Today's Beautiful Gem: `I Live in the Soul of My Loved One'
by Jalaluddin Rumi, translated by R. A. Nicholson.

"Lo, for I to myself an unknown, now in God's name what must I do?
I adore not the Cross nor the Crescent, I am not a Giaour, not a Jew.
East nor west, land nor sea is my home, I have kin nor with angel nor gnome,
I am wrought not of fire nor of foam, I am shaped not of dust nor of dew.
I was born not in China afar, not in Saqsin and not in Bulghar,
Not in India, where five rivers are, nor Iraq nor Korasan I grew.
Not in this world nor that world I dwell, not in Paradise, neither in Hell;
Not from Eden and Rizwan I fell, not from Adam my lineage I drew.
In a place beyond uttermost Place, in a tract without shadow of trace,
Soul and body transcending, I live in the soul of my Loved One anew!'

Note: Rumi, besides writing Mathnawi (a selection from which was given
nearly five to six months ago), wrote the `Divani Shamsi Tabriz'. This
book is a collection of ghazals. Rumi, according to his translator, is
the greatest mystical poet of any age. Since he lived in the Turkish
area controlled by the Romans, he is called Rumi. Sufi poetry by Rumi
and others had a great influence on the Indian literature of the
middle ages. In fact, there is a lot of parallelisms between Vedanta
and Sufi poetry. This is one area wherein Indian literaure had a very
positive influence from the Middle East. Even to-day, this is evident
in languages like Urdu, Hindi and Telugu.

om s'aantih: Peace! - J. K. Mohana Rao

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