Beside a river, in a spell Of utter silence, there am I. Alone I sit within a cell: The midnight hours are passing by ... I gaze into the distance, staying Focused on night's formlessness; The heart is begging to be praying -- In holy calm, how effortless! All problems seem so far from me; The world seem foreign and unreal. Up in the heavens, You I see; Within my heart, deep peace I feel.
The breezes at dawn have secrets to tell you
Don't go back to sleep!
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep!
People are going back and forth
across the doorsill where the two worlds touch,
The door is round and open
Don't go back to sleep!
~ Rumi from "A Great Wagon" in THE ESSENTIAL RUMI, translated by Coleman Barks
The value of a human being can be measured by what he or she most deeply wants. Be free of possessing things. Sit at an empty table. Be pleased with water, the taste of being at home.
The breezes at dawn have secrets to tell you
Don't go back to sleep
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep!
People are going back and forth
across the doorsill where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don't go back to sleep!
Journeys bring power and love
back into you. If you can't go somewhere,
move in the passageways of the self.
They are like shafts of light,
always changing and you change
when you explore them.
From each heart is a window to other hearts
They are not separated like two bodies,
Just as, even though two lamps are not joined,
Their light is united in a single ray.
