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Friday, January 1, 2010

the Way of our Beloved has no room for the fearful




There is no room for the fearful in our Beloved’s Path
All are kings; minions have no merit there
If you are playing the underdog, implying you are truly worthy
[Know, that] In our value system trying to be worthy will only bring disgrace
If you are coyly trying to feign poverty take your tatters and be gone
Our king will only recognize you as an outsider *
Have you become the Light of Truth? Then shine from east to west
For, with these attributes, I do not fear those rays
If you do know Divine secrets, then keep them to yourself
For our [true] secrets do not resemble those [false] secrets
[Therefore] Leave your craftiness behind; and keep straight onto our Way
The cunning are not welcome to flaunt [their powers] in this field of ours **
Our life is only focused on the spiritual path of Shams (Sun)
Our horse will only ride towards [his home in] Tabriz ***
When I was drunk, I knew not that I was divulging secrets to so-called friends;
For being sober will not offend my religion
If you place a compass to measure our limits
Brother, Our limits are beyond  the worth of [being measured by] the compass
Good man, you are stirring things up as you walk our Path
For us, there is no merit in stirring things up in either of two worlds
The Sufis of Love have a different temple ****
There, our body and soul live a different kind of existence
Sitting [even] in the depths of hell, I [would have] abandoned [my]longing for [a more favorable] destiny
For we no longer have appetite for heaven and its glories *****


* In those days, people tried to feign poverty and display fake humility in an effort to look more worthy from a religious and social perspective. Rumi is saying that false humility or feigning poverty will not ingratiate you more in the eyes of the Beloved and in fact will be looked upon with indifference or even disdain. If you are doing these to get on the Path then you will not succeed in getting on the Path with these false gestures. be true and be you, and take the Path to the Beloved.
** The field of the Divine, or the Path of Light, the Way of Truth these are not the place for the cunning to be flaunting or strutting their pomposity. Egotism and ostentatious displays be they of a so-called spiritual flavor should are not valued in the Way of Truth.
*** Rumi's master, Shams was of Tabriz, and thus, Rumi's only concern was to follow his master and his practical teachings.
**** Temple was used for the word "Khaneghah" the place where sufis would gather and conduct spiritual practices, including zekr, [remembrance of the divine] and the dance of samaa to music or drums [daf, the frame drum]
***** Rumi is pointing out that he does not seek God for the sole personal benefit of attaining heaven, but is in love of God and wants to attain that state of divine union merely for the deep and overwhelming, intoxicating supremely blissful state of union, and not for any personal gain.