Coleman Barks's Rumi
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Chapter 1: THE TAVERN
13 poems
Who Says Words with My Mouth?
We have a huge barrel of wine
(Quatrain 1319)
A Community of the Spirit
(Ghazal 2577)
There’s a strange frenzy in my head
(Quatrain 747)
Drunks fear the police
(Quatrain 731)
A Children’s Game
Book I
Gone, inner and outer
(Quatrain 1159)
The wine we really drink
(Quatrain 1301)
The Many Wines
Book IV
Special Plates
(Ghazal 1910)
Burnt Kabob
(Ghazal 2738)
The New Rule
(Ghazal 1861)
This that is tormented
(Quatrain 190)
Chapter 2: BEWILDERMENT
11 poems
I Have Five Things to Say
Book III
Acts of Helplessness
Book II
Saladin’s Begging Bowl
(Ghazal 1397)
Late, by myself
(Quatrain 12)
Does sunset sometimes look
(Quatrain 551)
Be Melting Snow
(Ghazal 2172)
The Fragile Vial
Book V
Where Are We?
Book VI
The Friend comes into my body
(Quatrain 167)
There is a light seed grain
(Quatrain 667)
Do you think I know
(Quatrain 1359)
Chapter 3: EMPTINESS AND SILENCE
15 poems
The Reed Flute’s Song
Book I
A Thirsty Fish
(Ghazal 1823)
Enough Words?
(Ghazal 2155)
This World Which Is Made of Our Love for Emptiness
Quietness
(Ghazal 636)
Sanai
(Ghazal 996)
A Just-Finishing Candle
Book V
Craftsmanship and Emptiness
Book VI
Emptiness
Book I
When you are with everyone but me
(Ghazal 1793)
No Flag
(Ghazal 2449)
The Food Sack
Book III
The Night Air
Book VI
Only Breath
There is a way between voice
(Quatrain 337)
Chapter 4: SPRING GIDDINESS
22 poems
Spring
(Ghazal 211)
Where Everything Is Music
(Ghazal 110)
A Great Wagon
(Ghazal 171)
Today, like every other day
(Quatrain 82)
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
(Quatrain 158)
The breeze at dawn
(Ghazal 91)
I would love to kiss you
(Quatrain 388)
Daylight, full of small dancing particles
(Quatrain 556)
They try to say what you are
(Quatrain 558)
Come to the orchard in Spring
(Quatrain 914)
Spring Is Christ
(Ghazal 2003)
Shreds of Steam
(Ghazal 3438)
The Steambath
(Ghazal 809)
The Ground Cries Out
(Ghazal 3048)
Unfold Your Own Myth
(Ghazal 598)
Not a Day on Any Calendar
(Ghazal 2728)
Flutes for Dancing
(Ghazal 2967)
The Shape of My Tongue
(Ghazal 1486)
The Grasses
Book I
The Sheikh Who Played with Children
Book II
Let the lover be disgraceful
(Quatrain 55)
All day and night, music
(Quatrain 7)
Chapter 5: FEELING SEPARATION
10 poems
Sometimes I Forget Completely
(Ghazal 2537)
A Man and a Woman Arguing
Book I
A night full of talking that hurts
(Quatrain 170)
An Empty Garlic
(Ghazal 2776)
The Diver’s Clothes Lying Empty
(Quatrain 2693)
Red Shirt
(Ghazal 1924)
My Worst Habit
(Ghazal 2779)
Don’t let your throat tighten
(Quatrain 825)
Dissolver of Sugar
(Quatrain 3019)
Pale sunlight
Chapter 6: CONTROLLING THE DESIRE-BODY
14 poems
Sexual Urgency
Book V
Tattooing in Qazwin
Book I
The Center of the Fire
(Ghazal 1304)
Someone who goes with half a loaf
(Quatrain 494)
The mystery does not get clearer
(Quatrain 1088)
Muhammad and the Huge Eater
Book V
Fasting
(Ghazal 1739)
Bismillah
(Ghazal 1073)
Wean Yourself
Book III
After the Meditation
Book II
The Dog in the Doorway
Book V
The light you give off
(Quatrain 2)
Tending Two Shops
Book II
Think that you’re gliding out
(Quatrain 1078)
Chapter 7: SOHBET
21 poems
Talking in the Night
(Ghazal 1335)
Talking Through the Door
(Ghazal 436)
A Mouse and a Frog
Book VI
The Long String
Book VI
The Force of Friendship
Book VI
The Vigil
(Ghazal 258)
Two Friends
Book I
The Servant Who Loved His Prayers
Book III
All Rivers at Once
(Ghazal 1126)
The Blocked Road
(Ghazal 1837)
A Babbling Child
(Ghazal 2083)
Who sees inside from outside?
(Quatrain 497)
Constant Conversation
(Ghazal 7)
Bonfire at Midnight
(Ghazal 2110)
In Between Stories
Book VI
The Question
Book V
The Music
Book I
I saw you last night in the gathering
(Quatrain 1035)
The Tent
(Ghazal 1051)
Friend, our closeness is this
(Quatrain 25)
Listen to presences
(Quatrain 730)
Chapter 8: BEING A LOVER
13 poems
The Sunrise Ruby
Book V
Water from Your Spring
(Ghazal 1001)
You Sweep the Floor
(Ghazal 3050)
Each Note
(Ghazal 532)
Buoyancy
(Ghazal 940)
Music Master
(Ghazal 1195)
When I am with you
(Quatrain 36)
The minute I heard my first love story
(Quatrain 1246)
We are the mirror as well as the face
(Quatrain 1652)
I want to hold you close
(Quatrain 1080)
Someone Digging in the Ground
(Ghazal 617)
The Phrasing Must Change
Book I
The Guest House
Book V
Chapter 9: THE PICKAXE
9 poems
Who Makes These Changes?
Book VI
Why Wine Is Forbidden
Book IV
On Resurrection Day
Book V
The Dream That Must Be Interpreted
Book IV
The Pickaxe
Book IV
Zikr
Book IV
The Core of Masculinity
Book VI
I honor those who try
(Quatrain 828)
Dervish at the Door
Book VI
Chapter 10: ART AS FLIRTATION WITH SURRENDER
5 poems
Omar and the Old Poet
Book I
An Egypt That Doesn’t Exist
(Ghazal 1754)
Chinese Art and Greek Art
Book I
In your light I learn
Are you jealous of the ocean’s generosity?
Chapter 11: UNION
7 poems
Gnats Inside the Wind
Book III
Meadowsounds
(Ghazal 3079)
Ayaz and the King’s Pearl
Book V
Put This Design in Your Carpet
Book V
Hallaj
(Ghazal 1288)
We Three
(Ghazal 2395)
I am filled with you
(Quatrain 168)
Chapter 12: THE SHEIKH
11 poems
Chickpea to Cook
Book III
I Have Such a Teacher
(Ghazal 2015)
Sublime Generosity
(Ghazal 1373)
Like This
(Ghazal 1826)
A Bowl
(Ghazal 2805)
Wax
(Ghazal 1628)
No Room for Form
(Ghazal 1145)
Childhood Friends
Book I
The Mouse and the Camel
Book II
These gifts from the Friend
(Quatrain 33)
The Lame Goat
Book III
Chapter 13: RECOGNIZING ELEGANCE
6 poems
Father Reason
Book IV
A craftsman pulled a reed
(Quatrain 612)
Humble living does not diminish
(Quatrain 397)
New Moon, Hilal
Book VI
Body Intelligence
Book IV
The Seed Market
Book IV
Chapter 14: THE HOWLING NECESSITY
3 poems
Love Dogs
Book III
Cry Out in Your Weakness
Book II
The Debtor Sheikh
Chapter 15: TEACHING STORIES
5 poems
Nasuh
Book V
Moses and the Shepherd
Book II
Joy at Sudden Disappointment
Book III
If the beloved is everywhere
Book I
Story Water
Book V
Chapter 16: ROUGH METAPHORS
9 poems
Rough Metaphors
Book III
Birdwings
Book III
I Come Before Dawn
Book III
Checkmate
Book IV
An Awkward Comparison
Book IV
Two Kinds of Intelligence
Book IV
Two Ways of Running
Book V
The Importance of Gourdcrafting
Book V
Breadmaking
Book VI
Chapter 17: SOLOMON POEMS
7 poems
Sheba’s Gifts to Solomon
Book IV
Solomon to Sheba
Book IV
Sheba’s Hesitation
Book IV
Sheba’s Throne
Book IV
Solomon’s Crooked Crown
Book IV
The Far Mosque
Book IV
A bird delegation came to Solomon
Chapter 18: THE THREE FISH
7 poems
Gamble everything
In a boat down a fast-running creek
The Three Fish
Book IV
Send the Chaperones Away
Book IV
When I remember your love
All our lives we’ve looked
The Gift of Water
Book I
Chapter 19: JESUS POEMS
5 poems
I called through your door
Jesus on the Lean Donkey
Book II
What Jesus Runs Away From
Book III
Christ is the population
(Quatrain 1091)
There’s Nothing Ahead
(Ghazal 425)
Chapter 20: IN BAGHDAD, DREAMING OF CAIRO
9 poems
In Baghdad, Dreaming of Cairo
Book VI
Dying, Laughing
Book V
Human Honesty
Book III
Dalqak’s Message
Book VI
The Cat and the Meat
Book V
Sheikh Kharraqani
Book VI
The Snake-Catcher
Book III
Polishing the Mirror
Book II
Ali in Battle
Book I
Chapter 21: BEGINNING AND END
2 poems
The King and the Handmaiden and the Doctor
Book I
The Three Brothers and the Chinese Princess
Book VI
Chapter 22: GREEN EARS EVERYWHERE
9 poems
I used to be shy
Green Ears
Book IV
The way of love is not
Let your throat-song
I have phrases and whole pages
You’ve so distracted me
I’m Not Saying This Right
(Ghazal 2166)
The Least Figure
(Ghazal 1538)
I reach for a piece of wood
(Quatrain 831)
Chapter 23: BEING WOVEN
5 poems
Of Being Woven
Book VI
The Waterwheel
(Ghazal 393)
The Granary Floor
Book II
A Song About a Donkey
Book II
Elephant in the Dark
Book III
Chapter 24: WISHED-FOR SONG
8 poems
A Wished-for Song
(Ghazal 2196)
A Basket of Fresh Bread
Book V
When We Pray Alone
Book VI
One Who Wraps Himself
Book IV
Deliberation
Book III
The Private Banquet
Book IV
We are the night ocean
(Quatrain 1299)
Which is worth more, a crowd
Chapter 25: MAJESTY
7 poems
This We Have Now
Book I
The Visions of Daquqi
Book III
The Worm’s Waking
Book IV
The Freshness
(Ghazal 1047)
Judge a Moth
(Ghazal 2627)
The morning wind spreads
(Quatrain 751)
Slave, be aware
Chapter 26: EVOLUTIONARY INTELLIGENCE
11 poems
A Dove in the Eaves
(Ghazal 543)
We have this way of talking
(Quatrain 403)
This piece of food
(Quatrain 79)
In the slaughterhouse of love
(Quatrain 681)
The Witness, the Darling
Book VI
In the Arc of Your Mallet
(Ghazal 2195)
Unmarked Boxes
(Ghazal 1937)
The Milk of Millennia
Book VI
The You Pronoun
Birdsong from Inside the Egg
Book III
Say I Am You
Chapter 27: THE TURN
18 poems
Inside water, a waterwheel
(Quatrain 723)
You have said what you are
(Ghazal 394)
A secret turning in us
(Quatrain 567)
This moment this love comes to rest
(Quatrain 569)
Keep walking, though there’s no place
(Quatrain 317)
Walk to the well
(Quatrain 318)
I circle your nest
(Quatrain 171)
No better love than love
(Quatrain 152)
Some nights stay up
(Quatrain 88)
I am so small
(Quatrain 798)
When you feel your lips
(Quatrain 807)
The sun is love
(Quatrain 823)
Something opens our wings
(Quatrain 1084)
Held like this
(Quatrain 1125)
I stand up, and this one of me
(Quatrain 1138)
I have lived on the lip
(Quatrain 1249)
Real value comes with madness
Dance, when you’re broken open
Book III
Chapter 28: A NEW SECTION
76 poems
A Given
(Ghazal 246)
A Mystic and a Drunk
(Ghazal 260)
Clouds
(Ghazal 304)
So Recklessly Exposed
(Ghazal 581)
These Exhaling Sounds
(Ghazal 605)
In Prison
(Ghazal 631)
A Ripe Fig
(Ghazal 644)
Daybreak
(Ghazal 728)
Start Your Lives Over
(Ghazal 735)
With You Here Between
(Ghazal 771)
The Deepest Rest
(Ghazal 833)
As Ripeness Comes
(Ghazal 841)
Dark Sweetness
(Ghazal 882)
Stingy Aloeswood
(Ghazal 887)
Locked Out of Life
(Ghazal 1025)
A Wink
(Ghazal 1037)
Sweet Outlaws
(Ghazal 1131)
Wind That Tastes of Bread and Salt
(Ghazal 1151)
A Bit of Embroidery
(Ghazal 1201)
Flood Residue
(Ghazal 1270)
An Understanding of the Question
(Ghazal 1353)
The Wine Vat’s Lid
(Ghazal 1447)
To Say How I Am
(Ghazal 1610)
Your Old Aunt and Uncle
(Ghazal 1638)
The Buddhist Sufi
(Ghazal 1635)
A Cave Where Shams of Tabriz Is Resting
(Ghazal 1663)
A Grape
(Ghazal 1678)
Basra Dates
(Ghazal 1690)
Lies from Each Other
(Ghazal 1869)
A Cleared Site
(Ghazal 1925)
Infinitesimal Dust
(Ghazal 1965)
Your First Eyes
(Ghazal 1972)
A Frog Deep in the Presence
(Ghazal 2000)
Up to the Neck
(Ghazal 2028)
More of What We Say
(Ghazal 2092)
No Need to Ask
(Ghazal 2103)
What Would I Be?
(Ghazal 2117)
March
(Ghazal 2120)
Shuttles
(Ghazal 2130)
Limb-Shadows
(Ghazal 2170)
Drum
(Ghazal 2259)
The Other Thing
(Ghazal 2277)
The Oldest Thirst There Is
(Ghazal 2283)
Why Am I So Blessed?
(Ghazal 2299)
Farther and Farther from Zero
(Ghazal 2303)
The Elegance of the Ermine
(Ghazal 2336)
A Lantern
(Ghazal 2832)
The Drunken Gnat
(Ghazal 2852)
Spoken Things
(Ghazal 2894)
How Finite Minds Most Want To Be
(Ghazal 2987)
How Should Someone Drawn To You Act?
(Ghazal 2998)
The Reed Flute’s Work
(Ghazal 3001)
Three Quatrains
Morning Water and a Poet
Book VI
The Eleventh Prison
Book III
We Leave Off the Endings
Book III
An Edge of Foam
Book VI
How We Move in Grace
Book V
A Pilgrimage to a Person
Book II
A Sigh of Grieving
Book II
Through the Low Gate
Book III
The King’s Lead-Camel
Book III
A Dying Dog
Book V
One Strong Brushstroke Down
Book I
Refuse the First Plate
Book V
Backpain
Book II
The Uses of Fear
Book VI
Town and Country
Book III
Sweet-Talked into Connection
Book II
Inklings
Book III
Ayaz and the Thirty Courtiers
Book VI
The Well of Sacred Text
Book III
Ocean Love
Book III
Hand Above Hand Above Hand
Book III
The Freedom of a Place
Book III
Love and I Talking
Book III