my passion for rumi

rumi has a special place in my heart. he really does. although i would rather call him mulana, rumi seems to be his prefered and better known name in america (where he is also the best selling poet despite the fact that his work is mostly read in translation). anyway, there is one poem that i came across a few years back and which really touched me. it was just so passionate and real that i felt an instant connection and had my own private moment of ecstacy. and it was a very pleasant surprise to re-discover it today and share it with someone. and then i thought that perhaps i should share it with the world (okay, the few ppl who actually read this page or accidently stumble upon it). so here it is...


Looking For Your Face

From the beginning of my life
I have been looking for your face
but today I have seen it.

Today I have seen
the charm, the beauty,
the unfathomable grace
of the face
that I was looking for.

Today I have found you
and those that laughed
and scorned me yesterday
are sorry that they were not looking
as I did.

I am bewildered by the magnificence
of your beauty
and wish to see you with a hundred eyes.

My heart has burned with passion
and has searched forever
for this wondrous beauty
that I now behold.

I am ashamed
to call this love human
and afraid of God
to call it divine.

Your fragrant breath
like the morning breeze
has come to the stillness of the garden
You have breathed new life into me
I have become your sunshine
and also your shadow.

My soul is screaming in ecstasy
Every fiber of my being
is in love with you

Your effulgence
has lit a fire in my heart
and you have made radiant
for me
the earth and sky.

My arrow of love
has arrived at the target
I am in the house of mercy
and my heart
is a place of prayer.