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A handful of people are known as ‘Sufis’ – mystics who rather prefer to live in seclusion.
A small percentage of Sufis become revered Sufi saints. And an even smaller percentage of Sufi saints are known worldwide for their poetry.
Mevlana Rumi is among the smaller percentage of Sufi mystics, whose mysticism tears down the walls of religions, whose poetry inflames a deep fire we run away from daily, and whose love for God and his master is deep and soulful.
Simple, to the point, and lyrical, the fountain of poetry exploded in Rumi’s heart when he came in contact with his master/ Guru/ Murshid, Shams-e-Tabriz.
As it turns out, Rumi was a popular scholar turned poet, whose poetic genius was revealed to him after his unquenchable thirst for God was ignited by his master.
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“I used to want buyers for my words,
Now I wish someone would buy me away from words”.
– Mevlana Rumi
Story-telling, a craft used by Sufis, offers an amusing lesson to the reader, in the most shocking way.
Here’s an interesting Rumi poem picked up from The Essential Rumi by Coleman Barks.
It is about a Sufi mystic who is overtly worried about his old donkey and requests the servant repeatedly to give the donkey a proper meal and care.
The assurances given by the servant were all in vain when the Sufi later realizes that the donkey wasn’t tended to as promised.
"The ordinary story is not so ordinary.
It is the lesson in the ordinary things in life that’s become the essence of Sufism.
And here’s how the poem unfolds, giving the reader advice on life:
“There are such vicious and empty flatterers in your life.
Do the careful, donkey-tending work.
Don’t trust to anyone else.
There are hypocrites who will praise you, but who do not care about the health of your heart-donkey.
Be concentrated and leonine in the hunt for what is your true nourishment.
Don’t be distracted by blandishment-noises, of any sort.”
– After the Meditation, Rumi
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