... There is an inner wakefulness that directs the dream, and that will eventually startle us back to the truth of who we are.

Rumi

A moment of happiness

A moment of happiness,
you and I sitting on the verandah,
apparently two, but one in soul,
You and I.

We feel the flowing water of life here,
you and I, with the garden's beauty
and the birds singing.

The stars will be watching us,
and we will show them
what it is to be a thin crescent moon.

You and I unselfed, will be together,
indifferent to idle speculation,
You and I.

The parrots of heaven will be cracking sugar
as we laugh together,
You and I.

In one form upon this earth,
and in another form in a timeless sweet land.

Rumi

...

This lion of God
watches over me,

I sing as he roars.

He says, I've got you now.

...

I am your harp,
play me easy,
play me hard, or
don't touch my strings at all.

You know!
I think,
I've got You now.

Before I met you,
I had only one heart,
I had only one body,
I was only being.

But look at me now,

I've got You now.

from a poem translated by S. Shiva, Rumi

Only that Illumined One

Who keeps seducing
the formless into form.

Had the charm to win my Heart.

Only a Perfect One.

Who is always laughing
at the word Two.

Can make you know of

Love.

Hafiz

Think that you’re gliding out from the face of a cliff like an eagle.
Think you’re walking like a tiger walks by himself in the forest.
You are most handsome when you’re after food.
Spend less time with nightingales and peacocks.
One is just a voice, the other just a color.

Rumi

My heart is not to my heart’s liking.

How I wish I knew
How to unite the two.

Sufi poem

If the foot of the trees were not tied to earth, they would be pursuing me.. For I have blossomed so much, I am the envy of the gardens.

Rumi

Conventional opinion is the ruin of our souls.

Rumi

Load the ship and set out. No one knows for certain whether the vessel will sink or reach the harbor. Cautious people say, "I'll do nothing until I can be sure". Merchants know better. If you do nothing, you lose. Don't be one of those merchants who wont risk the ocean.
Rumi

...
That's how you came here,
like a star without a name.

Move across the night sky
with those anonymous lights.

Rumi, from Matnahawi

Love and imagination are magicians

Who create an image of the Beloved in your mind
With which you share your secret intimate moments.

This apparition is made of nothing at all,
But from its mouth comes the question,

“Am I not your Loved One?”
and from you the soft reply

”Yes.Yes.Yes.”

Rumi

The Intellectual

The intellectual is always showing off,
the lover is always getting lost.

The intellectual runs away, afraid of drowning,
the whole business of love is to drown in the sea.

Intellectuals plan their repose,
overs are ashamed to rest.

The lover is always alone, even surrounded with people,
like water and oil, he remains apart.

The man who goes to the trouble of giving advice to a lover gets nothing.
He's mocked by passion.

Love is like musk.
It attracts attention.

Love is a tree, and lovers are its shade.

Rumi