The Soul of the World

I have circled awhile with the nine Fathers in each Heaven
   For years I have turned with the stars in their signs.
   I was invisible awhile, I was dwelling with Him. 
   I was in the Kingdom of ‘or nearer’, I saw what I have seen.

I receive my nourishment from God, as a child in the womb;
   Man is born once, I have been born many times.
   Clothed in a bodily cloak, I have busied myself with affairs, 
   And often have I torn the cloak with my own hands.

I have passed nights with ascetics in the monastery, 
   I have slept with infidels before the idols in the temple.
   I am the pangs of the jealous, I am the pain of the sick.
   I am both cloud and rain: I have rained on the meadows.

Never did the dust of mortality settle on my skirt, o dervish!
   I have gathered a wealth of roses in the garden of Eternity.
   I am not of water nor fire, I am not of the froward wind,
   I am not of moulded clay: I have mocked at them all.

O son, I am not Shams-I Tabriz, I am pure Light.
If you see me, beware! Don’t tell anyone what you saw!

 

 

Rumi: Poet and Mystic 

RA Nicholson trans, George Allen and Unwin Ltd, London; ISBN 004891021

There are many modern versions of Rumi’s poems which have made this 13th century Persian mystic a household name in the English-speaking world. So much so that he is considered by many to be the most popular American poet of the 20th century.
This translation by Nicholson comes to us from a different age. It is not a modern rendering of Rumi’s thought. Nicholson is one of the greatest scholars and translators of our time. He savours the full depth and mystery of Rumi’s writing, and reading these poems requires attention and some background knowledge. In return they will reward the reader by offering a glimpse of the reality of love: awesome in its might, ravishing in its beauty.

More about Jelaluddin Rumi