Celebrate! The month of fasting has come.
Pleasant journey to the one
Who is in the company of the fasting.

I climbed the roof to see the Moon,
Because I really missed fasting
By heart and soul.

I lost my hat while looking at the Moon.
the Sultan of fasting made me drunk.

O Muslims, I have been drunk
since that day I lost my mind.
What a beautiful fortune fasting has.
What a wonderful glory.

There is another secret moon
Besides this one.
He is hiding in the tent of fasting
Like a Turk.

Anyone who comes
To the harvest of fasting in this month
Finds the way to this Moon.

Whoever makes his face
Resemble pale satin
Wears the silk clothes of fasting.

Prayers will be accepted in this month.
Sighs of the one fasting pierce the sky.

The person who sits patiently
At the bottom of fasting’s well
Owns the love of Egypt, like Joseph.

O the word which eats the Sahur meal,
Be silent so that anyone
Who knows fasting will enjoy fasting.

Come, O Shems, the brave one
Of whom Tebriz is proud.
You are the commander of fasting’s soldiers.

A Rumi poem, taken from Jahane Rumi. You’ve probably seen it before, but hey, all good things bear repeating. I particularly like the part about pale satin faces resembling silk clothing…it’s as mellow as fasting makes one feel.

Here we are, still waiting to see if we will begin fasting tomorrow. Some people may detest the moon-wars that inevitably arise at the beginning and end of this month. I don’t…it’s a sign that people still care about the issues of faith. Or perhaps I’m just trying to be optimistic about something that really used to bug me, and now I’m so tired of it all, that I have to spin it just to stay sane!

I was going through my Rumi collection, and the following really echoed with the video from the previous post:

Sometimes in order to help He makes us cry
Happy the eye that sheds tears for His sake
Fortunate the heart that burns for His sake
Laughter always follow tears
Blessed are those who understand
Life blossoms wherever water flows
Where tears are shed divine mercy is shown

[Rumi]

Its been a long time since I came across something from Rumi…hope you enjoy…

Once a man was making duaa and he was doing ill-hah, like begging Allah. A cynic passed by and he said to him, “How long have you been asking?”
The man replied, “For many many years.”
“Have you recieved an answer yet?”
The man replied, “No.”
“Then why are you still asking?”
Then Rumi said, the man fell into a confused sleep-because the cynic had put shak (doubt) in his heart. Then the man said in his sleep he had seen Al-Khidr, and Al-Khidr said, “Why did you leave your supplication?”
He said, “Because I realized I had been doing it all these years and I never got the answer.”
And Al-Khidr said, “Don’t you realize? The supplication was the answer.”

You are more precious than both heaven and earth,

You know not your own worth.

Sell not yourself at little price,

Being so precious in God’s eyes.

[Rumi]

Believers are like pearls. Wherever they may be, they are beautiful there.

[Maliq ibn Dinar]

I can’t add any commentary to these gems of wisdom.

Come, Come, Whoever you are
Ours is not a caravan of despair
Come, Come, Whoever you are
This caravan has no despair.
Even though you have broken your vow
perhaps ten thousand times
Yet come again, come again, whoever you are
whoever you are, come
Wander, worshipper, lover of leaving, come
Wander, worshipper, lover of leaving, come

[Jalaluddin Rumi]

Its Rumi again!

He says it so perfectly: The bounty of Allah’s mercy is so endless; there should be no room for despair; equal measures of hope and repentance are the recipe to attaining Allah’s Mercy, inshallah…

If ten men want to enter a house, and only nine find their way in, the tenth must not say: ‘This is what God ordained’. He must find out what his own shortcoming was.

~Jalaluddin Rumi~

is such a beautiful day! This past week, we had some glorious rain (I really loved it!) which seems to have just cleaned everything out. It was a nice, gentle, and relentless rain, which helped me sleep so good! Now, the sun is shining, the skies are blue, with nary a cloud in sight, and temperature is a lovely 72 F…could I ask for more? Well, I am writing a paper for school, so I could ask for more: Be gone with ye, I say (talking to my paper, not my lovely readers )

I love to collect words that resonate with me, so I came across this Rumi excerpt which I need for inspiration:

If you want great wealth,
and that which lasts forever,
Wake up!
If you want to shine
with the love of the Beloved,
Wake up!
You’ve slept a hundred nights,
And what has it brought you?
For yourself, for your God,
Wake up! Wake up!
Sleep no more.

My problem is that I really do love to sleep . Must try to get over that! Do more, sleep less…easier said than done!

This world is no match for your Love.
Being away from you
is death aiming to take my soul away.
My heart, so precious,
I won’t trade for a hundred thousand souls.
Your one smile takes it for free.

Rumi

From: ‘Hush Don’t Say Anything to God: Passionate Poems of Rumi’

If you can disentangle
yourself from your selfish self
all heavenly spirits
will stand ready to serve you

If you can finally hunt down
your own beastly self
you have the right
to claim Solomon’s Kingdom

You are that blessed soul who
belongs to the garden of paradise
is it fair to let yourself
fall apart in a shattered house

You are the bird of happiness
in the magic of existence
what a pity when you let
yourself be chained and caged

But if you can break free
from this dark prison named body
soon you will see
you are the sage and the fountain of life

translated by Nader Khalili