Rumi Ghazals from Divan e Shams Tabrizi

Seek Refuge in the Locks of Shams i Tabriz!

Oh heart, place no honey in the mouth of the ill! 

Speak not of entrancing eyes in the assembly of the blind! 

Although God is nearer to His servant than his jugular vein

(Qur'an L 16), 

he is far from those who are far from Him. 

Occupy yourself with your own inward self! 

Then like moons the concealed maidens will 

come out in theophany from behind their veils! 

Although in this work you will be lost to yourself and the world, 

outside of yourself and the world you will be famous. 

If you are the moon of union, give a sign of your union! 

Tell of the arms, the silver breasts, and the faces of the houris! 

And if you are yellow gold from separation's heartache, 

where is separation's burning brand? 

Only the coins of the wretched are so dull and tarnished. 

Since you have no love, at least perform the duties of servanthood, 

for God will never neglect the wages of the wage earners. 

Know that love for god is Solomon's seal 

how should Solomon's income be related to the wages of ants? 

Throw away the garments of thought and cogitation, for the sun only shines upon the naked! 

Seek refuge in the locks of Shams-i Tabrizi, for they rain down musk and will protect you from tyrants. 

I'm Light Within His Light

I circled awhile with each of the intelligences, 

the nine fathers that control the levels of spirit-growth. 

I revolved for years with the stars through each astrological sign. 

I disappeared into the kingdom of nearness. 

I saw what I have seen, 

receiving nourishment as a child lives in the womb. 

Personalities are born once, 

a mystic many times. 

Wearing the body-robe, 

I've been busy in the market, 

weighing and arguing prices. 

Sometimes I have torn the robe off 

with my own hands and thrown it away. 

I've spent long nights in monasteries, 

and I have slept with those who claim to believe nothing 

on the porches of pagodas, 

just traveling through. 

When someone feels jealous, 

I am inside the hurt and the need to possess. 

When anyone is sick, 

I feel feverish and dizzy. 

I am cloud and rain being released, 

and then the meadow as it soaks it in. 

I wash the rains of mortality from the cloth around a dervish. 

I am the rose of eternity, 

not made of water or fire or the wandering wind, 

or even earth. 

I pay with those. 

I am not Shams of Tabriz, 

but a light within his light. 

If you see me, be careful. 

Tell no one what you've seen.

- Selected Ghazal from Divani Shamsi Tabriz by Rumi -