From 61e8a35eb9b51d670d6f475ff3d13d0b90b06dfd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: jules Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2025 20:24:54 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] Update rumi.txt --- rumi.txt | 838 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------------------------- 1 file changed, 419 insertions(+), 419 deletions(-) diff --git a/rumi.txt b/rumi.txt index 77209f3..83c9c13 100644 --- a/rumi.txt +++ b/rumi.txt @@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ Keep your feet muddy. Excuse my wandering. How can one be orderly with this? -It’s like counting leaves in a garden, +Its like counting leaves in a garden, along with the song notes of partridges, and crows. Sometimes organization and computation become absurd. @@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ God made Majnun love Layla so much that just her dog would cause confusion in him. There are thousands of wines that can take over our minds. -Don’t think all ecstasies +Dont think all ecstasies are the same! Jesus was lost in his love for God. His donkey was drunk on barley. @@ -64,9 +64,9 @@ and taste with caution. Any wine will get you high. Judge like a king, and choose the purest, the ones unadulterated with fear, -or some urgency about “what’s needed.” +or some urgency about “whats needed.” Drink the wine that moves you -as a camel moves when it’s been untied, +as a camel moves when its been untied, and is just ambling about. COOKED HEADS I have been given a glass @@ -75,8 +75,8 @@ a Friend in both worlds, like the fragrance of amber inside the fragrance of musk. My soul-parrot gets excited with sweetness. Wingbeats, a door opening in the sun. -You’ve seen the market where they sell -cooked heads: that’s what this is, +Youve seen the market where they sell +cooked heads: thats what this is, a way of seeing beyond inner and outer. A donkey wanders the sign of Taurus. Heroes do not stay lined up in ranks @@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ for very long. I set out for Tabriz, even though my boat is anchored here. WHERE YOU LOVE FROM Look inside and find where a person -loves from. That’s the reality, +loves from. Thats the reality, not what they say. Hypocrites give attention to form, the right @@ -94,13 +94,13 @@ When that revealed itself, God gave it a thousand different names, the least of those sweet-breathing names being, the one who is not in need of anyone. -You’ve so distracted me, +Youve so distracted me, your absence fans my love. -Don’t ask how. +Dont ask how. Then you come near. “Do not . . .” I say, and “Do not . . . ,” you answer. -Don’t ask why +Dont ask why this delights me. In your light I learn how to love. In your beauty, how to make poems. @@ -111,34 +111,34 @@ and that sight becomes this art. Drumsound rises on the air, its throb, my heart. A voice inside the beat says, -“I know you’re tired, +“I know youre tired, but come, this is the way.” -Are you jealous of the ocean’s generosity? +Are you jealous of the oceans generosity? Why would you refuse to give this love to anyone? -Fish don’t hold the sacred liquid in cups! +Fish dont hold the sacred liquid in cups! They swim the huge fluid freedom. -THERE’S NOTHING AHEAD -Lovers think they’re looking for each other, -but there’s only one search: wandering +THERES NOTHING AHEAD +Lovers think theyre looking for each other, +but theres only one search: wandering this world is wandering that, both inside one transparent sky. In here there is no dogma and no heresy. The miracle of Jesus is himself, not what he said or did about the future. Forget the future. -I’d worship someone who could do that. +Id worship someone who could do that. On the way you may want to look back, or not. -But if you can say, There’s nothing ahead, +But if you can say, Theres nothing ahead, there will be nothing there. Stretch your arms and take hold the cloth of your clothes with both hands. The cure for pain is in the pain. -Good and bad are mixed. If you don’t have both, -you don’t belong with us. +Good and bad are mixed. If you dont have both, +you dont belong with us. When one of us gets lost, -is not here, he must be inside us. There’s no +is not here, he must be inside us. Theres no place like that anywhere in the world. I dwell in possibility, @@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ they call sohbet. RESPONSE TO YOUR QUESTION Why ask about behavior when you are soul-essence, and a way of seeing into presence! -Plus you’re with us! +Plus youre with us! How could you worry? You may as well free a few words from your vocabulary. @@ -187,17 +187,17 @@ starting point and destination. You are soul, and you are love, not a sprite or an angel or a human being! Godman-womanGod-manGod-Godwoman! -You’re a +Youre a No more questions now -as to what it is we’re doing here. +as to what it is were doing here. If you want what visible reality can give, -you’re an employee. +youre an employee. If you want the unseen world, -you’re not living your truth. +youre not living your truth. Both wishes are foolish, -but you’ll be forgiven for forgetting +but youll be forgiven for forgetting that what you really want is -love’s confusing joy. +loves confusing joy. SPECIAL PLATES Notice how each particle moves. Notice how everyone has just arrived here @@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ Look at the chefs preparing special plates for everyone according to what they need. Look at this cup that can hold the ocean. Look at those who see the face. Look -through Shams’s eyes into water +through Shamss eyes into water that is entirely jewels. YOU ARE NOT YOUR EYES Those who have reached their arms @@ -220,11 +220,11 @@ or which side of the bed they rose from. If you are still struggling to understand, you are not there. You offer your soul to one who says, “Take it to the other -side.” You’re on neither side, yet +side.” Youre on neither side, yet those who love you see you on one side or the other. You say Illa, “only God,” -then your hungry eyes see you’re in -“nothing,” La. You’re an artist +then your hungry eyes see youre in +“nothing,” La. Youre an artist who paints both with existence and non. Shams could help you see who you are, but remember, You are not your eyes. @@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ of the town of Chigil in Turkestan that makes them so handsome, whatever lets the pomegranate flower blush like a human face, that is being said to me now. I blush. Whatever put eloquence -in language, that’s happening here. The great +in language, thats happening here. The great warehouse doors open; I fill with gratitude, chewing a piece of sugarcane, in love with the one to whom every that belongs! @@ -252,8 +252,8 @@ I deserve nothing. Today I recognize that I am the guest the mystics talk about. I play this living music for my host. Everything today is for the host. -IMRA’U‘L - QAYS -Imra’u ‘l-Qays, king of the Arabs, +IMRAU‘L - QAYS +Imrau ‘l-Qays, king of the Arabs, was very handsome and a poet full of love songs. Women loved him desperately. Everyone loved him, but there came one night an experience @@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ He put on dervish robes and wandered from one weather, one landscape, to another. Love dissolved his king-self and led him to Tabuk, where he worked for a time making bricks. -Someone told the king of Tabuk about Imra’u ‘l-Qays, +Someone told the king of Tabuk about Imrau ‘l-Qays, and that king came to visit him at night. “King of the Arabs, handsome Joseph of this age, ruler of two empires, one composed of territories, @@ -272,10 +272,10 @@ if you would consent to stay with me, I would be honored. You abandon kingdoms, because you want more than kingdoms.” The king of Tabuk went on like this, praising -Imra’u ‘l-Qays and talking theology and philosophy. -Imra’u ‘l-Qays kept silent. +Imrau ‘l-Qays and talking theology and philosophy. +Imrau ‘l-Qays kept silent. Then suddenly he leaned and whispered something -in the second king’s ear, and that second +in the second kings ear, and that second king became a wild wanderer too. They walked out of town hand in hand, no royal belts, no thrones. @@ -289,9 +289,9 @@ because of the dangerous seriousness of the secret they knew. That love-secret spoken pleasantly, or irritation, severs a hundred thousand heads in one swing. -A love-lion grazes in the soul’s pasture, +A love-lion grazes in the souls pasture, while the scimitar of this secret approaches. -It’s a killing better than any living. +Its a killing better than any living. All that world-power wants, really, is this weakness. So these kings talk in low tones, @@ -311,14 +311,14 @@ My love is wanting me. If she said, Look, the moon is up, or The willow has new leaves, or The coriander seeds have caught fire, or The king is in a good mood today, -or Isn’t that lucky, or The furniture needs dusting, or +or Isnt that lucky, or The furniture needs dusting, or The water carrier is here, or This bread needs more salt, or The clouds seem to be moving against the wind, -or My head hurts, or My headache’s better, -anything she praises it’s Joseph’s touch she means. -Any complaint, it’s his being away. -When she’s hungry, it’s for him. Thirsty, his name -is a sherbet. Cold, he’s a fur. This is what +or My head hurts, or My headaches better, +anything she praises its Josephs touch she means. +Any complaint, its his being away. +When shes hungry, its for him. Thirsty, his name +is a sherbet. Cold, hes a fur. This is what the Friend can do when one is in such love. The miracle Jesus did by being the name of God, Zuleikha felt in the name Joseph. @@ -328,23 +328,23 @@ empty of self and filled with love. PUT THIS DESIGN IN YOUR CARPET Spiritual experience is a modest woman who looks lovingly at one man. -It’s a great river where ducks live +Its a great river where ducks live happily, and crows drown. The visible bowl of form contains food that is both nourishing and a source of heartburn. There is an unseen presence we honor that gives the gifts. -You’re water. We’re the millstone. -You’re wind. We’re dust blown up into shapes. -You’re spirit. We’re the opening and closing -of our hands. You’re the clarity. -We’re this language that tries to say it. -You’re joy. We’re all the different kinds +Youre water. Were the millstone. +Youre wind. Were dust blown up into shapes. +Youre spirit. Were the opening and closing +of our hands. Youre the clarity. +Were this language that tries to say it. +Youre joy. Were all the different kinds of laughing. Any movement or sound is a profession of faith, as the millstone grinding is explaining how it believes in the river! No metaphor can say this, -but I can’t stop pointing to the beauty. +but I cant stop pointing to the beauty. Every moment and place says, “Put this design in your carpet!” THE ROAD HOME @@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ gold streaks across. A stick that finds water in stone. Jesus sitting quietly near the animals. Night so peaceful. This is enough -was always true. We just haven’t +was always true. We just havent seen it. The hoopoe already wears a tufted crown. Each ant is given its elegant belt at birth. This love @@ -382,24 +382,24 @@ They have grown old, and their father has miraculously grown young! They meet him and ask, “Pardon us, sir, but have you seen Uzayr? We hear -that he’s supposed to be coming along +that hes supposed to be coming along this road today.” “Yes,” says Uzayr, -“he’s right behind me.” One of his sons -replies, “That’s good news.” The other +“hes right behind me.” One of his sons +replies, “Thats good news.” The other falls on the ground. He has recognized his father. “What do you mean news? -We’re already inside the sweetness +Were already inside the sweetness of his presence.” To the mind there is such a thing as news, whereas -to inner knowing, it’s all in the middle +to inner knowing, its all in the middle of its happening. To doubters, this is -a pain. To believers, it’s gospel. +a pain. To believers, its gospel. To the lover and the visionary, -it’s life as it’s being lived. +its life as its being lived. Out of nowhere a horse brought us here where we taste love -until we don’t exist again. This taste +until we dont exist again. This taste is the wine we always mention. AMAZED MOUTH The soul: a wide listening sky @@ -411,11 +411,11 @@ climbing down. The market square bright with understanding. Listening opens its amazed mouth. Birdsong, wind, -the water’s face. +the waters face. Each flower, remembering the smell: -I know you’re close by. +I know youre close by. BEGIN -This is now. Now is. Don’t postpone +This is now. Now is. Dont postpone till then. Spend the spark of iron on stone. Sit at the head of the table. Dip your spoon in the bowl. Seat yourself @@ -423,11 +423,11 @@ next to your joy and have your awakened soul pour wine. Branches in the spring wind, easy dance of jasmine and cypress. Cloth for green robes has been cut from pure -absence. You’re the tailor, settled +absence. Youre the tailor, settled among his shop goods, quietly sewing. Sudden Wholeness -In this love kingdom there’s a windy blowing open of windows. Spring! Sounds of talking sprout. There’s a picnic by +In this love kingdom theres a windy blowing open of windows. Spring! Sounds of talking sprout. Theres a picnic by the river. Identity is music, and poems are rough notations of the melodies. This station gives the lover glimpses of a spirit-wholeness running through the apparent chaos, a rightness that @@ -436,16 +436,16 @@ Here is the auspicious beginning. Kindness stands in the door. You walk out together like the Zen master Basho moving around Kyoto, pining for Kyoto. The phenomenal and the numinous grow identical. The world you see, together with the poem, both are intensely alive inside each other -with revelation and suchness. That’s the feeling in this +with revelation and suchness. Thats the feeling in this region: continuous seasonal epiphany, grief, elation, whimsy. Samurai talk — tang of horse radish. You, the butterfly — -I, Chuang Tzu’s +I, Chuang Tzus dreaming heart. Even in Kyoto — -hearing the cuckoo’s cry — +hearing the cuckoos cry — I long for Kyoto. THIS MARKET Can you find another market like this? @@ -455,20 +455,20 @@ Where, for one seed you get a whole wilderness? For one weak breath, the divine wind? THE MUSIC WE ARE -Did you hear that winter’s over? +Did you hear that winters over? The basil and the carnations cannot control their laughter. The nightingale, back from his wandering, has been made singing master over all the birds. The trees reach out their congratulations. The soul -goes dancing through the king’s doorway. +goes dancing through the kings doorway. Anemones blush because they have seen the rose naked. Spring, the only fair judge, walks in the courtroom, and several December thieves steal away. -Last year’s miracles will soon be +Last years miracles will soon be forgotten. New creatures whirl in from nonexistence, galaxies scattered around their feet. Have you met them? @@ -482,17 +482,17 @@ The orchard hangs out its lanterns. The dead come stumbling by in shrouds. Nothing can stay bound or be imprisoned. You say, “End this poem here and -wait for what’s next.” I will. Poems +wait for whats next.” I will. Poems are rough notations for the music we are. WALNUTS Philosophers have said that we love music because it resembles the sphere-sounds -of union. We’ve been part of a harmony +of union. Weve been part of a harmony before, so these moments of treble and bass keep our remembering fresh. But how does this happen within these dense bodies full of forgetfulness and doubt and -grieving? It’s like water passing through us. +grieving? Its like water passing through us. It becomes acidic and bitter, but still as urine it retains watery qualities. It will put out a fire! So there is this music @@ -508,10 +508,10 @@ and drops walnuts one by one into the beautiful place. He listens carefully to the sound as they hit and watches the bubbles. A more rational man gives advice, -“You’ll regret doing this. You’re so far +“Youll regret doing this. Youre so far from the water that by the time you get down to gather walnuts, the water will have -carried them away.” He replies, “I’m not +carried them away.” He replies, “Im not here for walnuts, I want the music they make when they hit.” You that come to birth and bring the mysteries, @@ -521,8 +521,8 @@ and tear me open! NO BETTER GIFT When the ocean comes to you as a lover, marry, at once, quickly, -for God’s sake! -Don’t postpone it! +for Gods sake! +Dont postpone it! Existence has no better gift. No amount of searching will find this. @@ -533,12 +533,12 @@ and become yours. 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. +Inside the needles eye, a turning night of stars. The clear bead at the center changes everything. There are no edges to my loving now. -You’ve heard it said there’s a window +Youve heard it said theres a window that opens from one mind to another, -but if there’s no wall, there’s no need +but if theres no wall, theres no need for fitting the window, or the latch. A thousand half-loves must be forsaken to take @@ -546,11 +546,11 @@ one whole heart home. PATTERN When love itself comes to kiss you, -don’t hold back! When the king goes hunting, +dont hold back! When the king goes hunting, the forest smiles. Now the king has become the place and all the players, prey, bystander, bow, arrow, hand and release. -How does that feel? Last night’s dream +How does that feel? Last nights dream enters these open eyes. We sometimes make spiderwebs of smoke and saliva, fragile thought-packets. Leave thinking to the one @@ -580,10 +580,10 @@ Take an ax to the prison wall. Escape. Walk out like someone suddenly born into color. Do it now. -You’re covered with thick cloud. +Youre covered with thick cloud. Slide out the side. Die, and be quiet. Quietness is the surest -sign that you’ve died. +sign that youve died. Your old life was a frantic running from silence. The speechless full moon comes out now. @@ -599,11 +599,11 @@ the moon to come and press its face against mine. Breathe into me. Close the language-door and open the love-window. -The moon won’t use the door, +The moon wont use the door, only the window. THE WATER WHEEL Stay together, friends. -Don’t scatter and sleep. +Dont scatter and sleep. Our friendship is made of being awake. The waterwheel accepts water @@ -654,7 +654,7 @@ as oil is the essence of this light. You are the origin of all jasmine, narcissi, and irises to come. You are sunlight moving -through the houses, David’s hand +through the houses, Davids hand molding smooth chainmail, September moon over the unharvested crop. You set @@ -681,7 +681,7 @@ who escape to meet with other escapees, whose hearts associate in a way they have of leaving their false selves to live in a truer self. -I don’t mind if my companions +I dont mind if my companions wander away for a while. They will come back like a smiling drunk. The thirsty ones die of their thirst. @@ -700,14 +700,14 @@ rising up. Today I recognized that that jewel-like beauty is the presence, our loving confusion, the glow in which watery clay gets brighter than fire, the one we call the Friend. -NASUH'S CHANGING +NASUHS CHANGING At that moment his spirit grows wings and lifts. His ego falls like a battered wall. He unites with God, alive, but emptied of Nasuh. His ship sinks and in its place move the ocean waves. -His body’s disgrace, like a falcon’s loosened -binding, slips from the falcon’s foot. +His bodys disgrace, like a falcons loosened +binding, slips from the falcons foot. His stones drink in water. His field shines like satin with gold threads in it. Someone dead a hundred years steps out strong and handsome. @@ -722,8 +722,8 @@ the idiom of my longing for Shamsi Tabriz. THE CIRCLE Is there anything better than selling figs to the fig seller? -That’s how this is. -Making a profit is not why we’re here, +Thats how this is. +Making a profit is not why were here, nor pleasure, nor even joy. When someone is a goldsmith, wherever he goes, he asks @@ -735,11 +735,11 @@ through the threshing. How just do you feel when you load a lame donkey? The world has some share in this cup. -That’s how it turns green. +Thats how it turns green. Let the lean and wounded be revived in your garden. -How would the soul feel in the beloved’s +How would the soul feel in the beloveds river? Fish washed free and clean of fear. You drive us away, but we return like pet @@ -759,7 +759,7 @@ No one can take your place in existence or in absence. Both mourn, the angels, the prophets, and this sadness I feel has taken from me the taste of language, -so that I can’t say the flavor +so that I cant say the flavor of my being apart. The roof of the kingdom within has collapsed! When I say the word you, I mean @@ -768,7 +768,7 @@ Pouring grief of water, or secret dripping in the heart, eyes in the head or eyes of the soul, I saw yesterday that all these flow out to find you -when you’re not here. +when youre not here. That bright fire bird Saladin went like an arrow, and now the bow trembles and sobs. @@ -776,10 +776,10 @@ If you know how to weep for human beings, weep for Saladin. BIRD WINGS -Your grief for what you’ve lost lifts a mirror -up to where you’re bravely working. +Your grief for what youve lost lifts a mirror +up to where youre bravely working. Expecting the worst, you look, and instead, -here’s the joyful face you’ve been wanting to see. +heres the joyful face youve been wanting to see. Your hand opens and closes and opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralyzed. @@ -801,16 +801,16 @@ A tiny spider tries to wrap an enormous wasp. Think of the spiderweb woven across the cave where Muhammad slept! There are love stories, and there is obliteration into love. -You’ve been walking the ocean’s edge, +Youve been walking the oceans edge, holding up your robes to keep them dry. You must dive naked under and deeper under, a thousand times deeper! Love flows down. The ground submits to the sky and suffers what comes. Tell me, is the earth worse for giving in like that? -Don’t put blankets over the drum! +Dont put blankets over the drum! Open completely. Let your spirit-ear -listen to the green dome’s passionate murmur. +listen to the green domes passionate murmur. Let the cords of your robe be untied. Shiver in this new love beyond all above and below. The sun rises, but which way @@ -835,7 +835,7 @@ Birds make great sky-circles of their freedom. How do they learn that? They fall, and falling, -they’re given wings. +theyre given wings. I THROW IT ALL You play with the great globe of union, @@ -854,14 +854,14 @@ leaves the world taking almost all its sweetness with it. You saddle your horse. You must be going. Remember you have friends here as faithful as grass and sky. -Have I failed you? Possibly you’re +Have I failed you? Possibly youre angry. But remember our nights of conversation, the well work, yellow roses by ocean, the longing, the archangel Gabriel saying So be it. Shamsi Tabriz, your face, is what every religion tries to remember. -I’ve broken through to longing now, +Ive broken through to longing now, filled with a grief I have felt before, but never like this. The center leads to love. @@ -870,7 +870,7 @@ Hold on to your particular pain. That too can take you to God. My work is to carry this love as comfort for those who long for you, -to go everywhere you’ve walked +to go everywhere youve walked and gaze at the pressed-down dirt. Pale sunlight, pale the wall. @@ -894,7 +894,7 @@ to let a streaming beauty flow through you. Call it spirit, elixir, or the original agreement between yourself and God. Opening into that gives peace, a song of being empty, pure silence. -The ground’s generosity takes in our compost +The grounds generosity takes in our compost and grows beauty. Try to be more like the ground. Give back better, as rough clods return @@ -903,12 +903,12 @@ awn, this sleek handful of oats. I am a glass of wine with dark sediment. I pour it all in the river. -Love says to me, “Good, but you don’t see +Love says to me, “Good, but you dont see your own beauty. I am the wind that mixes in your fire, who stirs and brightens, then makes you gutter out.” SMOKE -Don’t listen to anything I say. +Dont listen to anything I say. I must enter the center of the fire. Fire is my child, but I must be consumed and become fire. @@ -922,7 +922,7 @@ In the blackness those friends keep arguing. Like a wanderer with no face. Like the most powerful bird in existence sitting on its perch, refusing to move. -I'M NOT SAYING THIS RIGHT +IM NOT SAYING THIS RIGHT You bind me, and I tear away in a rage to open out into air, a round brightness, a candlepoint, @@ -930,7 +930,7 @@ all reason, all love. This confusing joy, your doing, this hangover, your tender thorn. You turn to look, I turn. -I’m not saying this right. +Im not saying this right. I am a jailed crazy who ties up spirit-women. I am Solomon. What goes comes back. Come back. @@ -946,17 +946,17 @@ If I could taste one sip of an answer, I could break out of this prison for drunks. MOUTH? -I didn’t come here of my own accord, -and I can’t leave that way. +I didnt come here of my own accord, +and I cant leave that way. Whoever brought me here will have to take me home. -This poetry. I never know what I’m going to say. -I don’t plan it. -When I’m outside the saying of it, +This poetry. I never know what Im going to say. +I dont plan it. +When Im outside the saying of it, I get very quiet and rarely speak at all. We have a huge barrel of wine, but no cups. -That’s fine with us. Every morning +Thats fine with us. Every morning we glow and in the evening we glow again. -They say there’s no future for us. They’re right. +They say theres no future for us. Theyre right. Which is fine with us. Real value comes with madness, matzoob below, scientist above. @@ -966,7 +966,7 @@ disappears into emptiness with a thousand new disguises. A CAP TO WEAR IN BOTH WORLDS -There is a passion in me that doesn’t +There is a passion in me that doesnt long for anything from another human being. I was given something else, a cap to wear in both worlds. It fell off. No matter. @@ -974,14 +974,14 @@ One morning I went to a place beyond dawn. A source of sweetness that flows and is never less. I have been shown a beauty that would confuse both worlds, -but I won’t cause that uproar. I am +but I wont cause that uproar. I am nothing but a head set on the ground as a gift for Shams. Midnight, but your forehead shines with dawn. You dance as you come to me and curl by curl undo the dark. Let jealousy end. -There’s a strange frenzy in my head, +Theres a strange frenzy in my head, of birds flying, each particle circulating on its own. Is the one I love everywhere? @@ -989,14 +989,14 @@ Is the one I love everywhere? FRINGE You wreck my shop and my house and now my heart, but how can I run from what gives me life? -I’m weary of personal worrying, in love +Im weary of personal worrying, in love with the art of madness! Tear open my shame and show the mystery. How much longer do I have to fret with self-restraint and fear? Friends, this is how it is: we are fringe sewn inside the lining of a robe. Soon -we’ll be loosened, the binding threads torn -out. The beloved is a lion. We’re +well be loosened, the binding threads torn +out. The beloved is a lion. Were the lame deer in his paws. Consider what choices we have! Drunks fear the police, @@ -1012,17 +1012,17 @@ their colors into the mud. Now you sit in a garden not doing a thing, smiling. You have felt the ache and confusion of a hangover, yet -you take again the wine that’s handed you. +you take again the wine thats handed you. Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absentminded. Someone sober will worry about things going badly. Let the lover be. WONDER WITHOUT WILLPOWER -Love’s way becomes a pen sometimes +Loves way becomes a pen sometimes writing g-sounds like gold or r-sounds like tomorrow in different calligraphy styles sliding by, darkening the paper. -Now it’s held upside down, now beside +Now its held upside down, now beside the head, now down and on to something else, figuring. One sentence saves @@ -1057,13 +1057,13 @@ Wine abandons thousands of famous names, the vintage years and delightful bouquets, to run wild and anonymous through your brain. The flute closes its eyes and gives its lips -to Hamza’s emptiness. +to Hamzas emptiness. Everything begs with the silent rocks for you to be flung out like light over this plain, the presence of Shams. CANDLE LIGHT BECOMES MOTH -Inside a lover’s heart there’s another world, +Inside a lovers heart theres another world, and yet another. Inside the Friend of this community of lovers, an ear that interprets mystery, @@ -1071,7 +1071,7 @@ a vein of silver in the ground, and another sky! Intellect and compassion are ladders we climb, and there are other ladders as we walk the night hearing a voice that talks of forgiveness. -Inside Shams’s universe candlelight itself +Inside Shamss universe candlelight itself becomes a moth to die in his candle. THE BASKET OF FRESH BREAD If you want to learn theory, @@ -1081,7 +1081,7 @@ That learning comes through the hands. If you want dervishhood, spiritual poverty and emptiness, you must be friends with a teacher. Talking about it, reading books, and doing practices -don’t help. Soul receives from soul that knowing. +dont help. Soul receives from soul that knowing. The mystery of absence may be living in your pilgrim heart, @@ -1089,77 +1089,77 @@ and yet the knowing of it may not yet be yours. Wait for the illuminated openness, as though your chest were filling with light, as when God said, -Did we not expand you? (Qur’an : ) -Don’t look for it outside yourself. -You are the source of milk. Don’t milk others! +Did we not expand you? (Quran : ) +Dont look for it outside yourself. +You are the source of milk. Dont milk others! There is a fountain inside you. -Don’t walk around with an empty bucket. +Dont walk around with an empty bucket. You have a channel into the ocean, yet you ask for water from a little pool. Beg for the love expansion. Meditate only -on THAT. The Qur’an says, +on THAT. The Quran says, And he is with you. ( : ) There is a basket of fresh bread on your head, yet you go door to door asking for crusts. Knock on the inner door, no other. Sloshing knee-deep in fresh riverwater, -yet you keep asking for other people’s waterbags. +yet you keep asking for other peoples waterbags. Water is everywhere around you, but you see only barriers that keep you from water. -The horse is beneath the rider’s thighs, -and still you ask, “Where’s my horse?” +The horse is beneath the riders thighs, +and still you ask, “Wheres my horse?” Right there, under you! -Yes, this is a horse, but where’s the horse? -Can’t you see? +Yes, this is a horse, but wheres the horse? +Cant you see? “Yes I can see, but whoever saw such a horse?” -Mad with thirst, you can’t drink from the stream +Mad with thirst, you cant drink from the stream running close by your face. You are like a pearl on the deep bottom wondering inside the shell, -Where’s the ocean? +Wheres the ocean? Those mental questionings form the barrier. Stay bewildered inside God, and only that. When you are with everyone but me, -you’re with no one. +youre with no one. When you are with no one but me, -you’re with everyone. +youre with everyone. Instead of being so bound up with everyone, be everyone. -When you become that many, you’re nothing. +When you become that many, youre nothing. Empty. THIS TORTURE Why should we tell you our love stories when you spill them together like blood in the dirt? Love is a pearl lost on the ocean floor, -or a fire we can’t see, +or a fire we cant see, but how does saying that push us through the top of the head into the light above the head? Love is not an iron pot, so this boiling energy -won’t help. +wont help. Soul, heart, self. Beyond and within those is one saying, How long before -I’m free of this torture! +Im free of this torture! -Think that you’re gliding out from the face of a cliff -like an eagle. Think you’re walking +Think that youre gliding out from the face of a cliff +like an eagle. Think youre walking like a tiger walks by himself in the forest. -You’re most handsome when you’re after food. +Youre most handsome when youre after food. THE PUBLIC BATH Imagine the phenomenal world as a furnace heating water for the public bath. Some people carry baskets of dung to keep the furnace going. Call them materialists, energetic, fire-stoking citizens. -One of those brags how he’s collected +One of those brags how hes collected and carried twenty dung baskets today, while his friend has brought six! They think the counting up at nightfall @@ -1181,15 +1181,15 @@ and sits in the cleansing water. The mystery is how the obsessions of furnace stokers keep the bathwater of the others simmering perfectly. -They seem opposed, but they’re necessary -to each other’s work: the proud piling up +They seem opposed, but theyre necessary +to each others work: the proud piling up of fire worship, the humble disrobing and emptying out of purification. As the sun dries wet dung to make it ready to heat water, so dazzling sparks fly from the burning filth. MASHALLAH -There’s someone swaying by your side, +Theres someone swaying by your side, lips that say Mashallah, Mashallah. Wonderful. God inside attraction. A spring no one knew of wells up @@ -1203,14 +1203,14 @@ your soul, who keeps time. Move, make a mistake, look up. Checkmate. SPIRIT AND BODY -Don’t feed both sides of yourself equally. +Dont feed both sides of yourself equally. The spirit and the body carry different loads and require different attentions. Too often we put saddlebags on Jesus and let the donkey run loose in the pasture. -Don’t make the body do -what the spirit does best, and don’t put a big load +Dont make the body do +what the spirit does best, and dont put a big load on the spirit that the body could easily carry. BREADMAKING There was a feast. The king was in his cups. @@ -1218,32 +1218,32 @@ He saw a learned scholar walking by. “Bring him in and give him some of this fine wine.” Servants rushed out and brought the man -to the king’s table, but he was not receptive. +to the kings table, but he was not receptive. “I had rather drink poison! Take it away!” He kept on with these loud refusals, disturbing the atmosphere of the feast. This is how -it sometimes is at God’s table. +it sometimes is at Gods table. Someone who has heard about ecstatic love, but never tasted it, disrupts the banquet. -He’s all fire and no light, +Hes all fire and no light, all husk and no kernel. The king gave orders, “Cupbearer, do what you must.” This is how your invisible guide acts, the chess champion across from you that always wins. He cuffed -the scholar’s head and said, “Taste!” and +the scholars head and said, “Taste!” and “Again!” The cup was drained, and the intellectual started singing and telling ridiculous jokes. He joined the garden, snapping his fingers and swaying. Soon, of course, he had to pee. He went out, and there near the latrine -was a beautiful woman, one of the king’s harem. +was a beautiful woman, one of the kings harem. His mouth hung open. He wanted her! Right then, he wanted her! And she was not unwilling. -They fell to, on the ground. You’ve seen a baker +They fell to, on the ground. Youve seen a baker rolling dough. He kneads it gently at first, then more roughly. He pounds it on the board. It softly groans under his palms. @@ -1259,14 +1259,14 @@ into the oven, which is already hot. You remember breadmaking! This is how your desire tangles with a desired one. -And it’s not just +And its not just a metaphor for a man and a woman making love. Warriors in battle do this too. A great mutual embrace is always happening between the eternal and what dies, between essence and accident. The sport has different rules in every case, -but it’s basically the same, +but its basically the same, and remember, the way you make love is the way God will be with you. @@ -1281,14 +1281,14 @@ The siege goes on for weeks, many casualties, the walls and towers unsteady as wax. The King of Mosul sends an envoy, “Why this killing? If you want the city, I will leave and you can have it! -If you want more wealth, that’s even easier!” +If you want more wealth, thats even easier!” The Captain takes out the piece of paper. This. The strong king is quick to reply, “Lead her out. The idol belongs with the idolater.” When the Captain sees her, he falls in love like the Caliph. -Don’t laugh at this. +Dont laugh at this. Their loving is also part of infinite love, without which the world does not evolve. Objects move from inorganic @@ -1312,15 +1312,15 @@ into the hole. The Captain does not take the girl straight to the Caliph. Instead, he camps in a secluded meadow. Blazing, -he can’t tell ground from sky! His reason is lost +he cant tell ground from sky! His reason is lost in a drumming sound, worthless radish and son of a radish, -this cultivator tears off the woman’s pants +this cultivator tears off the womans pants and lies down between her legs, his penis moving straight to the mark. -Just then, there’s a rising cry of soldiers +Just then, theres a rising cry of soldiers outside the tent. A black lion from a nearby swamp has gotten in among the horses. @@ -1329,9 +1329,9 @@ shining, scimitar in hand. The lion is jumping twenty feet in the air, tents billowing -like an ocean. The Captain splits the lion’s head +like an ocean. The Captain splits the lions head with one blow. -Now he’s running back to the woman. +Now hes running back to the woman. When he stretches out the beauty again, his penis goes even more erect. @@ -1364,11 +1364,11 @@ A man and woman together always have a spirit-result. The Captain was not so aware. He fell and stuck like a gnat in a pot of buttermilk, totally absorbed in his love affair. -Then just as suddenly, he’s uninterested. -“Don’t say a word of this to the Caliph.” He takes the girl +Then just as suddenly, hes uninterested. +“Dont say a word of this to the Caliph.” He takes the girl and presents her. The Caliph is smitten. -She’s a hundred times more beautiful +Shes a hundred times more beautiful than he imagined! He also has the idea of entering her beauty and comes to do his wanting. Memory raises his penis, straining in thought toward @@ -1390,8 +1390,8 @@ only increases it like the laughing of those who eat hashish. Everything is funny. When she gets hold of herself, the girl tells all, -the Captain’s running about the camp hard as a rhino’s horn, -then the Caliph’s member shrinking +the Captains running about the camp hard as a rhinos horn, +then the Caliphs member shrinking for one mouse-whisper. The Caliph comes back to his clarity, @@ -1402,7 +1402,7 @@ The adulterer pimps for his own wife. When you cause injury to someone, you draw the same injury to yourself. This lusting repetition must stop somewhere. -Here, in an act of mercy. I’ll send you back +Here, in an act of mercy. Ill send you back to the Captain. May you both enjoy the pleasure.” This is the virility @@ -1412,8 +1412,8 @@ but his manliness was powerful. The kernel of true manhood is the ability to abandon sensual indulgence. The intensity -of the Captain’s libido is less than a husk compared -to the Caliph’s nobility in ending the cycle +of the Captains libido is less than a husk compared +to the Caliphs nobility in ending the cycle of sowing lust and reaping secrecy and meanness. TWO WAYS OF RUNNING A certain man had a jealous wife and a very @@ -1423,20 +1423,20 @@ them alone, ever. For six years they were never left in a room together. But then, one day at the public bath -the wife remembered she’d left +the wife remembered shed left her silver basin at home. “Please, go get the basin,” she told her maid. The girl jumped to the task knowing she would finally get to be alone with the master. She ran joyfully. She flew. Desire took them both -so quickly they didn’t latch the door. +so quickly they didnt latch the door. With great speed they joined. When bodies blend in copulation, spirits also merge. Meanwhile, the wife back at the bathhouse is washing her hair. “What have I done! -I’ve set cotton wool on fire! I’ve put the ram in +Ive set cotton wool on fire! Ive put the ram in with the ewe!” She washed the clay soap off and ran, fixing @@ -1448,12 +1448,12 @@ A mystic lover flies moment to moment. The fearful ascetic drags along month to month. The length of a day for a lover may be fifty thousand years! -There’s no way to understand this +Theres no way to understand this with your mind. You must burst open! Love is a quality of God. Fear is an attribute of those who think they serve God, -but actually they’re preoccupied with penis +but actually theyre preoccupied with penis and vagina. Rule-keepers run on foot along the surface. Lovers move like lightning and wind. @@ -1488,16 +1488,16 @@ into hypocrites. CLOSE TO BEING TRUE How can we know the divine qualities from within? If we know only -through metaphors, it’s like when +through metaphors, its like when children ask what sex feels like and you answer, “Like candy, so sweet.” The suchness of sex comes with being inside the pleasure. Whatever you say about mysteries, -I know or I don’t know, both are close +I know or I dont know, both are close to being true. Neither is quite a lie. WHAT HURTS THE SOUL -We tremble, thinking we’re about to dissolve +We tremble, thinking were about to dissolve into nonexistence, but nonexistence fears even more that it might be given human form! Loving God is the only pleasure. Other delights @@ -1527,7 +1527,7 @@ The heart is the secret inside INSIDE the secret. Call the secret language and never be sure -what you conceal. It’s unsure +what you conceal. Its unsure people who get the blessing. Climbing jasmine, opening rose, @@ -1546,9 +1546,9 @@ of mind to become the song of birds and their breathing. If everyone could see what love is, each would set up a tentpole in the ocean. -The world’s population pitched and living +The worlds population pitched and living easily within the sea! What if inside -every lover’s tear you saw the face +every lovers tear you saw the face of the Friend: Muhammad, Jesus, Buddha, the impossible-possible philosopher, the glass diamond one, Shams Tabriz? @@ -1581,7 +1581,7 @@ DROWNING What can I say to someone so curled up with wanting, so constricted in his love? Break your pitcher -against a rock. We don’t need any longer +against a rock. We dont need any longer to haul pieces of the ocean around. We must drown, away from heroism, and descriptions of heroism. @@ -1590,20 +1590,20 @@ its body over it, like a bride her husband for a cover to keep her warm. THE DOG PROBLEM -Now, what if a dog’s owner +Now, what if a dogs owner were not able to control it? A poor dervish might appear: the dog storms out. The dervish says, “I take refuge with God when the dog of arrogance attacks,” -and the dog’s owner has to say, -“So do I! I’m helpless +and the dogs owner has to say, +“So do I! Im helpless against this creature even in my own house! -Just as you can’t come close, -I can’t go out!” +Just as you cant come close, +I cant go out!” This is how animal energy becomes monstrous -and ruins your life’s freshness and beauty. +and ruins your lifes freshness and beauty. Think of taking this dog -out to hunt! You’d be the quarry. +out to hunt! Youd be the quarry. ZIKR A naked man jumps in the river, hornets swarming above him. The water is the zikr, @@ -1615,38 +1615,38 @@ The head comes up. They sting. Breathe water. Become river head to foot. Hornets leave you alone then. -Even if you’re far from the river, +Even if youre far from the river, they pay no attention. -No one looks for stars when the sun’s out. +No one looks for stars when the suns out. A person blended into God does not disappear. He or she is just completely soaked -in God’s qualities. Do you need a quote -from the Qur’an? +in Gods qualities. Do you need a quote +from the Quran? All shall be brought into our presence. Join those travelers. The lamps we burn go out, some quickly. Some last till daybreak. Some are dim, some intense; all are fed with fuel. If a light goes out in one house, -that doesn’t affect the next house. +that doesnt affect the next house. This is the story of the animal soul, not the divine soul. The sun shines on every house. When it goes down, all houses get dark. Light is the image of your teacher. Your enemies love the dark. A spider weaves a web over a light, out of herself makes a veil. -Don’t try to control a wild horse by grabbing its leg. +Dont try to control a wild horse by grabbing its leg. Take hold the neck. Use a bridle. Be sensible. Then ride! There is a need for self-denial. -Don’t be contemptuous of old obediences. They help. +Dont be contemptuous of old obediences. They help. THE CORE OF MASCULINITY The core of masculinity does not derive from being male, nor friendliness from those who console. -Your old grandmother says, “Maybe you shouldn’t +Your old grandmother says, “Maybe you shouldnt go to school. You look a little pale.” Run when you hear that. -A father’s stern slaps are better. +A fathers stern slaps are better. Your bodily soul wants comforting. The severe father wants spiritual clarity. He scolds but eventually @@ -1661,7 +1661,7 @@ to rid themselves of lying, who empty the self and have only clear being there. -THE SOUL'S FRIEND +THE SOULS FRIEND Listen to your essential self, the Friend. When you feel longing, be patient, and also prudent, moderate with eating and drinking. @@ -1677,10 +1677,10 @@ When traveling, stay close to your bag. I am the bag that holds what you love. You can be separated from me! Live carefully in the joy of this friendship. -Don’t think, But those others love me so. -Some invitations sound like the fowler’s whistle +Dont think, But those others love me so. +Some invitations sound like the fowlers whistle to the quail, friendly, but not quite -how you remember the call of your soul’s Friend. +how you remember the call of your souls Friend. LONGING Longing is the core of mystery. @@ -1692,7 +1692,7 @@ in time, sacrificed. The morning wind spreads its fresh smell. We must get up to take that in, that wind that lets us live. -Breathe, before it’s gone. +Breathe, before its gone. WHAT DRAWS YOU? There are two types on the path, those who come against their will, the blindly religious, @@ -1710,7 +1710,7 @@ Any love from the beloved. FEAR Everyone can see how they have polished the mirror of the self, which is done with the longings -we’re given. +were given. Not everyone wants to be king! There are different roles and many choices within each. @@ -1720,21 +1720,21 @@ for being human. In battle, one runs fearing for his life. Another, just as scared, turns and fights more fiercely. -A TEACHER'S PAY +A TEACHERS PAY God has said Be moderate with eating and drinking, but never, Be satisfied when taking in light. God offers a teacher the treasures of the world, and the teacher responds, “To be in love with God and expect to be paid for it!” A servant wants to be rewarded for what he does. A lover wants -only to be in love’s presence, that ocean +only to be in loves presence, that ocean whose depth will never be known. LOOKING INTO THE CREEK The way the soul is with the senses and the intellect is like a creek. When desire weeds grow thick, -intelligence can’t flow, +intelligence cant flow, and soul creatures stay hidden. But sometimes the reasonable clarity runs so strong @@ -1746,7 +1746,7 @@ more so. Laughing and satisfied, the masterful flow lets creatures of the soul appear. You look down, -and it’s lucid dreaming. +and its lucid dreaming. The gates made of light swing open. You see in. @@ -1760,7 +1760,7 @@ I swear by the one who never says tomorrow, as the circle of the moon refuses to sell installments of light. It gives all it has. How do fables conclude, and who will explain them? -Every story is us. That’s who we are, +Every story is us. Thats who we are, from beginning to no-matter-how it ends. Should I use the pronoun we? The Friend walks by, and bricks in the wall feel @@ -1771,23 +1771,23 @@ are those who sit at the table and eat. Lover and Friend are one being, and separate beings too, as the polisher melts -in the mirror’s face. +in the mirrors face. BURNT KABOB Last year, I admired the wines. This, -I’m wandering inside the red world. +Im wandering inside the red world. Last year, I gazed at the fire, -This year I’m burnt kabob. +This year Im burnt kabob. Thirst drove me down to the water -where I drank the moon’s reflection. +where I drank the moons reflection. Now I am a lion staring up, totally lost in love with the thing itself. -Don’t ask questions about +Dont ask questions about longing. Look in my face. Soul drunk, body ruined, these two sit helpless in a wrecked wagon. Neither knows how to fix it. -And my heart, I’d say it was more +And my heart, Id say it was more like a donkey sunk in a mudhole, struggling and miring deeper. But listen to me: for one moment, @@ -1827,7 +1827,7 @@ mystery. Just be and it is. A king dreams his young son has died. He falls into such grief in the dream that the world darkens, and his body grows inert. -Suddenly he wakes into a joy he’s never felt. +Suddenly he wakes into a joy hes never felt. His son is alive! He thinks to himself, Such sorrow causes such joy. It is a kind of joke on human beings that we are pulled @@ -1841,7 +1841,7 @@ If my son dies, I will need a keepsake. When a candle goes out, you need another lit candle. My son must give us offspring. -He’s of marriageable age. I’ll find +Hes of marriageable age. Ill find him a bride. This is flawless reasoning, dear reader. Open any medical text and look at the table of contents: tumors, rashes, @@ -1849,7 +1849,7 @@ fevers, there are a thousand ways to die! Every step takes you into a scorpion pit. He found a wife for the prince, not from royal blood or from wealth, but from a poor, -honest worker’s family, with the greater riches +honest workers family, with the greater riches of an open heart. A beautiful young woman clear as the morning sun. The women in the court object vigorously, but the king @@ -1872,9 +1872,9 @@ from the road to save the prince. “Go to the graveyard before dawn,” says the master. “Find the bleached-white tomb beside the wall. Dig there in the direction -your prayer rug points. You’ll discover +your prayer rug points. Youll discover how God works.” This story is long, -and you’re tired. I’ll get to the point. +and youre tired. Ill get to the point. The prince does as the master says and wakes. He runs to his father carrying a sword and a shroud, the signs his digging brought, @@ -1893,7 +1893,7 @@ days. Little by little with rosewater remedies he wakes again. A year passes in this new life. Then the king begins to joke with his son, “Do you remember that old friend of yours, -how it was in her bed?” “Don’t mention it!” +how it was in her bed?” “Dont mention it!” screams the son. “That was delusion. I have found my real bride now.” This prince is the soul of humanity, your essence. @@ -1902,21 +1902,21 @@ of the sensory world. Release from the spell comes when you say, I take refuge with the lord of daybreak. The woman has great power. She can tie knots in your chest that only -God’s breathing loosens. Don’t take her appeal +Gods breathing loosens. Dont take her appeal lightly. The prince was in her net for one year. You might stay there sixty. You say -you grow restless when you don’t drink the dark +you grow restless when you dont drink the dark world-drink, but if you could see a living one for one moment, you would draw out that thorn from your foot and walk with no limp. Let -the lamp of the Friend’s face show you where +the lamp of the Friends face show you where to go. Selflessness is your true self, sword and shroud. Whereas this is how most people live: sleeping on the bank of a freshwater stream, lips dry with thirst. -In the dream you’re running toward a mirage. -As you run, you’re proud of being the one +In the dream youre running toward a mirage. +As you run, youre proud of being the one who sees the oasis. You brag to your friends, “I have the heart-vision. Follow me to the water!” This love of spying far-off @@ -1937,13 +1937,13 @@ thrown up on shore, but one man is always smiling. A group comes to ask, “Have you no compassion for this suffering?” He answers, “To your eyes this is a drought. To me, -it’s a form of God’s joy. Everywhere +its a form of Gods joy. Everywhere in this desert I see green corn growing waist-high, a sea-wilderness of young ears greener than leeks. I reach to touch them. How could I not! You and your friends are like Pharaoh drowning in the Red Sea -of your body’s blood. Become friends +of your bodys blood. Become friends with Moses and see this other river water.” When you think your father is guilty of an injustice, his face looks cruel. @@ -1962,13 +1962,13 @@ Instead, the pouring noise of many springs in your ears. The tree limbs will move like people dancing who suddenly know the mystical life. The leaves snap -their fingers like they’re hearing music. +their fingers like theyre hearing music. They are! A sliver of mirror shines out from under a felt covering. Think how it will be when the whole thing is open to the air and sunlight! There are -mysteries I’m not telling you. +mysteries Im not telling you. THE WRIST Who are you? The inner vision of consciousness? The heart? A sacred half-light, are you that? @@ -1976,7 +1976,7 @@ Do you grow gatherings? Are you a friend of the sun, who comes and goes so quickly? Do not forget your vertical passage, the night of power, -and don’t hide from the one +and dont hide from the one for whom all our secrets are down in the pillow under his head, doctor of lovers, soul for this thick world, @@ -1998,8 +1998,8 @@ Do you know why your soul-mirror does not reflect as clearly as it might? Because rust has begun to cover it. It needs to be cleaned. -Here’s a story about the inner state -that’s meant by soul-mirror. +Heres a story about the inner state +thats meant by soul-mirror. In the old days there was a king who was powerful in both kingdoms, the visible as well as the spirit world. @@ -2049,7 +2049,7 @@ can loosen the knot of intellectual discussion.” They talked and ate a spirit-meal. Then the king took the doctor to where the girl lay. The secret -of her pain was opened to him, but he didn’t tell +of her pain was opened to him, but he didnt tell the king. It was love, of course. Love is the astrolabe that sights into the mysteries of God. Earth-love, @@ -2060,7 +2060,7 @@ A pen went scribbling along. When it tried to write love, it broke. If you want to expound on love, take your intellect out and let it -lie down in the mud. It’s no help. +lie down in the mud. Its no help. Nothing is so strange in this world as the sun. The sun of the soul even more so. You want proof that it exists, @@ -2071,20 +2071,20 @@ Word of that sun, Shams, came, and everything hid. Husam touches my arm. He wants me to say more about Shams. Not now, Husam. -I don’t know how to make words make sense, or praise. +I dont know how to make words make sense, or praise. In the Friend-place nothing true can be said. Let me just be here. But Husam begs, “Feed me. Hurry! Time is a sharp downstroke. A Sufi is supposed -to be a child of the moment! Don’t say tomorrow or later.” +to be a child of the moment! Dont say tomorrow or later.” I reply, -“It’s better that the way of the Friend +“Its better that the way of the Friend be concealed in a story. Let the mystery come through what people say around the lovers, not from what lovers say to each other.” “No! I want this as naked -and true as it can be. I don’t wear a shirt +and true as it can be. I dont wear a shirt when I lie down with my beloved.” “Husam! If the Friend came to you naked, your chest could not stand it. @@ -2116,7 +2116,7 @@ She misses him so. The doctor went to the king and told him only part of the story. “On some pretext we must bring a certain goldsmith from Samarkand.” -The king’s messengers went and easily persuaded the man +The kings messengers went and easily persuaded the man to leave his town for a while. He arrived, and the doctor said, “Marry the girl to this man @@ -2131,15 +2131,15 @@ The girl stopped loving him. Any love based on physical beauty is not the deepest love. Choose to love what does not die. The generous one is not hard to find. -But what about the doctor’s +But what about the doctors poisoning the poor goldsmith! It was not done -for his friend the king’s sake. +for his friend the kings sake. The reason is a mystery, -like Khidr’s cutting the boy’s throat. When someone -is killed by a doctor like this one, it’s a blessing, +like Khidrs cutting the boys throat. When someone +is killed by a doctor like this one, its a blessing, even though it might not seem so. Such a doctor -is part of a larger generosity. Don’t judge his actions. +is part of a larger generosity. Dont judge his actions. You are not living so completely within the truth as he is. Reason has no way to say @@ -2155,8 +2155,8 @@ just before dawn, lover and beloved wake to take a drink of water. She asks, “Do you love me or yourself more? Really, tell the absolute truth.” -He says, “There’s nothing left of me. -I’m like a ruby held up to the sunrise. +He says, “Theres nothing left of me. +Im like a ruby held up to the sunrise. Is it still a stone, or a world made of redness? It has no resistance to sunlight.” @@ -2165,14 +2165,14 @@ Be courageous and discipline yourself. Completely become hearing and ear, and wear this sun-ruby as an earring. Work. Keep digging your well. -Don’t think about getting off from work. +Dont think about getting off from work. Water is there somewhere. Submit to a daily practice. Your loyalty to that is a ring on the door. Keep knocking, and the joy inside will eventually open a window -and look out to see who’s there. +and look out to see whos there. THE GENERATIONS I PRAISE Yesterday the beauty of early dawn @@ -2181,7 +2181,7 @@ my heart would reach toward. Then this morning again and you. Who am I? Wind and fire and watery ground move me mightily because -they’re pregnant with love, love +theyre pregnant with love, love pregnant with God. These are the early morning generations I praise. ONE SWAYING BEING @@ -2216,11 +2216,11 @@ But one who last year drank ecstatic union, the pre-eternity agreement, who this year has a hangover from bad-desire wine, the way he cries out for the majesty -he’s lost, +hes lost, give me that longing! SOUL, HEART AND BODY ONE MORNING -There’s a morning where presence comes over you, +Theres a morning where presence comes over you, and you sing like a rooster in your earth-colored shape. Your heart hears and, no longer frantic, begins to dance. At that moment soul @@ -2231,16 +2231,16 @@ turns to light, and the body picks up the tempo. Where Shamsi Tabriz walks, the footprints are musical notes and holes you fall through into space. Today, like every other day, we wake up empty -and frightened. Don’t open the door to the study +and frightened. Dont 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. Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing -there is a field. I’ll meet you there. +there is a field. Ill meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase each other, -doesn’t make any sense. +doesnt make any sense. Die Before You Die Judge a moth by the beauty of its candle. @@ -2257,11 +2257,11 @@ Hundreds of thousands of impressions from the invisible are wanting to come through you! I get dizzy with the abundance. When life is this dear, it means the source is pulling us. -Freshness comes from there. We’re given the gift +Freshness comes from there. Were given the gift of continuously dying and being resurrected. -The body’s death now to me is like going to sleep. -No fear of drowning. I’m in another water. -Stones don’t dissolve in rain. This is the end +The bodys death now to me is like going to sleep. +No fear of drowning. Im in another water. +Stones dont dissolve in rain. This is the end of the Fifth Book of the Masnavi. With constellations in the night sky, some look up and point. Others can be guided by the arrangements: @@ -2282,7 +2282,7 @@ the way down in full prostration. A lover wants to die of his love like a man with dropsy who knows that water will kill him, -but he can’t deny his thirst. +but he cant deny his thirst. A lover loves death. Spill your jug in the river! Your shame and fear are like felt layers covering coldness. @@ -2290,10 +2290,10 @@ Throw them off, and rush naked into the joy of death. EMPTY BOAT Some huge work goes on growing. -How could one person’s words matter? +How could one persons words matter? Where you walk heads pop from the ground. What is one seed head compared to you? -On my death day I’ll know the answer. +On my death day Ill know the answer. I have cleared this house, so that your work can, when it comes, fill every room. I slide like an empty boat @@ -2301,26 +2301,26 @@ pulled over the water. In the slaughterhouse of love they kill only the best, none of the weak or deformed. -Don’t run away from this dying. -Whoever’s not killed for love is dead meat. +Dont run away from this dying. +Whoevers not killed for love is dead meat. I TRUST YOU The soul is a newly skinned hide, bloody and gross. Work on it with manual discipline, and the bitter tanning acid of grief. -You’ll become lovely and very strong. -If you can’t do this work yourself, don’t worry. -You don’t have to make a decision, one way or another. +Youll become lovely and very strong. +If you cant do this work yourself, dont worry. +You dont have to make a decision, one way or another. The Friend, who knows a lot more than you do, will bring difficulties and grief and sickness, as medicine, as happiness, as the moment -when you’re beaten, when you hear Checkmate, -and can finally say with Hallaj’s voice, +when youre beaten, when you hear Checkmate, +and can finally say with Hallajs voice, I trust you to kill me. Remember the story of the king who is so enraged -with his close friend that he’s about to kill him! -A privileged intercessor, Imadu’l-Mulk, steps in -and saves the man, but then the king’s close friend, +with his close friend that hes about to kill him! +A privileged intercessor, Imadul-Mulk, steps in +and saves the man, but then the kings close friend, who has just been saved, turns away and will not thank the intercessor. A teacher comes and asks, “Why do you act so strangely?” He answers, “I was in @@ -2329,7 +2329,7 @@ this way with God, this near. If the king wishes to cut my head off, he may furnish me a new one, or not. Pitchblack night in his presence is worth a hundred festival days without him. Inside -the presence there’s no religion, no grace, no +the presence theres no religion, no grace, no unfaithfulness, no punishment, and no language can say anything about it, except that it is hidden, hidden. @@ -2359,12 +2359,12 @@ firewood stacked behind him. His whip, a live serpent. Every master rides a fierce lion, whether you see it or not. Know this with your other eyes: There are thousands of lions -under your teacher’s thighs and all of them +under your teachers thighs and all of them stacked with wood! Kharraqani knew the problem and immediately -began to answer, “Well, it’s not out of desire -that I put up with her! Don’t think that. -It’s not her perfume or bright-colored clothes. +began to answer, “Well, its not out of desire +that I put up with her! Dont think that. +Its not her perfume or bright-colored clothes. Enduring her public disdain has made me strong and patient. She is my practice. Nothing can be clear without a polar opposite @@ -2380,17 +2380,17 @@ about being handled roughly? Love is a lawsuit where harsh evidence must be brought in. To settle the case, the judge must see evidence. -You’ve heard that every buried treasure +Youve heard that every buried treasure has a snake guarding it. Kiss the snake to discover the treasure! -Don’t run from those who scold, -and don’t turn away from cleansing conflict, +Dont run from those who scold, +and dont turn away from cleansing conflict, or you will remain weak. -THE STUPID THINGS I'VE DONE +THE STUPID THINGS IVE DONE Let your sunlight shine on this piece of dung, and dry it out, so I can be used for fuel to warm a bathhouse. -Look on the terrible things I’ve done, +Look on the terrible things Ive done, and cause herbs and eglantine to grow out of them. The sun does this with the ground. Think what glories God can make @@ -2414,7 +2414,7 @@ can any human being become part of the truth. DOVES People want you to be happy. -Don’t keep serving them your pain! +Dont keep serving them your pain! If you could untie your wings and free your soul of jealousy, @@ -2422,33 +2422,33 @@ you and everyone around you would fly up like doves. WHEN WORDS ARE TINGED WITH LYING Muhammad gave this indication of how to know -what’s real. “When you feel -a peaceful joy, you’re near the truth. +whats real. “When you feel +a peaceful joy, youre near the truth. Unquiet and off center, jealous or greedy, then what you do seems pretentious and those around you insincere. Speak the clearest truth you know, and let the uneasiness heal.” When words are tinged with lying, -they’re like water dripping into an oil lamp. -The wick won’t light, and the pleasure +theyre like water dripping into an oil lamp. +The wick wont light, and the pleasure of your love room will diminish. THERE YOU ARE -You’re inside every kindness. When a sick -person feels better, you’re that, -and the onset of disease too. You’re sudden, +Youre inside every kindness. When a sick +person feels better, youre that, +and the onset of disease too. Youre sudden, terrible screaming. Some problems require -we go for help. When we knock on a stranger’s -door, you sent us. Nobody answers. It’s +we go for help. When we knock on a strangers +door, you sent us. Nobody answers. Its you! When work feels necessary, you are the way workers move in rhythm. You are what is: the field, the players, the ball, those watching. Someone claims to have evidence that you do not exist. -You’re the one who brings the evidence in, +Youre the one who brings the evidence in, and the evidence itself. You are inside -the soul’s great fear, every natural +the souls great fear, every natural pleasure, every vicious cruelty. Someone loves something, someone else hates the same. There you are. Whatever anyone @@ -2456,8 +2456,8 @@ wants or not: political power, injustice, material possessions, those are your script, the handwriting we study. Body, soul, shadow. Whether reckless or careful, -you are what we do. It’s absurd to ask -your pardon. You’re inside repentance, +you are what we do. Its absurd to ask +your pardon. Youre inside repentance, and sin! The wonder of various jewels, agate, emerald. How we are during a day, then at night, you are those moods and @@ -2470,23 +2470,23 @@ my worst held-back secrets: everything has to do with loving and not loving. This night will pass. Then we have work to do. -There’s a shredding that’s really a healing, +Theres a shredding thats really a healing, that makes you more alive! A lion holds you in his arms. Fingers rake the fretbridge for music. -Dance, when you’re broken open. -Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off. +Dance, when youre broken open. +Dance, if youve torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. -Dance, when you’re perfectly free. +Dance, when youre perfectly free. All I know of spirit is this love. YOUR DEFECTS An empty mirror and your worst destructive habits, when they are held up to each other, -that’s when the real making begins. -That’s what art and crafting are. +thats when the real making begins. +Thats what art and crafting are. A tailor needs a torn garment to practice his expertise. The trunks of trees must be cut and cut again so they can be used for fine carpentry. @@ -2547,7 +2547,7 @@ I want to be in such passionate adoration that my tent gets pitched against the sky! Let the beloved come and sit like a guard dog in front of the tent. -When the ocean surges, don’t let me +When the ocean surges, dont let me just hear it. Let it splash inside my chest! LOVE DOGS @@ -2561,7 +2561,7 @@ He quit praying and fell into a confused sleep. He dreamed he saw Khidr, the guide of souls, in a thick, green foliage. “Why did you stop praising?” “Because -I’ve never heard anything back.” +Ive never heard anything back.” “This longing you express is the return message.” The grief you cry out from @@ -2589,8 +2589,8 @@ When I see your face, the stones start spinning! You appear; all studying wanders. I lose my place. Water turns pearly. -Fire dies down and doesn’t destroy. -In your presence I don’t want what I thought +Fire dies down and doesnt destroy. +In your presence I dont want what I thought I wanted, those three little hanging lamps. Inside your face the ancient manuscripts seem like rusty mirrors. @@ -2608,15 +2608,15 @@ sitting in its homefire. Walk about watching the burning turn to roses. As this love-secret we are both blasphemy and the core of Islam. -Don’t wait! The open plain is better +Dont wait! The open plain is better than any closing door. Ravens love ruins and cemetery trees. They -can’t help but fly there. For us +cant help but fly there. For us this day is friends sitting together with silence shining in our faces.” CORE -You’re song, +Youre song, a wished-for song. Go through the ear to the center where sky is, where wind, @@ -2624,10 +2624,10 @@ where silent knowing. Put seeds and cover them. Blades will sprout where you do your work. -Keep walking, though there’s no place to get to. -Don’t try to see through the distances. -That’s not for human beings. Move within, -but don’t move the way fear makes you move. +Keep walking, though theres no place to get to. +Dont try to see through the distances. +Thats not for human beings. Move within, +but dont move the way fear makes you move. Lightning, your presence from ground to sky. @@ -2644,14 +2644,14 @@ strikes anywhere. WOODEN CAGES I may be clapping my hands, -but I don’t belong to a crowd of clappers. -Neither this nor that, I’m not part +but I dont belong to a crowd of clappers. +Neither this nor that, Im not part of a group that loves flute music or one that loves gambling or drinking wine. Those who live in time, descended from Adam, made of earth and water, -I’m not part of that. -Don’t listen to what I say, +Im not part of that. +Dont listen to what I say, as though these words came from an inside and went to an outside. Your faces are very beautiful, @@ -2661,27 +2661,27 @@ My words are fire. I have nothing to do with being famous, or making grand judgments, or feeling full of shame. I borrow nothing. -I don’t want anything from anybody. +I dont want anything from anybody. I flow through human beings. Love is my only companion. MORE RANGE -We’re friends with one who kills us, +Were friends with one who kills us, who gives us to the ocean waves. We love this death. Only ignorance says, Put it off awhile, day after -tomorrow. Don’t avoid the knife. +tomorrow. Dont avoid the knife. This friend only seems fierce, bringing your soul more range, perching your falcon on a cliff of the wind. Jesus on his cross, Hallaj on his. Those absurd executions hold a secret. Cautious cynics claim they know what -they’re doing every moment and why. +theyre doing every moment and why. Submit to love without thinking, as the sun rose this morning recklessly extinguishing our star-candle minds. -AYAZ AND THE KING'S +AYAZ AND THE KINGS One day the king assembled his courtiers, He handed the minister a glowing pearl. “What would you say this is worth?” @@ -2694,7 +2694,7 @@ PEARL The king presented him with a robe of honor and took back the pearl. Then he put the pearl -in his chamberlain’s hand. “What would it sell for?” +in his chamberlains hand. “What would it sell for?” “Half a kingdom, God preserve it!” “Break it!” “My hand could not move to do such a thing.” @@ -2705,7 +2705,7 @@ they imitated the minister and the chamberlain and received their reward of new wealth. The pearl was given to Ayaz. “Can you say how splendid this is?” -“It’s more than I can say.” +“Its more than I can say.” “Then break it, this second, into tiny pieces.” Ayaz had had a dream about this, and he had hidden two stones in his sleeve. He crushed the pearl @@ -2714,7 +2714,7 @@ As Joseph at the bottom of the well listened to the end of his story, so such listeners understand success and failure as one thing. -Don’t worry about forms. If someone +Dont worry about forms. If someone wants your horse, let him have it. Horses are for hurrying ahead of others. @@ -2736,8 +2736,8 @@ Ayaz in his speech to the king gets to this point and then the pen breaks. “You picked me to crush the pearl. -Don’t punish the others for my drunken obedience. -Punish them when I’m sober because I’ll never be +Dont punish the others for my drunken obedience. +Punish them when Im sober because Ill never be sober again! Whoever bows down like they are bowing will not rise up in his old self. Like a gnat @@ -2753,7 +2753,7 @@ crushed and dead. HALLAJ Hallaj said what he said and went to the origin through the hole in the scaffold. -I cut a cap’s worth of cloth from his robe, +I cut a caps worth of cloth from his robe, and it swamped over me head to foot. Years ago I broke a branch of roses from the top of his wall. A thorn from that @@ -2762,15 +2762,15 @@ From Hallaj, I learned to hunt lions, but I became something hungrier than a lion. I was a frisky colt. He broke me with a quiet hand on the side of my head. -A person comes to him naked. It’s cold. -There’s a fur coat floating in the river. +A person comes to him naked. Its cold. +Theres a fur coat floating in the river. “Jump in and get it,” he says. You dive in. You reach for the coat. It reaches for you. -It’s a live bear that has fallen in upstream, +Its a live bear that has fallen in upstream, drifting with the current. “How long does it take!” Hallaj yells from the bank. -“Don’t wait,” you answer. “This coat +“Dont wait,” you answer. “This coat has decided to wear me home!” A little part of a story, a hint. Do you need long sermons on Hallaj? @@ -2786,7 +2786,7 @@ The body turns entirely spirit. Leaves become branches in this wind. Why is it now so easy to surrender, even for those already surrendered? -There’s no answer to any of this. +Theres no answer to any of this. No one knows the source of joy. A poet breathes into a reed flute, and the tip of every hair makes music. @@ -2802,7 +2802,7 @@ whose trace does not appear. If anyone asks you to say who you are, say without hesitation, soul within soul within soul. -There’s a pearl diver who does not know +Theres a pearl diver who does not know how to swim! No matter. Pearls are handed him on the beach. We lovers laugh to hear, “This should be @@ -2812,7 +2812,7 @@ tilted in a ditch. Going in search of the heart, I found a huge rose, and roses under all our feet! How to say this to someone who denies it? -The robe we wear is the sky’s cloth. +The robe we wear is the skys cloth. Everything is soul and flowering. POETRY @@ -2826,9 +2826,9 @@ BIRD SONGS FROM INSIDE Sometimes a lover of God may faint in the presence. Then the beloved bends and whispers in his ear, “Beggar, -spread out your robe. I’ll fill it with gold. +spread out your robe. Ill fill it with gold. EGG -I’ve come to protect your consciousness. +Ive come to protect your consciousness. Where has it gone? Come back!” This fainting is because lovers want so much. A chicken invites a camel into her henhouse, @@ -2866,14 +2866,14 @@ of Eastern mystery like China. NO FLAG I used to want buyers for my words. Now I wish someone would buy me away from words. -I’ve made a lot of charmingly profound images, +Ive made a lot of charmingly profound images, scenes with Abraham and his father Azar, who was famous for icons. -I’m so tired of what I’ve been doing. +Im so tired of what Ive been doing. Then one image without form came, and I quit. Look for someone else to tend the shop. -I’m out of the image-making business. +Im out of the image-making business. Finally I know the freedom of madness. A random image arrives. I scream, @@ -2882,7 +2882,7 @@ Only love. Only the holder the flag fits into, no flag. -God only knows, I don’t, +God only knows, I dont, what keeps me laughing. The stem of a flower moves when the air moves. @@ -2892,7 +2892,7 @@ I say one must not travel during the holy month. Then I start out, and wonderful things happen. In complete control, pretending control, with dignified authority, we are charlatans. -Or maybe just a goat’s-hair brush in a painter’s hand. +Or maybe just a goats-hair brush in a painters hand. We have no idea what we are. MOSES AND THE SHEPERD @@ -2901,7 +2901,7 @@ Moses heard a shepherd on the road praying, where are you? I want to help you, to fix your shoes and comb your hair. I want to wash your clothes and pick the lice off. I want to bring you milk -and kiss your little hands and feet when it’s time +and kiss your little hands and feet when its time for you to go to bed. I want to sweep your room and keep it neat. God, my sheep and goats are yours. All I can say remembering you is aaayyyyyy @@ -2910,10 +2910,10 @@ Moses could stand it no longer. “Who are you talking to?” “The one who made us and made the earth and made the sky.” -“Don’t talk about shoes -and socks with God! And what’s this with your little +“Dont talk about shoes +and socks with God! And whats this with your little hands? Such blasphemous familiarity sounds like -you’re chatting with your uncles. Only something +youre chatting with your uncles. Only something that grows needs milk. Only someone with feet needs shoes. Not God!” The shepherd repented @@ -2930,33 +2930,33 @@ Purity and impurity, sloth and diligence in worship, these mean nothing to me. I am apart from all that. Ways of worshiping are not to be ranked as better or worse. Hindus do Hindu things. The Dravidian -Muslims in India do what they do. It’s all praise, -and it’s all right. I am not glorified in acts -of worship. It’s the worshipers! I don’t hear +Muslims in India do what they do. Its all praise, +and its all right. I am not glorified in acts +of worship. Its the worshipers! I dont hear the words they say. I look inside at the humility. That broken-open lowliness is the reality. Forget phraseology! I want burning, burning. Be friends with your burning. Those who pay attention to ways of behaving and speaking are one sort. Lovers who -burn are another. Don’t impose a property tax -on a burned-out village. Don’t scold the lover. +burn are another. Dont impose a property tax +on a burned-out village. Dont scold the lover. The “wrong” way he talks is better than a hundred “right” ways of others. Inside the Kaaba -it doesn’t matter which way you point +it doesnt matter which way you point your prayer rug! -The ocean diver doesn’t need snowshoes! +The ocean diver doesnt need snowshoes! The love-religion has no code or doctrine. Only God. So the ruby has nothing engraved on it! -It doesn’t need markings. +It doesnt need markings. God began speaking deeper mysteries to Moses, vision and words, which cannot be recorded here. Moses left himself and came back. He went to eternity and came back here. Many times this happened. -It’s foolish of me +Its foolish of me to try and say this. If I did say it, it would uproot human intelligence. Moses ran after the shepherd, following the bewildered @@ -2977,18 +2977,18 @@ your loving tells you to. Your sweetest blasphemy is the truest devotion. Through you a whole world is freed. -Loosen your tongue and don’t worry -what comes out. It’s all the light of the spirit.” +Loosen your tongue and dont worry +what comes out. Its all the light of the spirit.” The shepherd replied, “Moses, Moses, -I’ve gone beyond even that. +Ive gone beyond even that. You applied the whip, and my horse shied and jumped out of itself. The divine nature and my human nature came together. Bless your scolding hand. -I can’t say what has happened. -What I’m saying now is not my real condition. -It can’t be said.” +I cant say what has happened. +What Im saying now is not my real condition. +It cant be said.” The shepherd grew quiet. When you look in a mirror, you see yourself, not the state of the mirror. @@ -2996,19 +2996,19 @@ The flute player gives breath into a flute, and who makes the music? The flute player! Whenever you speak praise -or thanksgiving to God, it’s always like -this dear shepherd’s simplicity. +or thanksgiving to God, its always like +this dear shepherds simplicity. The minute I heard my first love story I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. -Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. -They’re in each other all along. +Lovers dont finally meet somewhere. +Theyre in each other all along. MORNING WIND Wine so bitter all bitterness sweetens, a beautiful face growing old. The taste of -Khidr’s spring, words that plant olive trees. +Khidrs spring, words that plant olive trees. A man like the dawn with a small suggestion, You should visit a few times. @@ -3016,11 +3016,11 @@ A prayer at the graveside that resurrects the dead, silence telling half a secret, unspoken wish. Morning wind, -we’ll stay quiet. Whatever +well stay quiet. Whatever you have understood of us, go and tell that to the living, -what we’ve been hiding from them. -THE OCEAN'S MOTION +what weve been hiding from them. +THE OCEANS MOTION Love is an ocean. This wide sky, a bit of foam on that. Restless as Zuleikha @@ -3041,7 +3041,7 @@ toward perfection, each particle purified in a song of praise for motion. IGNORANCE -I didn’t know love would make me this +I didnt know love would make me this crazy, with my eyes like the river Ceyhun carrying me in its rapids @@ -3063,7 +3063,7 @@ has disappeared into the absolute. I hear so many stories and explanations, but I keep quiet, -because I don’t know anything, +because I dont know anything, and because something I swallowed in the ocean has made me completely content @@ -3086,11 +3086,11 @@ to the soul, but with you they become the same as the soul. When that happens, the heart is seeing! You can say that the eyes see God, but it is God -who sees, as in the Qur’an when the desert mountain +who sees, as in the Quran when the desert mountain looks at God, and eyes appear on every stone. I am filled with you. Skin, blood, bone, brain, and soul. -There’s no room for lack of trust, or trust. +Theres no room for lack of trust, or trust. Nothing in this existence but that existence. When you feel your lips becoming infinite @@ -3116,7 +3116,7 @@ they tasted bread. With no mind, they thought. Immediate intuition to them is the simplest act, what to others would be epiphany. Much of our thought is of the past or the future. -They’re free of those. Before a mine is dug, +Theyre free of those. Before a mine is dug, they judge coins. Before vineyards, they know the excitements to come. In July they feel @@ -3135,32 +3135,32 @@ The disc of the sun does exist, but if you see only the ray-bodies, you may have doubts. The human-divine combinations are a oneness. Plurality, the apparent separation into rays. -Friend, we’re traveling together. Throw off +Friend, were traveling together. Throw off your tiredness. Let me show you one tiny spot -of the beauty that can’t be spoken. I’m like -an ant that’s gotten into the granary, +of the beauty that cant be spoken. Im like +an ant thats gotten into the granary, ludicrously happy, and trying to lug out -a grain that’s way too big. +a grain thats way too big. THE GAZING-HOUSE On the night when you cross the street from your shop and your house to the cemetery, -you’ll hear me hailing you from inside -the open grave, and you’ll realize -how we’ve always been together. +youll hear me hailing you from inside +the open grave, and youll realize +how weve always been together. I am the clear consciousness core of your being, the same in ecstasy as in self-hating fatigue. That night, when you escape the fear of snakebite -and all irritation with the ants, you’ll hear +and all irritation with the ants, youll hear my familiar voice, see the candle being lit, smell the incense and the surprise meal fixed by the lover inside all your other lovers. This heart tumult is my signal to you igniting -in the tomb, so don’t fuss with the shroud +in the tomb, so dont fuss with the shroud and the graveyard road dust. Those get ripped open and washed away in the music of our meeting. -And don’t look for me in a human shape! +And dont look for me in a human shape! I am inside your looking. No room for form with love this strong. Beat the drum and let @@ -3169,7 +3169,7 @@ for those who are already mature and initiated into what love is. No need to wait until we die! -There’s more to want here than money and being +Theres more to want here than money and being famous and bites of roasted meat. Now, what shall we call this new kind of gazing-house @@ -3183,7 +3183,7 @@ A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! -Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, +Even if theyre a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. @@ -3198,35 +3198,35 @@ because each has been sent as a guide from beyond. Always check your inner state with the lord of your heart. -Copper doesn’t know it’s copper, -until it’s changing to gold. -Your loving doesn’t know majesty, +Copper doesnt know its copper, +until its changing to gold. +Your loving doesnt know majesty, until it knows its helplessness. THE ONE THING YOU MUST DO There is one thing in this world you must never forget to do. If you forget everything else and not -this, there’s nothing to worry about, but if you +this, theres nothing to worry about, but if you remember everything else and forget this, then you will have done nothing in your life. -It’s as if a king has sent you to some country to do +Its as if a king has sent you to some country to do a task, and you perform a hundred other services, but not the one he sent you to do. So human beings come to this world to do particular work. That work is the purpose, and each is specific to -the person. If you don’t do it, it’s as though a priceless Indian sword were used to slice rotten meat. -It’s a golden bowl being used to cook turnips, when -one filing from the bowl could buy a hundred suitable pots. It’s like a knife of the finest tempering +the person. If you dont do it, its as though a priceless Indian sword were used to slice rotten meat. +Its a golden bowl being used to cook turnips, when +one filing from the bowl could buy a hundred suitable pots. Its like a knife of the finest tempering nailed into a wall to hang things on. -You say, “But look, I’m using it. It’s not lying idle.” +You say, “But look, Im using it. Its not lying idle.” Do you hear how ridiculous that sounds? For a penny an iron nail could be bought. You say, “But I spend my energies on lofty projects. I study philosophy and jurisprudence, logic, astronomy, and medicine.” But consider why you do those things. They are all branches of yourself and your impressiveness. Remember the deep root of your being, the presence of your lord. Give yourself to the one who already owns your breath and your moments. If -you don’t, you’ll be like the man who takes a ceremonial dagger and hammers it into a post for a peg -to hold his dipper gourd. You’ll be wasting valuable +you dont, youll be like the man who takes a ceremonial dagger and hammers it into a post for a peg +to hold his dipper gourd. Youll be wasting valuable keenness and forgetting your dignity and purpose. THIS WE HAVE NOW @@ -3237,16 +3237,16 @@ or joy, not a judging state, or an elation, or a sadness. Those come and go. This is the presence -that doesn’t. -It’s dawn, Husam, +that doesnt. +Its dawn, Husam, here in the splendor of coral, inside the Friend, in the simple truth of what Hallaj said. What else could human beings want? When grapes turn to wine, -they’re wanting this. +theyre wanting this. When the night sky pours by, -it’s really a crowd of beggars, +its really a crowd of beggars, and they all want some of this. This we are now created the body, cell by cell,