Sunday, July 02, 2006

rumi

I came across a small volume, Gardens of the Beloved, of selected quatrains of the Sufi mystical poet, Rumi (Mowlana Jalaludin Mohamad born 1207 in Balkh), translated by Maryam Mafi and Azima Melita Kolin. For Rumi the essence of the Divine is the nature of love. I was particularly struck by the following:

I filled the garden with candles tonight,
set the table with wine and sweets
and called the musicians.
How I wish that you could be here!

In Rumi’s poetry “Garden” is symbolic of an inner space, depicting the outward beauty of nature and the inward beauty of Spirit.

Rennie D
1 July 2006

1 comment:

Penny Boden said...

Mark I just love this extract and may just have to borrow it some time.