fragrance of the unseen,
like that, you won't be able to be

contained. You'll be out in empty sky.
Any beauty the world has, any desire,

will easily be yours. As you live
deeper in the heart, the mirror gets
clearer and cleaner. Shams of Tabriz
realized God in himself. When that

happens, you have no anxieties about
losing anyone or anything. You break

the spells that human difficulties cause.
Interpretations come, hundreds, from

all the religious symbols and parables
and prayers. You know what they mean,

when God lives through you like Shams.

Ghazal (Ode) 2931
Version by Coleman Barks, with Nevit Ergin
"The Glance"
Viking-Penguin, 1999

quatrain 67

From Sunlight, three versions of quatrain #67:

Sometimes I feel like a king,
sometimes I moan in my own prison.
Swaying between these states
I can't be proud of myself.
This "I" is a figment of my imagination.

Translation by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved

I thought I had self-control,
so I regretted times I didn't.

With that considering over, the one thing I know
is I don't know who I am.

Version by Coleman Barks
"Unseen Rain"

there was a time
when my thought
soared as a king
or a time when I mourned
like a prisoner
those days are gone
and I have promised
not to take myself
seriously again

Translation by Nader Khalili
Rumi, Dancing the Flame

quatrain 62

From Sunlight, three versions of quatrain #62:

If you want to live, leave your banks,
as a small stream enters the Oxus, miles wide,
or as cattle moving around a millstone
suddenly circle to the top of the sphere.

Version by Coleman Barks
"Unseen Rain"

Are you searching for your soul?
Then come out of your prison.
Leave the stream and join the river
that flows into the ocean.
Absorbed in this world
you’ve made it your burden.
Rise above this world.
There is another vision…

Translation by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved

if you want to find yourself
leave yourself alone
wade in no little creek
swim in the big flow
you are that bull
who carries the world
revolt for once
and topple the globe.

Translation by Nader Khalili
Rumi, Dancing the Flame

the you we call companion

From Sunlight, a little piece (last two lines) from Ghazal 2956:

There is a sun within every person,
the you we call companion.

Version by Coleman Barks, with Nevit Ergin

quatrain 97

From Sunlight, three interpretations of Quatrain 97:

Our drunkenness does not come from wine.
The joy of our gathering
does not come from the harp or rubaab.
With no celestial beauty to fill our cup,
Without friends, without singing, without wine,
We burst out like madmen,
rolling drunk on the floor.

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

We don't need wine to get drunk,
or instruments and singing to feel ecstatic.
No poets, no leaders, no songs,
yet we jump around totally wild.

Version by Coleman Barks
"Unseen Rain"
Threshold Books, 1986

i don't really need wine
to get drunk
i don't really need music
to feel delight
without a wine pal
music and dance
i'm intoxicated
happy and gone

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

the flame of the tongue

Now I pass to you this silence, 
so that the alternations of night and day 
with their flaming language 
may finish the story. 

... Barks ...

Now I close these two lips, so that the lamp of day and night
even with the flame of the tongue may tell you the whole story.

... Arberry ...

From Sunlight: The Meeting - Ghazal 45

quatrain 168

From Sunlight, two interpretations of Quatrain 168: 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tonight we go to that place of eternity.
This is the wedding night –
a never-ending union
of lover and Beloved.

We whisper gentle secrets to each other
and the child of the universe
takes its first breath.

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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This night there are no limits to what may be given.
This is not a night but a marriage,
a couple whispering in bed in unison the same words.
Darkness simply lets down a curtain for that.

-- Version by Coleman Barks
"Unseen Rain" 
Threshold Books, 1986

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

quatrain 25

Sunlight offers three interpretations of Quatrain 25: 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

sweetheart i see myself
very close to you
like earth
i welcome your every step
is it fair to call you
my entire world
and yet not
find you around

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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are bound together.
I am the ground
You are the step.
How unfair is this Love!
I can see Your world
but You, I cannot.

-- Translation by Azima Melita Kolin 
and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 1999

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friend, our closeness is this:
Anywhere you put your foot, feel me
in the firmness under you.

How is it with this love,
I see your world and not you?

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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

see also Houshmand version and recalling a friend

..

quatrain 910

From sunlight, two versions of quatrain #910:

I planted roses, but without you they were thorns.
I hatched peacock eggs. Snakes were inside.
Played the harp, sour music.
I went to the eighth heaven. It was the lowest hell.

Version by Coleman Barks and John Moyne
Unseen Rain
Quatrains of Rumi
Threshold Books, 1986

I plant some flowers without you, they become thorns.
I see a peacock, it turns into a snake.
I play the rubaab – nothing but noise.
I go to the highest heaven, it's a burning hell.

Version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva
A Garden Beyond Paradise
The Mystical Poetry of Rumi
Bantam Books, 1992

quatrain 337

From sunlight, two versions of quatrain #337:

There is a channel between voice and presence,
a way where information flows.

In disciplined silence the channel opens.
With wandering talk, it closes.

Version by Coleman Barks
Unseen Rain, Threshold Books, 1986

There is a thread from the heart to the lips
where the secret of life is woven.
Words tear the thread
but in silence
the secrets
speak.

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

quatrain 55

From sunlight, three versions of quatrain #55:

Let the Lover be disgraceful, crazy,
absentminded. Someone sober
will worry about events going badly.
Let the Lover be.

version by Coleman Barks and John Moyne,
"Unseen Rain - Quatrains of Rumi", Threshold Books, 1986

The Lover is ever drunk with love;
He is free, he is mad,
He dances with ecstasy and delight.

Caught by our own thoughts,
we worry about every little thing,
But once we get drunk on that love,
Whatever will be, will be.

version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva
"A Garden Beyond Paradise - The Mystical Poetry of Rumi", Bantam Books, 1992

All year round the lover is mad
Unkempt, lovesick, and in despair
Without love there is nothing but grief
In love... what else matters?

translation by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 1999

quatrain 511

From sunlight, two versions of quatrain #511:

The clear bead at the center changes everything.
There are no edges to my loving now.

I've heard it said there's a window that opens
from one mind to another,

but if there's no wall, there's no need
for fitting the window, or the latch.

version by Coleman Barks
Open Secret, Threshold Books, 1984

His sweet water cleansed my soul
and removed its every sorrow.
Now we are joined in perfect union.

They say love opens a door
from one heart to another;
But if there is no wall
how can there be a door?

version by Jonathan Star
"A Garden Beyond Paradise: The Mystical Poetry of Rumi"
Bantam Books, 1992

quatrain 569

From sunlight, two versions of quatrain #569:

This moment this love comes to rest in me,
many beings in one being.
In one wheat-grain a thousand sheaf stacks.
Inside the needle's eye, a turning night of stars.

version by Coleman Barks, from a translation by John Moyne
"Unseen Rain", Quatrains of Rumi, Threshold Books, 1986

O how the Beloved fits inside my heart;
Like a thousand souls in one body,
A thousand harvests in one sheaf of wheat,
A thousand whirling heavens
in the eye of a needle.

version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva
"A Garden Beyond Paradise", The Mystical Poetry of Rumi, Bantam Books, 1992

quatrain 64

Sunlight offers four versions of quatrain #64, in addition to the Houshmand version discussed at rotting lips.

When I die, lay out the corpse.
You may want to kiss my lips,
just beginning to decay. Don't be frightened
if I open my eyes.

version by Coleman Barks

when i die
hand me over
to my sweetheart
one kiss
on my dead lips
don't be surprised
if I come alive

translation by Nader Khalili

When I die,
lay my copse to rest,
but do not be at all surprised
If His kiss on my tattered lips
brings me back to life.

translation by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi

If I die, lay me next to the Beloved.

If He looks at me, don't be surprised.
If He kisses me on the lips, don't be surprised.
If I open my eyes and smile, don't be surprised.

version by Jonathan Star

quatrain 91

From sunlight, three versions of quatrain #91:

The early breeze before dawn
is the keeper of secrets.
Don't go back to sleep!
It is time for prayer, it is time to ask for
what you really need.
Don't go back to sleep!
The door of the One who created the world
is always open.
Don't go back to sleep.

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

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don't go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don't go back to sleep.

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

The morning breeze has secrets to tell you,
Don't sleep.
It's a time of inquiry and prayer,
Don't sleep.

O people of the world,
From this moment to eternity,
That unlocked door is open,
Don't go to sleep.

Version by Jonathan Star
"A Garden Beyond Paradise: The Mystical Poetry of Rumi"
Bantam Books, 1992

quatrain 894

From sunlight, three versions of quatrain #894:

With every word, you break my heart.
You see my story
written in blood on my face,
why do you ignore it,
do you have a heart of stone?

translation by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi
.

Every day, this pain. Either you're numb
or you don't understand love.
I write out my love story.
You see the writing, but you don't read it.

version by Coleman Barks
.

Every day my heart cries out.
Every night it turns to stone.

The story of my love
is written in blood all over my face.
I asked by Beloved to read it.
He asks me to ignore it.

version by Jonathan Star

quatrain 116

From sunlight, three versions of quatrain #116:

Take someone who doesn't keep score,
who's not looking to be richer, or afraid of losing,
who has not the slightest interest even
in his own personality: He's free.

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

happy is the one
who doesn't need to try
getting wealthy
or remaining poor
free from people
and worldly worries
a stranger to himself
free in every way

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

Peaceful
is the one
who's not concerned
with having more or less.
Unbound by name and fame
he is free from sorrow
from the world and
mostly from
himself.

Translation by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 1999

quatrain 163

From sunlight, two interpretations of quatrain #163:

What is this day with two suns in the sky?
Day unlike other days,
with a great voice giving it to the planet,
Here it is, enamored beings, your day!

Version by Coleman Barks
"Unseen Rain"
Threshold Books, 1986

what type of day is this
with two shining suns
a day beyond and above
every day known
a whirling cosmos is endowing
and calling everyone on earth
good news to those in love
call today your own

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