Chocolate for the soul

There are some Rumi teachings that simply hold the key to the heart. Read it slowly, with gusto, relish and enjoy each and every single stanza, taste and savour each and every single word, love and cherish each and every little syllable. Let them melt on your tongue like chocolate for the soul….

I guarantee for nothing, because once you have come to the end of the ode you may feel your soul of souls.

Ode 2131

come inside the fire
leave your trickery behind
go insane
go mad
burn like a candle-moth

first make yourself a stranger
to yourself and
tear down your house
then move with us
dwell in the abode of love

wash your chest
seven times over
cleansing from hatred
then mold yourself into the chalice
holding the pure wine of love

to understand the intoxicated
you must become intoxicated
to join the eternal soul
you must become a soul

you heard my story and
your spirit grew wings
now you must be annihilated in love
to become a fable of your own

your imagination my friend flies away
then pulls you as a follower
surpass the imagination and
like fate
arrive ahead of yourself

passion and desire
has locked your heart
you must become the key
the teeth of the key
to open all locks

King Solomon gives you a message
listen to the birds
they are talking to you
calling you a trap
frightening them away

to capture us they say
you must make a nest
you must make a nest

your sweetheart’s face
is appearing now
change yourself to a mirror
and fill yourself to the brim

so many gifts
you purchased for your love
quit buying gifts
give yourself over

you were a part of the
mineral kingdom in the beginning
then you change to animal life for awhile
then you found the soul of a human for awhile
now the time has arrived
to become
the soul of souls

From: Rumi ” Fountain of Fire”
Translated by Nader Khalili