quatrain 84

From sunlight, two further versions of quatrain #84, to add to the Houshmand version discussed at my thoughts on dreams:

don’t think too much
put yourself to sleep
thinking is a veil
on the face of the moon
your heart is like the moon
don’t cover it with thought
cast your thinking on the water

Translation by Nader Khalili
Rumi, Dancing the Flame

Don’t think. Don’t get lost in your thoughts.
Your thoughts are a veil on the face of the Moon.
That Moon is your heart,
     and those thoughts cover your heart.
So let them go.
     Just let them fall into the water.

Version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva
A Garden Beyond Paradise

...

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"

quatrain 14

From sunlight, two further versions of quatrain #14, to add to two versions by Houshmand discussed at to be or not to be.

i was first seduced by love
then put in a fire of agonies
as i won the mastery
of the beloved
the beloved dropped me
and was gone

Translation by Nader Khalili
Rumi, Dancing the Flame

First, he tempted me
with infinite caresses.
He burnt me in the end
with pain and sorrow.
In this game of chess
I had to lose myself
in order to win Him.

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

quatrain 1408

From Sunlight, three versions of quatrain #1408, to add to the Houshmand version discussed under true gold:

O my Beloved!
Take me,
Liberate my soul,
Fill me with your love,
and release me from both worlds.

If I set my heart
On anything but you,
O fire, burn me from inside!

O my Beloved
Take away what I want,
Take away what I do,
Take away everything
that takes me from you.

Version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva
A Garden Beyond Paradise

take me in my love
take my soul
set me on ecstasy
take both of my worlds
if I rest my heart on
anything but you
throw me with fireball
take everything I hold

Translation by Nader Khalili
Rumi, Dancing the Flame

My Friend,
I offer You my life.
Accept me, make me drunk
and save me from both worlds.
Set me on fire
if my heart settles on anything
but You.

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

quatrain 1141

From Sunlight, two more versions of quatrain 1141, to add to the Houshmand version discussed at the best joy.

I can't let you know
all the secrets
I can't open to you
all the doors
there is something inside
that makes me happy
but I can't put my finger
on its source

Translation by Nader Khalili

The secrets are bursting inside me
but to give them away and
expose them to mockery, I cannot.
Something inside me is bursting with joy
but to put my finger on it, I cannot.

Translation by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi

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 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 75

From sunlight, a version of quatrain #75, to add to the version by Houshmand discussed at a room for fear:

this earthly body of ours
is the light of the heavens
our agile flights
are the envy of angels
one day the celestial bodies
wish to have our pure souls
one day we are a dare devil
who frightens a monster

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

quatrain 367

From sunlight, two versions of quatrain #367. Following is the version by Zara Houshmand which I don't seem to have commented on as I can't find it in a search of the site.

Like a thief
reason sneaked in and sat amongst the lovers
eager to give them advice.
They were unwilling to listen, so reason kissed their feet
and went on its way.

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

for awhile wisdom came
to advise the ones
who are in love
it sat by the wayside
to corrupt their way
since it found no room
within their minds
it kissed their feet
and went on its way

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

Reason came forward to lecture the lovers;
Like a bandit in ambush he lay.
But he saw that their heads had no room for reason,
So bowed at their feet and went on his way.

Zara Houshmand
@ iranian.com

quatrain 912

From sunlight, a version of quatrain #912. The Houshmand version is discussed at teacher and taught. The versions are so different that it's hard to believe they stem from the same original Farsi (Persian). I suspect an error in the numbering.

This silence is worth
More than a thousand lives,
This freedom worth
More than all the empires on earth.

To glimpse that truth within yourself,
For even just a moment, is worth
More than all heavens, all worlds,
All this, and all that.

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

quatrain 17

From sunlight, two further versions of quatrain #17 to add to the one by Houshmand discussed at being rude.

I'm crying, my tears tell me that much.
Last Spring, they say, the new green, how weak you felt.

Remember any night of all our nights,
but don't remember things I've said.

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

ah tear drops
brighten my heart
clear the spring blossoms
shining my sight
flowing one night
remembering only
not any indelicate
moments of my life

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

quatrain 65

From sunlight, two further versions of quatrain #65, to add to the Houshmand one discussed at quiet day.

This bleating eventually stops. The wolf appears.
We run off in different directions,
with always some thought of how lucky we are.

But nothing floats for long.
Death floods in the mouth and the ear.
Every head goes under and away.

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

time will cut short
all this glory
this merciless wolf
will cut down the herd
everyone's head
is filled with ego
a flood called death
will wipe it out

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

quatrain 1854

From sunlight, two further versions of quatrain #1854 to add to the Houshmand translation discussed at in search of water.

I took a journey
dead set to find
your true love
at any cost
at every stage I landed
I saw a head beheaded
I saw a life is lost

trans by Nader Khalili

I travelled everywhere,
following you,
looking for signs of where you had been –
They show me a house stacked with bodies,
heads strewn on the floor.

version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva

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

quatrain 57

From sunlight, two further versions of quatrain #57, in addition to Houshmand's that I discussed under nurturing dreams.

Love is our mother and
the way of our Prophet.
Yet, it is in our nature
to fight with Love.
We can't see you, mother,
hidden behind dark veils
woven by ourselves.

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

The manner and appearance of a prophet,
our secret origins, these are born
of a woman who still lives inside us,
though she's hiding from what we've become.

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

quatrain 1118

From Sunlight, a second version of quatrain #1118, to add to the translation by Zara Houshmand under a slavery that sets free. These two translations are quite different in actual words and feelings evoked.

I am filled with splendor,
   spinning with your love.

It looks like I'm spinning around you,
   but no – I'm spinning around myself!

version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva

quatrain 720

From sunlight, two more versions of quatrain #720. The Houshmand version is discussed at the pen and the eyelash. I must say these two are greatly inferior to her version.

Your love has filled me
with a madness
no one could ever know.

Your gaze has enchanted my heart
with a poem
no one could ever write.

version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva

One day
You will take my heart completely
and make it more fiery than
a dragon.
Your eyelashes will write on my heart
the poem
that could never come from the pen
of a poet.

trans by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi

quatrain 1133

Sunlight has two versions of quatrain #1133. There is a Zara Houshmand translation but I cannot find my own commentary on this.

Burning with longing fire,
wanting to sleep with my head on your doorsill,
my living is composed only of this trying
to be in your presence.

version by Coleman Barks

i seek fire
that's my longing for you
i seek a way out
that's how i'm at your door
i'm sick and tired
of being so unhappy
only you can show me
the time of my life

trans by Nader Khalili

I seek a fire to burn away love's pain,
A carpet made of the dust at your door.
I've had enough, and more, of misery.
Let me just be happy in your company.

trans by Zara Houshmand