In my difficult search for poems of PEACE (those on WAR are easy to find), I have come across this by the 13th century Persian writer, philosopher and poet Jelaluddin Rumi.
It probably loses a lot in translation, but there is sufficient coming through to make it interesting.
The source of peace lies within us all.
Jelaluddin Rumi
A GARDEN BEYOND PARADISE
Everything you see has its roots
in the unseen world.
The forms may change,
yet the essence remains the same.
Every wondrous sight will vanish,
every sweet word will fade.
But do not be disheartened,
The Source they come from is eternal—
growing, branching out,
giving new life and new joy.
Why do you weep?—
That Source is within you,
and this whole world
is springing up from it.
The Source is full,
its waters are ever-flowing;
Do not grieve,
drink your fill!
Don't think it will ever run dry—
This is the endless Ocean!
From the moment you came into this world,
a ladder was placed in front of you
that you might transcend it.
From earth, you became plant,
from plant you became animal.
Afterwards you became a human being,
endowed with knowledge, intellect and faith.
Behold the body, born of dust—
how perfect it has become!
Why should you fear its end?
When were you ever made less by dying?
When you pass beyond this human form,
no doubt you will become an angel
and soar through the heavens!
But don't stop there.
Even heavenly bodies grow old.
Pass again from the heavenly realm
and plunge into the ocean of Consciousness.
Let the drop of water that is you
become a hundred mighty seas.
But do not think that the drop alone
becomes the Ocean—
the Ocean, too, becomes the drop!
Jelaluddin Rumi was born in was born in 1207 in Balkh, Persia, (part of modern-day Afghanistan - not Iran). His family fled the Mogul invasion to Konya, Turkey where he spent most of his life.
Rumi, following in his fathers ancestoral line, became a scholar until his meeting with the wandering dervish, Shams of Tabriz. Of this meeting Rumi said, "What I had thought of before as God, I met today in a person."
His poetry is filled with a longing to be with the Friend, Him, or You.
Are these mysterious pronouns the names of God, Shams, or who? That, perhaps, is for you to ponder.
Rumi founded the Mevlevi Order of dervishes, better known as the Whirling Dervishes of Sufism. Through a turning movement, body posturing, mental focus, and sound, the dervish achieves ecstasy through union with God.
09/05/08 @ 20:58