Daily Rumi

The world is full of remedies,
but you have no remedies until God
opens a window for you.
Though you are unaware of that remedy now,
God will make it clear
in the hour of need.

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-- Mathnawi II: 682-683
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski

You claim skill in every art
and knowledge of every science,
Yet you cannot even hear
what your own heart is telling you.

Until you can hear that simple voice
How can you be a keeper of secrets?
How can you be a traveller on this path?

-- Version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva

The beginning of pride and hatred
lies in worldly desire,
and the strength of your desire is from habit.
When an evil tendency becomes confirmed by habit,
rage is triggered when anyone restrains you.

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-- Mathnawi II:3458-3459
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski

You're all mixed up.
For the sake of position,
you come with reverence before the blind
and wait in the hall;
but in the presence of one who can see,
you behave with disrespect.
No wonder you've become fuel for the fire of desire.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

-- Mathnawi II: 3221-3222
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski

Although this reed pen is in fact insensible,
of a different substance than the writer,
yet it is an intimate friend.
Likewise, every tool of a craftsman, though lifeless,
is the familiar friend of the human spirit.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

-- Mathnawi IV: 875-876
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski

Joyful the moment when we sat in the bower, Thou and I;
In two forms and with two faces - with one soul, Thou and I.

The colour of the garden and the song of the birds give the elixir of immortality
The instant we come into the orchard, Thou and I.

The stars of Heaven come out to look upon us -
We shall show the moon herself to them, Thou and I.

Thou and I, with no 'Thou' or 'I', shall become one through our tasting;
Happy, safe from idle talking, Thou and I.

The spirited parrots of heaven will envy us -
Wen we shall laugh in such a way, Thou and I.

This is stranger, that Thou and I, in this corner here...
Are both in one breath here and there - Thou and I.

Please God, offer honey to musicians
who bring us such joy!
Give them strong and untiring hands
to keep playing their music.
Give them vision so, like birds in love,
they can bring Your message to our ears.
Let them drink plenty from Your river and
grace them with Your strength
so their music becomes the pillar of Your glory.

-- Ghazal (Ode) 2342
Translated by Azima Melita Kolin
and Maryam Mafi

don't be bitter my friend
you'll regret it soon
hold to your togetherness
or surely you'll scatter

don't walk away gloomy
from this garden
you'll end up like an owl
dwelling in old ruins

face the war and
be a warrior like a lion
or you'll end up like a pet
tucked away in a barn

once you conquer
your selfish self
all your darkness
will change to light

-- Translated by Nader Khalili

how long will you hide
your beautiful
festive smile

teach your laughter
to a flower
manifest an eternity

why do you think
the door to the sky
is closed on your face

it allures and invites
your magical touch
to open and arrive

an entire caravan
is waiting in ecstasy
for your coming and leading

come on my friend
use your talisman and
harness all their souls

today is the day to unite
with your longing beloved
wait no more
for an unknown tomorrow

a tambourine is in a corner
begging your playing hands
a flute is sitting dormant
begging your happy lips

-- Ode (Ghazal) 253
Translation by Nader Khalili

Even if you don't have the same fault as another,
don't be secure;
maybe later that fault will be yours.
For years Iblis lived in good favor,
yet in the end disgrace enveloped him:
mark well the meaning of his name.
Satan's soul was tried by the wrath of God;
he stumbled;
and in his fall became a warning to you.
He drank the poison:
eat the sugar!

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-- Mathnawi II: 3038-3045
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski

At last you have departed and gone to the Unseen.
What marvelous route did you take from this world?

Beating your wings and feathers,
you broke free from this cage.
Rising up to the sky
you attained the world of the soul.
You were a prized falcon trapped by an Old Woman.
Then you heard the drummer's call
and flew beyond space and time.

As a lovesick nightingale, you flew among the owls.
Then came the scent of the rosegarden
and you flew off to meet the Rose.

The wine of this fleeting world
caused your head to ache.
Finally you joined the tavern of Eternity.
Like an arrow, you sped from the bow
and went straight for the bull's eye of bliss.

This phantom world gave you false signs
But you turned from the illusion
and journeyed to the land of truth.

You are now the Sun -
what need have you for a crown?
You have vanished from this world -
what need have you to tie your robe?

I've heard that you can barely see your soul.
But why look at all? -
yours is now the Soul of Souls!

O heart, what a wonderful bird you are.
Seeking divine heights,
Flapping your wings,
you smashed the pointed spears of your enemy.

The flowers flee from Autumn, but not you -
You are the fearless rose
that grows amidst the freezing wind.

Pouring down like the rain of heaven
you fell upon the rooftop of this world.
Then you ran in every direction
and escaped through the drain spout . . .

Now the words are over
and the pain they bring is gone.
Now you have gone to rest
in the arms of the Beloved.

-- Rumi
-- Translation by Jonathan Star

How long will you say, "I will conquer the whole world
and fill it with myself"?
Even if snow covered the world completely,
the sun could melt it with a glance.
A single spark of God's mercy
can turn poison into springwater.
Where there is doubt,
He establishes certainty.

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-- Mathnawi I:542-546
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski

God, in spite of the skeptics,
caused spiritual gardens with sweet flowers to grow
in the hearts of His friends.
Every rose that is sweet-scented within,
that rose is telling of the secrets of the Universal.
Their scent, to the confusion of the skeptics,
spreads around the world, rending the veil.


-- Mathnawi I: 2021-2023
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski

Dear heart, where do you find
the courage to seek the Beloved
when you know He has annihilated
so many like you before?
I do not care, said my heart,
my only wish is to become
one with the Beloved.

-- Quatrain 24
Translation by Azima Melita Kolin
and Maryam Mafi

Anger and lust make a man squint;
they cloud the spirit so it strays from truth.
When self-interest appears, virtue hides:
a hundred veils rise between the heart and the eye.

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-- Mathnawi I: 333-334
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski

Regard as a king someone unconcerned with kingship.
Only he who is an enemy to his own existence
possesses real existence.

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-- Mathnawi II: 1469-1470
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski

What hidden sweetness is found in this empty
stomach! Man is like a lute, neither more nor less:
When the lute's stomach is full, it cannot
lament, whether high or low.
If your brain and stomach burn from fasting,
their fire will draw constant lamentation from your breast.
Through that fire you will burn a thousand
veils at every instant--you will ascend a thousand degrees on
the Way and in your aspiration.
Keep your stomach empty! Lament like a flute
and tell your need to God! Keep your stomach empty and
speak of the mysteries like a reed!
If you keep your stomach full, it will bring
Satan to you at the Resurrection instead of your intellect, an
idol instead of the Kaaba.
When you fast, good character traits gather
round you like servants, slaves, and retinue.
Continue your fasting, for it is Solomon's seal:
Give not the seal to the devil, disrupt not your kingdom.
And if your kingdom and army should flee from
you, your army will return, so raise the banner!
The Spread Table has come from heaven to
those who fast, for Jesus son of Mary has called it down with
his prayers*.
Await the Table of Generosity in your fast--the
Table of Generosity is better than cabbage stew!

-- Translation by William C. Chittick

I have grown old,
but not old from the days.
I have grown old
but not old from the smiles and games
of my Beloved.

With every breath
I am baked and unbaked,
With every step I become the trap
and the one who takes the bait.

-- Version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva

I have phrases and whole pages memorized,
but nothing can be told of love.
You must wait until you and I
are living together.
In the conversation we'll have
then...be patient...then.

♥

Hidden One, You who've filled the world
from East to West with Your radiance
and are exalted above the light of the Orient and the Occident,
You are the inmost Ground of Consciousness
revealing our inmost thoughts,
You are the explosive Force
that causes our dammed-up rivers to surge forth.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

-- Mathnawi V:3308-3309
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski