Expansive

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Restoration, Part 3: Voice of the Divine

I need a mouth 
as wide as the sky/
to say the nature 
of a True Person, language/
as large as longing.

-Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rumi, 
from “The Fragile Vial,”
The Essential Rumi translated by Coleman Barks. HarperOne Reprint Edition, 2004.

Good afternoon, Seized friends.

How are you faring?

To be frank, I feel angry and anxious. I see that policies and agencies continue to be overturned or dismantled in a manner that will adversely affect many in our nation. We will soon travel into the terrain of protest; however, today, we’re staying a bit longer in the territory of personal restoration.

At this time, we are in need of a sage, a leader and teacher expansive in compassion and wisdom.

Persian poet Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rumi possessed these qualities in abundance. Rumi was a 13^th-century Sufi master who, while known to dervish into spiritual ecstacy, also served as the head of a madrassa, a judge issuing fatwas, a highly respected religious and legal scholar, and philosopher.

Photo by Yuriy Yosipiv on Unsplash

His language is as large as longing, his poems like a wind bringing warm, embracing currents from a sparkling sea. He is perhaps the most beloved spiritual poet of all time. Rumi’s poetry, translated into many languages, has universal appeal, transcending religious and philosophical differences. He has much to teach us about peace and tolerance, about reclaiming our spiritual selves.

Do you have a favorite Rumi poem? Share your favorites or their titles in the Comments.

Rumi’s verse reflects his beliefs as a Sufi mystic. Sufi mysticism emphasizes a direct, personal experience of God attained through meditation and prayer. The goal of mysticism is the union with God during this life. Rumi scholar and translator Kabir Helminski wrote, “ … he challenged the hypocritical and one-dimensional ‘religion’ that is always the enemy of real spirituality” (The Pocket Rumi, Shambhala Publications, 2001, page xi).

We need Rumi’s sensibility in the present moment.

His poem, “Didn’t I Say?” seems especially relevant now.

Photo by John Wilson on Unsplash

Didn’t I Say? 

Didn’t I say, 
“Don’t go there; 
I am your friend./
In this mirage of existence, 
I am the fountain of life.”/
Even if your anger takes you a hundred thousand years
       away,/
in the end you will return, 
for I am your goal./
Didn’t I say, 
“Don’t be content 
with earthly forms;/
I am the designer 
of the intimate chamber 
of your
      contentment.”/
Didn’t I say, “I am the sea, 
and you are a single fish;/
don’t strand yourself 
on dry land; 
I am your clear sea.”/
Didn’t I say, 
“Don’t get caught 
in the trap like a helpless
      bird;/
I am the power of flight — 
your feet 
and your wings.”/
Didn’t I say, 
“They will waylay you 
and make you cold;/
I am the fire 
and your warm desire.”/
Didn’t I say, 
“They will implant 
their qualities in you/
until you forget 
that the best qualities 
are here.”/
Didn’t I say, 
“You do not know 
from what direction/
your affairs 
are put in order.”

I am the Creator 
beyond directions./
If light is in your heart, 
find your way home./
If you are of God, 
know your Benefactor.

- Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī 
from The Pocket Rumi edited by Kabir Helminski; translation by Kabir Helminski

Photo by Diana Ewell Engel

Voice of the Divine

What are your impressions of “Didn’t I Say?” Takeaways?

Regardless of our individual religious beliefs, each of us possesses an inner voice that, if we listen carefully, can guide us towards goodness and provide clarity as to the paths we choose to take in life.

Photo by Alice Donovan Rouse on Unsplash

If you are an agnostic, humanist, or atheist, this poem can speak to you: As you read it, consider the “I” to be your inner counsel, your conscience or true self. The “They” in the last part of this poem are our enemies in physical and spiritual form.

“Didn’t I Say?” floods us with sacred wisdom. Rumi’s intimate voice is a defining characteristic of his verse. We can hear him as if he is a father or uncle quietly and earnestly advising us, saying, … Don’t go there; I am your friend and later, don’t strand yourself on dry land and Don’t get caught in the trap like a helpless bird.

The way he exhorts us, the warmth of his companioning voice and his vivid images such as mirage of existence, the trapped bird, and the terrifying thought of brainwashing—They will implant their qualities in you—seize our attention and imagination. These metaphors ring true with what we know of the world and of history.

Photo by Diana Ewell Engel

Many of Rumi’s images—the fountain of life; the intimate chamber of your contentment which in another translation becomes the tabernacle (Arberry, The Mystical Poems of Rumi 2, Univ. of Chicago, 1991); the fish and the clear sea; the power of flight and wings, the Creator—echo religious texts such as the Bible and the Quran.

At the same time, Rumi’s meanings and the open spirit of his lines transcend religious dogma.

The line, I am the Creator beyond directions, I take to be the essence of Rumi’s message. Notice that this “I,” the inner voice or God, is life-giving and vast as the sea and flight, as warm as a fire. Others who seek to direct us may mislead us, restrict us, take away our fervor for life, and make us into transgressors.

Photo by Tabea Schimp on Unsplash

Rumi’s poem reminds me of my true road map and the harmful influences I must avoid in contrast to the ocean of love and light within me that gives me life. I agree with and draw comfort from the thought that even if I travel far away in anger from the divine, I am destined to return: Read the fifth line once again, in the end you will return, for I am your goal.

Religious scholar Huston Smith considered the capstone of Rumi’s brilliance to be “ … his capacity for love and his power to give it poetic expression” (The Essential Rumi, xv). Rumi preached, “ love is the religion, the universe its book” (xvi). “Didn’t I Say?” presents us with majestic metaphors, the elements of the universe that correspond to divine love and light and those that are, by contrast, nefarious. We are directed home to God and/or our true selves.

I want to hear from you! Share your ideas and questions about “Didn’t I Say?” and what you’re reading and/or writing.

Photo by Diana Ewell Engel