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Rising in Meaning

This poem is in essence a follow up to the commentary titled On the Meaning of Meaning in the Rumi Beyond Reason and Rhyme page.  They were both presented at Rumi's Ascension of the Soul ceremony in Malibu, California, December 19th, 2010.

Rising in Meaning

By Maulana Jallal-uddin Balkhi Rumi

English rendition by Zaman Stanizai

The sun and my stars have risen

beyond the realm of form and through them

I have transcended to higher state of meaning.

From where I will not return to duality

as I am lost in the pleasant perplexities of thought.

There I am immersed in the blissful hues of meaning

like a sugar cube dissolving in invisible being

I have attained to higher levels of meaning

by willingly abandoning the worldly life.

In that garden of bliss I gracefully amble

searching for the crimson glow

of a freshly unfurled morning glory.

I free myself from the anchoring weight of ego

and rise a destructive wave to wreck the ship of

body and form into pieces.

The slightest notion of hesitance in this endeavor

sparkles a raging fire that rises from the sea passion.

In that fire of love I shine in brilliance

like molten gold  laughing at the world.

In its absence I surely sink into dull depression.

Once I willingly submit to the magic of love,

what destiny sends my way is of no consequence.

I have escaped the triviality of matter

and am drawn and drowned in the essence of being

whose every drop reveals a hidden eternal ocean within.

I lead the charge, like Alexander

into the conquered realm of meaning. 

Ah the grace and splendor of that Shams-i Tabrizi. 

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