The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want. Don’t go back to sleep…

Jalaluddin Mevlana Rumi

Don’t Go Back To Sleep

Theme: Immanence and Transcendence

When I see your face, the stones start spinning!
You appear; all studying wanders.
I lose my place.

Water turns pearly.
Fire dies down and doesn’t destroy.

In your presence I don’t want what I thought
I wanted, those three little hanging lamps.

Inside your face the ancient manuscripts
Seem like rusty mirrors.

You breathe; new shapes appear,
and the music of a desire as widespread
as Spring begins to move
like a great wagon.
Drive slowly.
Some of us walking alongside
are lame!
~
Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don’t open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.

Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
~
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other
doesn’t make any sense.
~
The breeze at dawn has 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.

I would love to kiss you.
The price of kissing is your life.

Now my loving is running toward my life shouting,
What a bargain, let’s buy it.
~
Daylight, full of small dancing particles
and the one great turning, our souls
are dancing with you, without feet, they dance.
Can you see them when I whisper in your ear?
~
They try to say what you are, spiritual or sexual?
They wonder about Solomon and all his wives.

In the body of the world, they say, there is a soul
and you are that.

But we have ways within each other
that will never be said by anyone.
~
Come to the orchard in Spring.
There is light and wine, and sweethearts
in the pomegranate flowers.

If you do not come, these do not matter.
If you do come, these do not matter.

Jalaluddin Mevlana Rumi

Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, born on September 30, 1207, and also known as Jalaluddin Mevlana (Mawlānā) Rumi, J. M. Rumi, or simply as Rumi in the Western world, was an extraordinary poet, philosopher, and Sufi mystic. He was a prominent figure in the Islamic world, born in the region of present-day Afghanistan, then within the greater Persian Empire, and later settled in Konya, present-day Turkey. Rumi's passionate love for humanity and his deep spiritual insights transcended geographical, linguistic, and cultural barriers, making his poetry and teachings resonate not only within the Islamic world but also with audiences globally.

Rumi's spiritual journey led him to develop a unique approach to Sufism that emphasized love, tolerance, and the pursuit of enlightenment. He created a fusion of traditional Islamic beliefs with mysticism, nurturing a school of thought that flourished in his followers. They established a sect known to the Western world as the 'Whirling Dervishes', a term derived from their mesmerizing practice of whirling as a form of physical meditation. The proper name for this branch is the Mevlevi order, dedicated to preserving and promoting Rumi's teachings.

In addition to being a mystic, Rumi was an accomplished scholar and theologian who left behind an impressive literary legacy. His best-known work, the Mathnawi or Masnavi, is a six-volume poetic epic that explores themes of love, divine mystery, and human connection to the spiritual world. Rumi's poetic style is marked by profound emotion and philosophical depth, weaving metaphors and allegory to create timeless pieces that continue to inspire readers today. Rumi's influence reaches far beyond his time, as his teachings on love, compassion, and unity continue to touch the hearts of millions, transcending barriers of religion, culture, and era.

(1207-1273) Islam
A Great Wagon

Rūmī Jalāl al-Dīn. The Essential Rumi. Translated by Coleman Barks, HarperCollins, 2004. The Essential Rumi. HarperCollins, 2004. [Jalaluddin Mevlana Rumi, The Great Wagon].

Jalaluddin Mevlana Rumi

Theme: Immanence and Transcendence

Jalaluddin Mevlana Rumi, The Great Wagon

Jalaluddin Mevlana Rumi was a 13th-century Persian Sunni Muslim poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufi mystic.

Trevor Simpson, Rumi’s The Great Wagon [Excerpt]

The Great Wagon by Rumi is an astonishingly rich construction rendered into ethereal English by Coleman Barks. It contains eight separate stanzas any one of which could provide fodder for intense reflection however I am going to record my three favorites.

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other
doesn’t make any sense.
The breeze at dawn has 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.
I would love to kiss you.
The price of kissing is your life.
Now my loving is running toward my life shouting,
What a bargain, let’s buy it.

So many intriguing concepts that seem so relevant to the Soul journey—the suggestion that there is place beyond our ideas of right and wrong, the reminder that we need to stay awake, that inspiration comes on the wind and that it all starts by setting a clear intention for what we really want. Then the last stanza “the price of kissing is your life” reminds me that once we commit our hearts to the soul journey there is indeed no going back.

—Trevor Simpson, SoulClarity blog [https://ta44.wordpress.com/about/ [www.decisionclarity.com].

Don’t Go Back To Sleep

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