Nothing to Everything

 

“Knock, And He’ll open the door
Vanish, And He’ll make you shine like the sun
Fall, And He’ll raise you to the heavens
Become nothing, And He’ll turn you into everything.”

Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi

(1207 – 1273 )

The Pearl

A raindrop, dripping from a cloud.

Ashamed when it saw the sea.

‘Who am I  ? ,

where is a sea’, it said.

As it saw itself, from the eyes of humility

A shell embraced him and makes him a pearl.

 Shaykh Saadi Shirazi

( 1210- 1292 )
 in a Rose garden,

from a Mughal manuscript of his work Gulistan,

c. 1645

 

What I want is to see your face

Last night, a great teacher went
from door to door with a lamp.
“He who is not to be found is the one
I’m looking for.”

Beyond wanting, beyond place, inside form,
That One. A flute says, I have no hope
for finding that.

But Love plays and is the music played.
Let that musician finish this poem.

Shams, I am a waterbird flying into the sun.

Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi

(1207 – 1273 )