Discourses and Teachings of Rumi - Part . 1, The Eternal Date
They were inseparable from that moment, the one with the finery and fine words, and the one clothed in riddles and rags.
“I have lost again,” despaired the fine one as he prostrated his king at the feet of the victorious beggar.
“No, this time you have won!” replied the beggar, and right there over the chessboard, in that little chaikana, the beggar who was the real King, bestowed upon His subject the final fana, the gift of gifts, Himself in form of God Realization.
They had been inseparable from that first moment when the sun eclipsed the moon and took all his fine words and through them down a well.
“Do you want them back?” the ragged stranger softly replied to the furious scholar. But his fury disappeared when he heard the voice and looked into those eyes and recognized without a doubt the face of his master, the source of his own reflected light. The sun had revealed itself to the moon and the moon bowed at his feet. The Beloved and lover were inseparable from that moment until Rumi prostrated his king at the feet of his King and Shams eclipsed all vestiges of we in One.
“Love is the astrolabe of God’s mysteries.
A lover may hanker after this love or that love,
But in the end he is drawn to the King of love.
However much we describe and explain love,
When we fall in love we become ashamed of our words.
Explanation by the tongue makes most things clear,
But love unexplained is clearer.
When pen hasted to write,
On reaching the subject of love it split in twain.
On the matter of love, pen was broken and paper torn.
Naught but Love itself can explain love and lovers!” —The Masnavi: trans. & abridged by E.H. Whinfield
“The tale of love must be heard from love itself,
For like the mirror, it is both mute and expressive.”— The Last Barrier: Reshad Field
(To be continued.)
“I have lost again,” despaired the fine one as he prostrated his king at the feet of the victorious beggar.
“No, this time you have won!” replied the beggar, and right there over the chessboard, in that little chaikana, the beggar who was the real King, bestowed upon His subject the final fana, the gift of gifts, Himself in form of God Realization.
They had been inseparable from that first moment when the sun eclipsed the moon and took all his fine words and through them down a well.
“Do you want them back?” the ragged stranger softly replied to the furious scholar. But his fury disappeared when he heard the voice and looked into those eyes and recognized without a doubt the face of his master, the source of his own reflected light. The sun had revealed itself to the moon and the moon bowed at his feet. The Beloved and lover were inseparable from that moment until Rumi prostrated his king at the feet of his King and Shams eclipsed all vestiges of we in One.
“Love is the astrolabe of God’s mysteries.
A lover may hanker after this love or that love,
But in the end he is drawn to the King of love.
However much we describe and explain love,
When we fall in love we become ashamed of our words.
Explanation by the tongue makes most things clear,
But love unexplained is clearer.
When pen hasted to write,
On reaching the subject of love it split in twain.
On the matter of love, pen was broken and paper torn.
Naught but Love itself can explain love and lovers!” —The Masnavi: trans. & abridged by E.H. Whinfield
“The tale of love must be heard from love itself,
For like the mirror, it is both mute and expressive.”— The Last Barrier: Reshad Field
(To be continued.)
posted by Michael Kovitz at 7:46 AM
6 Comments:
you have two paragraphs and then some quotes. I'm kind of confused as to the origin of the two paragraphs. Are these your writing or do they come from some text? Just curious, as always enjoying your blog immensely.
Andy,
Thanks for the question. In this series, all quotes are in italics and my original writing is in regular type. M.
So the quotes are Rumi?
Yes, everything in italics and quotes is from the Masnavi of Rumi.
Was Rumi a Perfect Master?
There is a saying, the higher can see the lower, but the lower cannot see the higher. To know a perfect master, one must be perfect, and I'm not. But Meher Baba, the Avatar, and therefore perfect, did say that Rumi was perfect.
If you go back and re-read my first post on Rumi, the story of Rumi, Shams (who was a perfect master), and the chessboard,it was about the moment that Shams gave Rumi realization. hope this helps. M.
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