Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Search the Poetry Chaikhana site:


Poetry Chaikhana Home
New | Books | Music | Teahouse | About | Contact
Poets by: Name| Tradition | Timeline Poetry by: Theme | Commentary
Blog | Forum | Video Channel
www.Poetry-Chaikhana.com

<<Previous Poem | View All Poems by Yunus Emre | Next Poem >>

The mature ones are a sea

Yunus Emre, Yunus Emre poetry, Muslim / Sufi, Muslim / Sufi poetry,  poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry,  poetry by Yunus Emre
(1238 - 1320) Timeline

English version by
Kabir Helminski & Refik Algan

Original Language
Turkish

Muslim / Sufi
13th Century

The mature ones are a sea.
A lover is needed to take the plunge,
a diver to bring up a pearl.

When you have brought
the pearl to the surface,
a jeweler is needed to know its worth.

Stay on the road until you arrive.
Be speechless. Don't become a salesman.
Find an 'Ali to follow.

Muhammed knew Truth in himself.
Truth is present everywhere.
You only need eyes to see it.

Ask your daily sustenance from Truth,
the only Apportioner. Find someone
who is master of his ego.

The lovers asked me to sing.
Someone without greed is needed
to complete what is started.

Sufi, who are you kidding?
Can anyone but Truth
satisfy a human need?

Truth's place is in the heart.
There is a verse in the Quran -- In soul
love has a tower higher than the throne of Creation.

I've gone crazy on this Way.
I can't tell day from night.
The arrow of Love has pierced my heart.

Come, poor Yunus, come,
hold the hands of the mature.
In their humility is a cure.

 

 

-- from The Drop That Became the Sea: Lyric Poems of Yunus Emre, Translated by Kabir Helminski / Translated by Refik Algan

Amazon.com

 

Themes

  Heart
  Lover and Beloved
  Night
  Water
 


Recommended Books


The Drop That Became the Sea: Lyric Poems of Yunus Emre, Translated by Kabir Helminski / Translated by Refik Algan
Music of a Distant Drum: Classical Arabic, Persian, Turkish & Hebrew Poems, Translated by Bernard Lewis
Poetry for the Spirit: Poems of Universal Wisdom and Beauty, Edited by Alan Jacobs
The Poetry of Yunus Emre: A Turkish Sufi Poet, Translated by Grace Martin Smith
Quarreling with God: Mystic Rebel Poems of the Dervishes of Turkey, Translated by Jennifer Ferraro / Translated by Latif Bolat

 

<<Previous Poem | More Poems by Yunus Emre | Next Poem >>

 

 


Poetry Chaikhana Home
New | Books | Music | Teahouse | About | Contact
Poets by: Name| Tradition | Timeline Poetry by: Theme | Commentary
Blog | Facebook | Twitter
www.Poetry-Chaikhana.com

Please support the Poetry Chaikhana, as well as the authors and publishers of sacred poetry, by purchasing some of the recommended books through the links on this site. Thank you!

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.