Nasir al-Mulk Mosque
Spiritual Sunday – Ramadan
Just as I have been posting a Mary Oliver poem each Easter, I have been posting a Rumi poem to commemorate Ramadan, which commenced this past week. During Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to sundown for a month to commemorate God revealing the first verses of the Koran to Mohammed.
In the following poem, Rumi makes a distinction between the external and the internal, between the external injunction to abstain from food and drink and “the invisible treasure of the heart.” The poem simply but powerfully captures how the stress that “comes from fasting” cleanses the spirit and reveals the brilliance within. “Bairam” is the feast that concludes Ramadan while Salahuddin is one of Rumi’s spiritual companions, who keeps alive the spirit of ancient Sufi mystics Mansur and Beyazid.
Ramadan came, but Bairam is with us.
The lock came, but the key is with us.
Mouth is closed. Eyes are opened.
That brilliance that the eyes see is with us.
We have cleaned soul and heart with fasting.
The dirt which has been with us is cleansed now.
Some stress comes from fasting,
But the invisible treasure of heart is with us.
Ramadan came to the heart’s temple;
The one who created heart is with us.
Since Salahuddin is among this crowd,
Mansur and Beyazid are with us.
Previously posted Ramadan poems by Rumi
Celebrate! The Month of Fasting Has Come
No Room in This House for Two I’s
A New Song Comes Out of the Fire
Overrichness Is a Subtle Disease