I heard a piece on NPR’s Morning Edition today on the poet Rumi, and was surprised to learn that he was born in the Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif… captured recently by the Northern Alliance from the Taliban. His full title: Mevlana Jalal-e-Din Mevlavi Rumi.
I generally don’t find many poems/poets that resonate with me, but several months ago I came across one of his and I put it in my list of FRQs (Frequently Read Quotes) that I keep in my Palm.
This being human is a guesthouse.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and attend them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture, still,
treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Welcome difficulty.
Learn the alchemy True Human Beings know;
the moment you accept what troubles
you’ve been given, the door opens.
Welcome difficulty as a familiar
comrade. Joke with torment
brought by the Friend.
Sorrows are the rags of old clothes
and jackets that serve to cover,
and then are taken off.
That undressing, and the beautiful
naked body
underneath,
is the sweetness
that comes
after grief.
I think I’m going to get this new book of translated poems of his titled, The Soul of Rumi: A New Collection of Ecstatic Poems by Coleman Barks. The Harper Collins web site has chapter excerpt, and here’s another interesting one… though I don’t get the last line about the pearl.
The Husk and Core of Masculinity
Masculinity has a core of clarity, which does not act
from anger or greed or
sensuality, and a husk, which does. The virile center
that listens within takes
pleasure in obeying that truth. Nobility of spirit,
the true spontaneous energy
of your life, comes as you abandon other motives and move
only when you feel the majesty
that commands and is the delight of the self. Remember
Ayaz crushing the king’s pearl!