Atom Glow

O traveler, traveler along the way,

there is not a single soul

who lacks a pathway to God.

There is not a stone or a flower -—

not a single piece of straw

lacking the divine essence.

In every particle of the world

the sun of love

causes the heart of each atom to shine.

—- Muhammad Shirin Maghribi

Midwife

Every midwife knows

that not until a mother’s womb

softens in the pain of labor

will a way unfold and the infant

find that opening through which it can be born.

O my friend, there is treasure in your heart,

and it is heavy with child.

Listen!

All the awakened ones, like trusted midwives

are saying to you, “Welcome this pain.

Let it open the dark passageway of grace."

-- from Rumi

Hopeless Desire

I had such a hopelessly desperate desire for You

till I saw how your light

had always yearned for me.

I pushed and I pulled till I saw that it was You

who had already drawn me to every good

that I have ever known.

—arranged from Rumi

Living signs

Your names reflect your boundless essence.

This world displays your living signs.

The stars trace out

the beauties of your perfection.

If you are not enraptured by these wonders

then the eye of wisdom is truly blind.

—Maftun Hamadani

Fire of Love

That fire, that light whose name is love

burns away both belief and unbelief.

Religious belief is one thing —

but the way of love

is something entirely different.

Love’s Prophet, Love’s messenger, Love’s angel

is beyond creeds, beyond petty distinctions

and leads us out beyond ourselves

into the fields of infinite compassion.

— Abu Sa’id abi-l Khayr

The Morning of Friendship

When the morning of friendship with God

begins to dawn,

the soul grows distant from

the landscapes of this world,

and you reach a place inside yourself where

without any hindrance from your external eyes

you can catch a glimpse

of the face of the Friend.

And you ask: “With your overwhelming beauty,

what are you?

And who are you like, O God?”

And God replies:

I am love, I am lover,

I am (the) Beloved One.

And I am the beauty reflected

in the mirror of creation around you.

And I am the deep longing

of your eyes to see it.

For you see, the imprint of the divine beauty

already exists inside of you.

The Mirror of the divine face

is already reflecting out through you.

In truth, there is not a thing in this world

separate from you.

Whatever you are seeking is already waiting there

inside of you.

For in the end, we are all images

you stitch with gold thread

into a tapestry you are weaving.

Even the least figure in that tapestry

is a playful addition.

Nothing you ever work on is ever dull.

Each of us is a manifestation

of your divine beauty.

—Sayfal-Din Bakharzi, , Baba Afdal Kashani, Abu Sa’id Abil Khayr

Love's Currency

Reason said,

“We live in a world of only six directions,

and that’s it!”

But Love replied, “There is a field

beyond all of that,

and I have traveled its path many times.”

Reason saw a marketplace in this world

and immediately set up shop,

But love trades in another kind of currency altogether—

a consciousness that flows

through the arteries of the universe.

 -- Rumi