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I'm neither beautiful nor ugly

Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi, Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi poetry, Muslim / Sufi, Muslim / Sufi poetry,  poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry,  poetry by Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi
(1207 - 1273) Timeline

English version by
W. S. Merwin and Talat Halman

Original Language
Persian/Farsi

Muslim / Sufi
13th Century

I'm neither beautiful nor ugly
     neither this nor that

I'm neither the peddler in the market
     nor the nightingale
     in the rose garden

Teacher give me a name so that I'll know
     what to call myself

I'm neither slave nor free neither candle
     nor iron

I've not fallen in love with anyone
     nor is anyone in love with me

Whether I'm sinful or good
     sin and goodness come from another
     not from me

Wherever He drags me I go
     with no say in the matter

 

 

-- from East Window: Poems from Asia, Translated by W. S. Merwin

Amazon.com

 

Themes

  Freedom
  Garden
  Lover and Beloved
  Rose
 


Recommended Books


Delicious Laughter: Rambunctious Teaching Stories from the Mathnawi of Jelaluddin Rumi, Translated by Coleman Barks
East Window: Poems from Asia, Translated by W. S. Merwin
The Essential Rumi, Translated by Coleman Barks
The Hand of Poetry: Five Mystic Poets of Persia, with Lectures by Inayat Khan, Translated by Coleman Barks
Holy Fire: Nine Visionary Poets and the Quest for Enlightenment, Edited by Daniel Halpern

More >>

 

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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

Rumi sings of the mystic's experience of no-self. All traits, all qualities are limited notions that can never encompass or define the fluid spaciousness we finally recognize as our true nature. Even the notions of "good" and "evil" are concepts that divide and separate, when the vision of unity reveals that we are seamlessly one with the splendor of Reality.

What name can name you then, when everything not named is also you?

 

 


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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2009 by Ivan M. Granger.
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