A Gift of Love
Rumi’s Love Poems
My Burning Heart
My heart is burning with love
All can see this flame
My heart is pulsing with passion
like waves on an ocean
my friends have become strangers
and I’m surrounded by enemies
But I’m free as the wind
no longer hurt by those who reproach me
I’m at home wherever I am
And in the room of lovers
I can see with closed eyes
the beauty that dances
Behind the veils
intoxicated with love
I too dance the rhythm
of this moving world
I have lost my senses in my world of lovers
Bittersweet
In my Hallucination
I saw my Beloved’s flower garden
In my vertigo
In my dizziness
In my drunken haze
whirling and dancing
like a spinning wheel
I saw myself
as the source of existence
I was there in the beginning
and i was the spirit of love
Now I am sober
There is only the hangover
and the memory of love
And only the sorrow
I yearn for happiness
I ask for help
I want mercy
And my love says
Look at me and hear me
because i’m here just for that
I am your moon and
your moonlight too
I am your flower garden
and your water too
I have come all this way
eager for you
without shoes or shawl
I want to laugh
to kill all your worries
to love you
to nourish you
Oh Sweet Bitterness!
I will soothe you and heal you
I will bring you roses
I too have been covered with thorns
Intoxicated by Love
Because of your love
I have lost my sobriety
I am intoxicated
by the madness of love
In this fog
I have become a stranger to myself
I’m so drunk
I’ve lost the way to my house
In the garden
I see only your face
From trees and blossoms
I inhale only your fragrance
Drunk with the ecstasy of love
I can no longer tell the difference
betweeen drunkard and drink
Between lover and Beloved
The Lover’s Passion
A lover knows only humility
He has no choice
He steals into your alley at night
He has no choice
He longs to kiss every lock of your hair
Don’t fret He has no choice
In his frenzzied love for you
he longs to break
the chains of his imprisonment
He has no choice
Do You Love Me?
A lover asked his beloved,
Do you love yourself more
than you love me?
The beloved replied,
I have died to myself
and I live for you.
I’ve disappeared from myself
and my attributes.
I am present only for you.
I have forgotten all my learning,
but from knowing you
I have become a scholar.
I have lost all my strength,
but from your power
I am able.
If I love myself
I love you.
If I love you
I love myself.
Come to me
I’m your lover
Come to my side
I will open
the gate to your love
Come settle with me
Let us be neighbors
to the stars
You have been hiding so long
aimlessly drifting
in the sea of my love
Even so
you have always been
connected to me
Concealed, revealed
in the known in the unmanifest
I am life itself
You have been a prisoner
of a little pond
I am the ocean an its turbulent flood
Come merge with me
Leave this world of ignorance
Be with me
I will open t
he gate to your love
Desire
I desire you
more than food
or drink
My body
my senses
my mind
hunger for your taste
I can sense your presence
in my heart
although you belong
to all the world
I wait
with silent passion
for one gesture
one glance
from you
The Alchemy Of Love
You come to us
from another world
From beyond the stars
and void of space.
Transcendent, Pure,
Of unimaginable beauty,
Bringing with you
the essence of love
You transform all
who are touched by you.
Mundane concerns,
troubles, and sorrows
dissolve in your presence,
Bringing joy
to ruler and ruled
To peasant and king
You bewilder us
with your grace.
All evils
transform into
goodness.
You are the master alchemist.
You light the fire of love
in earth and sky
in heart and soul
of every being.
Through your love
existence and nonexistence merge.
All opposites unite.
All that is profane
becomes sacred again.
Caught In The Fire Of Love
My heart is on fire
In my madness I roam the desert
The flames of my passion
devour the wind and the sky
My cries of longing
My wails of sorrow
Are tormenting my soul
You wait patiently
Looking into my intoxicated eyes
You accept my passion
with the serenity of Love
You are the Master of Existence
One day I shall be a Lover like You
The Awakening
In the early dawn of happiness
you gave me three kisses
so that I would wake up
to this moment of love
I tried to remember in my heart
what I’d dreamt about
during the night
before I became aware
of this moving
of life
I found my dreams
but the moon took me away
It lifted me up to the firmament
and suspended me there
I saw how my heart had fallen
on your path singing a song
Between my love and my heart
things were happening which
slowly slowly made me recall everything
You amuse me with your touch
although I can’t see your hands.
You have kissed me with tenderness
although I haven’t seen your lips
You are hidden from me.
But it is you who keeps me alive
Perhaps the time will come
when you will tire of kisses
I shall be happy even
for insults from you
I only ask that you
keep some attention on me.
I Am Yours
Because the idol is your face,
I have become an idolater.
Because the wine is from your cup,
I’ve become a drunkard.
In the existence of your love,
I have become non-existent.
This non-existence, linked to you,
is better than all existence.
Behind the Scenes
Is it your face
that adorns the garden?
Is it your fragrance
that intoxicates this garden?
Is it your spirit
that has made this brook
a river of wine?
Hundreds have looked for you
and died searching
in this garden
where you hide behind the scenes.
But this pain is not for those
who come as lovers.
You are easy to find here.
You are in the breeze
and in this river of wine.
Looking For Your Face
(aka ‘From the beginning of my life’)
From the beginning of my life
I have been looking for your face
but today I have seen it
Today I have seen t
he charm, the beauty,
the unfathomable grace
of the face
that I was looking for
Today I have found you
and those who laughed
and scorned me yesterday
are sorry that they were not looking
as I did
I am bewildered by the magnificence
of your beauty
and wish to see you
with a hundred eyes
My heart has burned with passion
and has searched forever
for this wondrous beauty
that I now behold
I am ashamed
to call this love human
and afraid of God
to call it divine
Your fragrant breath
like the morning breeze
has come to the stillness of the garden
You have breathed
new life into me
I have become your sunshine
and also your shadow
My soul is screaming in ecstacy
Every fiber of my being
is in love with you
Your efflugence
has lit a fire in my heart
for me
the earth and sky
My arrow of love
has arrived at the target
I am in the house of mercy
and my heart is a place of prayer
The Meaning of Love
Both light and shadow
are the dance of Love.
Love has no cause;
it is the astrolabe of God’s secrets.
Lover and Loving are inseparable
and timeless.
Although I may try to describe Love
when I experience it I am speechless.
Although I may try to write about Love
I am rendered helpless;
my pen breaks and the paper slips away
at the ineffable place
where Lover, Loving and Loved are one.
Every moment is made glorious
by the light of Love.
Aroused Passion
You arouse me with your touch
although I can’t see your hands
You have kissed me with tenderness
although I haven’t seen your lips
You are hidden from me.
But it is you who keeps me alive
My sweetheart
You have aroused my passion
Your touch has filled me with desire
and I am no longer separate from you
These are precious moments
I beseech you
Don’t let me wait…
Die in This Love
Die, die, die in this love.
If you die in this love your soul will be renewed.
Die, die, don’t fear the death of that which is known.
If you die to the temporal
you will become timeless.
Die, die, cut off those chains
that hold you prisoner to the world of attachment.
Die, die, die to the deathless and you will be eternal.
Die, die, come out of this cloud.
When you leave the cloud,
you will be the effulgent moon
Die, die, die to the din and noise of mundane concerns.
In the silence of love you will find the spark of life.
The Privileged Lovers
The moon has become a dancer
at this festival of love.
This dance of light,
This sacred blessing,
This divine love,
beckons us
to a world beyond
only lovers can see
with their eyes of fiery passion.
They are the chosen ones
who have surrendered.
Once they were particles of light
now they are the radiant sun.
They have left behind
the world of deceitful games.
They are the privileged lovers
who create a new world
with their eyes of fiery passion.
Precious Love
Oh God! I have discovered love!
How marvelous! How good!
How beautiful it is! My body is warm from the heat of this love
How secret! How deep! How obvious it is!
I offer my salutations to the stars and the moon, to all
my brothers and sisters
I offer my salutations to
the spirit of passion that
aroused and excited
this universe and all it contains
I have fallen unable to rise.
What kind of trap is this?
What chains have tied my hands and feet?
It is so strange and so wonderful
this loving helplessness of mine.
Be silent, do not reveal the secret of my precious love.
Surrender
In love, nothing is eternal but drinking your wine,
There is no reason for bringing my life to you,
other then losing it.
I said “I just want to know you, and then disappear”
She said,”Knowing me does not mean dying”
Defeated By Love
The sky was lit
by the splendor of the moon
So powerful
I fell to the ground
Your love
has made me sure
I am ready to forsake
this worldly life
and surrender
to the magnificence
of your Being
Lost In The Wilderness
Oh lovers, where are you going?
Who are you looking for?
Your beloved is right here.
She lives in your own neighborhood.
Her face is veiled.
She hides behind screens
calling for you,
while you search and lose yourself
in the wilderness and the desert.
Cease looking for flowers,
there blooms a garden in your own home.
While you go looking for trinkets,
your treasure house awaits
you in your own being.
There is no need for suffering, God is here!
The Mythical Lover
My love for you
has driven me insane
I wander aimlessly
the ruins of my life
my old self a stranger to me
Because of your love
I have broken with my past
My longing for you
Keeps me
in this moment
My passion
gives me courage
I look for you
in my innermost being
I used to read
the myths of love
Now I have become
the mythical lover
I Am And I Am Not
I’m drenched
in the flood
which has yet to come
I’m tied up
in the prison
which has yet to exist
Not having played
the game of chess
I’m already the checkmate
Not having tasted
a single cup of your wine
I’m already drunk
Not having entered
the battlefield
I’m already wounded and slain
I no longer
know the difference
between image and reality
Like the shadow
I am
And
I am not
The Agony Of Lovers
The agony of lovers
burns with the fire of passion
Lovers leave traces
of where they’ve been
The wailing of broken hearts
is the doorway to God
The Agony And Ecstasy Of Divine Discontent
In the orchard and rose garden
I long to see your face.
In the taste of Sweetness
I long to kiss your lips.
In the shadows of passion
I long for your love.
Oh! Supreme Lover!
Let me leave aside my worries.
The flowers are blooming
with the exultation of your Spirit.
By Allah!
I long to escape the prison of my ego
and lose myself
in the mountains and the desert.
These sad and lonely people tire me.
I long to revel in the drunken frenzy of your love
and feel the strength of Rustam in my hands.
I’m sick of mortal kings.
I long to see your light.
With lamps in hand
the sheiks and mullahs roam
the dark alleys of these towns
not finding what they seek.
You are the Essence of the Essence,
The intoxication of Love.
I long to sing your praises
but stand mute
with the agony of wishing in my heart.
The Mirror
We are the mirror as well as the face in it.
We are tasting the taste this minute of eternity.
We are pain and what cures pain, both.
We are the cold sweet water and the jar that pours
I want to hold you close like a lute,
so that we can cry out with loving.
Would you rather throw stones at a mirror?
I am your mirror and here are the stones
Look At Your Eyes
I am so small I can barely be seen.
How can this great love be inside me?
Look at your eyes, they are small but they
see enormous things.
Looking For Love
God is within
My heart is in harmony with my head
my spirit soars as a bird
in search of new sky,
The innocence of my life
releases the God I love everywhere.
Some Kiss
There is some kiss we want
with our whole lives,
the touch of spirit on the body.
Seawater begs the pearl
to break its shell.
And the lily, how passionately
it needs some wild darling!
At night, I open the window and ask
the moon to come
and press its face against mine.
Breathe into me.
Close the language-door
and open the love-window.
The moon won’t use the door,
only the window
The Freshness
When it’s cold and raining,
you are more beautiful.
And the snow brings me
even closer to your lips.
The inner secret, that which was never born,
you are that freshness, and I am with you now.
I can’t explain the goings,
or the comings. You enter suddenly,
and I am nowhere again.
Inside the majesty.
My Beloved
Know that my beloved is hidden from everyone
Know that she is beyond the belief of all beliefs
Know that in my heart she is as clear as the moon
Know that she is the life in my body and in my soul
The Hunt
The Lover comes, the Lover comes!
Open the way for him!
He’s looking for a heart,
Let’s show him one.
I scream
“What you come to hunt is me!”
He says laughingly,
“I’m here not to hunt you but to save you.”