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 Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi | Next Poem >>

Today I'm out wandering, turning my skull

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
Coleman Barks

Original Language
Persian/Farsi

Muslim / Sufi
13th Century

Today I'm out wandering, turning my skull
into a cup for others to drink wine from.
In this town somewhere there sits a calm, intelligent man,
who doesn't know what he's about to do!

 

 

-- from Open Secret: Versions of Rumi, Translated by Coleman Barks / Translated by John Moyne

Amazon.com

 

Themes

  Wine
 
 
 
 


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
A Garden Beyond Paradise: Love Poems of Rumi, by Jonathan Star / Shahram Shiva
The Hand of Poetry: Five Mystic Poets of Persia, with Lectures by Inayat Khan, Translated by Coleman Barks

More >>

 

<<Previous Poem | More Poems by Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi | Next Poem >>

Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

This is an interesting poem by Rumi. The image of turning his skull "into a cup for others to drink from," what do you think he means by this?

In sacred traditions, the skull is often described as a bowl or a cup that receives the "liquid" of bliss -- the Sufi's "wine" or the yogi's amrita.

It is in the skull that this "wine" is first recognized, where it is first received. The skull seemingly lights up, from its base at the back of the neck around to the point between the eyebrows, and the entire inverted "cup" of the skull seems to fill up with a substance of immense life and joy.

Rumi is receiving so generously of this divine drink that he is pouring it out for all to imbibe.

And why does the "calm, intelligent man" not know "what he's about to do"? Because he's about to consume the wine and, in turn, the wine will consume him -- completely. He is about to be drunk with the taste of the Beloved on his lips. Who knows what blissful madness of love will follow?

 

 


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.