Allspirit Poetry

Selections from the poetry of Rumi

The Body is Too Slow for Me

Toward the gardens,
Toward the orchards,
   I am going.
If you want to stay here,
Stay here -
   I am going!
My day is dark without His Face,
Toward that bright flame
   I am going.

My soul is racing ahead of me.
It says, The body is too slow for me -
   I am going.

The smell of apples arises
   from the orchard of my soul.
One whiff and I am gone -
   Toward a feast of apples
    I am going.

A sudden wind won't blow me over.
Toward Him, like a mountain of iron,
   I am going.

My shirt is ripped open
   with the pain of loss.
Searching for a new life,
   with my head held high,
   I am going.

I am fire, though I seem like oil -
   Seeking to be the fuel of His fire,
   I am going.

I appear as a steady mountain
Yet bit by bit,
Toward that tiny opening
   I am going.

Ode 1668 Version by Jonathan Star from a translation by Shahram Shiva "A Garden Beyond Paradise: The Mystical Poetry of Rumi"

Index of Rumi Poems