Skip to main content

WHAT A LOVE!, a Poem by Rumi











This is one of my all time favorite poems of Rumi. What makes this poem so interesting is the fact that Rumi starts out in an amazingly intoxicated state of joy and happiness, being entirely absorbed in Shams Tabrizi's love and companionship. One can clearly sense optimism and joy simply pouring out of Rumi's pen. But halfway through the poem, Rumi's state of mind suddenly changes, and he becomes somewhat moody and nostalgic. He then ends the poem in a very strange and melancholic manner.

It's precisely this abrupt change of mind, and Rumi's honest and spontaneous outpourings which have fascinated me all along. What sets Rumi apart from the rest of classical or modern Persian poets is precisely his deliberate and total disregards for the often very methodical and carefully managed rhyming poetic formulas of the Persian poetry. Rumi simply lets all his feelings out, not even worrying whether or not his verses are in rhyming order, or even politically correct!



WHAT A LOVE!
What an amazing love that I've got,
O Lord.

HOW MARVELOUS!
HOW WONDERFUL!
How charming and beautiful is
This love of mine,
O Lord.

WHAT A HEAT!
What a heat and how so incredibly hot I feel -
Like the burning hot sun -
By the sheer warmth of this love,
O Lord.

WHAT A MOON!
What a moon and what a pure red wine
That are accompanying my fallen in love
Heart and soul these days,
O Lord.

WHAT A PASSION!
What a passion this love
Has provoked in my mundane world,
O Lord.

WHAT A TASK!
What an incredibly difficult task
That You've got High Up There,
O Lord!

WHAT A DUST RISING!
The ruler's egomaniac horsemen
Fell down from their high horses.
What a dust rising scene that was,
O Lord!

I've hit rock bottom.
I've gone down so much,
That I don't even know how to get back up again.
I don't know, I really don't know
What all this uproar deep inside me is for,
O Lord?

The winds of change are blowing again
From every alley and corner of this town.
What's all this melancholy I'm feeling these days,
O Lord?

Why do I feel all tied up,
If there are no chains or shackles attached to me?

WHAT SHACKLES! WHAT CHAINS!

That are tied up so tight to my feet,
O Lord.


BE SILENT!
Be silent so you don't leave yourself exposed.
To my left and right,
There are so many strangers these days,
O Lord.


Rumi - Ghazal/Ode # 95 from Divan-e Shams Tabrizi


??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ?????? ?????
?? ????? ? ?? ????? ? ?? ?????? ?????
?? ?????! ?? ?????! ???? ??? ?? ??????
?? ????? ? ?? ????? ? ?? ?????? ?????
??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???? ????
?? ????? ? ???? ?? ??????? ?????
??? ??? ! ??? ??? ! ?? ??????? ????
??? ??? ! ??? ??? ! ?? ?????? ?????
??? ???? ??? ???? ?????? ??????
??? ???? ??? ???? ?? ?????? ?????
?????? ?????? ??????? ?? ??????
?????? ?????? ?? ?????? ?????
? ?? ??? ? ?? ??? ??? ??? ??????
??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ?????? ?????
?? ?????? ?? ????? ??? ???? ???????
?? ?????! ?? ?????! ?? ?????? ?????
?????? ?????? ?? ?? ??? ??????
?? ????? ?????? ?? ? ???? ?????

??? ????? ?????? ?? '??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ?????? ?????' ?? ????? ??? ?????? ??????

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maula-Maula laakh pukaare - Kalaam by Hazrat Zaheen Shah Taji (R.A.)

????-???? ??? ??????,???? ??? ? ?? ????? ?? ?? ??? ??? ???,???? ??? ? ?? ?? ???? ?? ??? ?? ???? ????,?? ?????? ?? ????-???? ????-????,?????? ?? ?? ??? ????-???? ????-????,?? ?? ??? ? ?? ?? ??????? ?? ?? ?? ??,?? ???? ?? ??? ???? ?? ????? ???? ???? ?? ??????? ???? ???? ??? ? ???? ???? ???? ?? ??? ?? ?? ????? ~ Hazrat Zhaeen Shah Taji (R.A.) Maula-Maula laakh pukaare,Maula haath na aaye Lafzon se hum khel rahe hain,maa'na haath na aaye Jo pani ke naam ko pani jaane,naadaani hai Pani-pani rat'te rat'te,pyaasa hi mr jaaye Shola-shola rat'te-rat'te,lab pe aanch na aaye Ik chingaari lab par rakh lo,lab fauran jal jaaye Ism pe Qaane hone waala aur musamma khone waala Kaam na karne waala moorakh bas naam se ji bahlaye English Translation: Calling out Maula Maula! Maula still escapes us. We only play with words,meaning still escapes us. Who understands the word Water as Water,is a fool, He will keep chanting Water Water and will die of thirst. By ch
Post a Comment
Read more

Lucan: Opening to his Epic on the Civil War (From Latin)

I have recently finished reading (for the first time in its entirety) Lucan's unfinished epic Bellum Civile " The Civil War." I found it extraordinary. When I had finished, I wanted to translate the entire thing. Though I quickly realized that I hadn't the time or the resources to do so without the task taking several years. So I have selected a few excerpts from the Bellum Civile  that I think read well on their own, and have added these to my translation queue. Starting with this part here from the poem's opening. You can see a list of the planned excerpts on my table of contents (list of translated poems.) Opening to his Epic on the Civil War (1.1-82)  By Lucan Translated by A.Z. Foreman I sing of war far worse than civil war waged in the nasty fields of Thessaly, of crime gone legal, of a powerful state that disemboweled itself with victory's sword, of family front lines 1 ; how when the pact of tyranny imploded, all the forces of a concussed w
Post a Comment
Read more

Rumi's "Popular Versions" in Their Original Farsi Scripts

I've been receiving numerous emails requesting the original Farsi or Persian verses of Rumi's very famous and often quoted English "Versions" which are "translated" by the popular Rumi "version makers", particularly the incomparable Coleman Barks who has single-handedly made Maulana Jalaluddin Balkhi Rumi a household name here in our beloved America. In some instances, it's virtually impossible to find Rumi's original Farsi verses, mainly due to non-Persian speaking 'version makers' not providing a reference to the original Rumi verses in their famous  new-agey  translation works. Coleman Barks, the foremost Rumi translator and "version maker", not only openly admits, but also calls his Rumi translations as "versions," or "re-renderings" because he doesn't read Farsi:  �Of course, as I work on these poems, I don�t have the Persian to consult. I literally have nothing to be faithful to, except wha
Post a Comment
Read more