Sunday, April 12, 2009

An Excerpt: Diwan Shams Tabrizi

I happened to stumble upon this poem by Rumi from his "The Works of Shams of Tabriz", which I instantly fell in love with.

"What can I do, Submitters to God? I do not know myself.
I am neither Christian nor Jew, neither Zoroastrian nor Muslim,
I am not from east or west, not from land or sea,
not from the shafts of nature nor from the spheres of the firmament,
not of the earth, not of water, not of air, not of fire.
I am not from the highest heaven, not from this world,
not from existence, not from being.
I am not from India, not from China, not from Bulgar, not from Saqsin,
not from the realm of the two Iraqs, not from the land of Khurasan
I am not from the world, not from beyond,
not from heaven and not from hell.
I am not from Adam, not from Eve, not from paradise and not from Ridwan.
My place is placeless, my trace is traceless,
no body, no soul, I am from the soul of souls.
I have chased out duality, lived the two worlds as one.
One I seek, one I know, one I see, one I call.
He is the first, he is the last, he is the outer, he is the inner.
Beyond "He" and "He is" I know no other.
I am drunk from the cup of love, the two worlds have escaped me.
I have no concern but carouse and rapture.
If one day in my life I spend a moment without you
from that hour and that time I would repent my life.
If one day I am given a moment in solitude with you
I will trample the two worlds underfoot and dance forever.
O Sun of Tabriz (Shams Tabrizi), I am so tipsy here in this world,
I have no tale to tell but tipsiness and rapture."-Rumi

2 comments:

Unknown said...

interesting - do you know any site where this poem could be accessed online?

Anonymous said...

Medet, You can search online or check this book :
Rumi's Divan of Shems of Tabriz: Selected Odes (Element Classics of World Spirituality) [Hardcover]
Maulana Jalal Al-Din Rumi (Author), Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi (Author), James Cowan (Author, Translator)