Rumi translation of "Birdsong"

Birdsong
by Rumi
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Birdsong relieves
my deepest griefs:
now I'm just as ecstatic as they,
but with nothing to say!
Please universe,
rehearse
your poetry
through me!

Elevate your words, not their volume. Rain grows flowers, not thunder.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Beyond

by Rumi

loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Don’t demand union:

there’s a closer closeness, beyond.

The instant love descends to rest in me,

many beings become One.

In a single grain of wheat ten thousand sheaves germinate.

Within the needle’s eye innumerable stars radiate.

The Field

by Rumi

loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Far beyond sermons of right and wrong there’s a sunlit field.

I'll meet you there.

When the soul lazes in such lush grass

the world is too full for discussion.

Two Insomnias (I)

by Rumi

loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

When I’m with you, we’re up all night;

when we’re apart, I’m unable to sleep.

Thank God for both insomnias

and their inspiration.

Two Insomnias (II)

by Rumi

loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

When I’m with you, we’re up all night.

When we part, I’m unable to sleep.

I’m grateful for both insomnias

and the difference maker.

Your heart’s candle is ready to be kindled.

Your soul’s void is waiting to be filled.

You can feel it, can’t you?

�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

This is love: to fly toward a mysterious sky, 

to cause ten thousand veils to fall. 

First, to stop clinging to life, 

then to step out, without feet ...

�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I am not this hair,

nor this thin sheath of skin;

I am the Soul that abides within.

�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Forget security!

Live by the perilous sea.

Destroy your reputation, however glorious.

Become notorious.

�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Let yourself be guided by the strange magnetism of what you truly love:

It will not lead you astray.

The lion is most majestic when stalking prey.

�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I choose to love you in silence (I)

by Rumi

loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I choose to love you in silence

where there is no rejection;

to possess you in loneliness

where you are mine alone;

to adore you from a distance

which diminishes pain;

to kiss you in the wind

stealthier than my lips;

to embrace you in dreams

where you are limitless.

I prefer to love you in silence (II)

by Rumi

loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I prefer to love you in silence,

for in silence there is no rejection.

I prefer to possess you in loneliness,

for in loneliness you are mine alone.

I prefer to adore you from a distance,

because distance diminishes pain.

I prefer to kiss you in the wind,

because the wind is subtler than my lips.

I prefer to embrace you in my dreams,

because in my dreams you are limitless.

�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Elevate your words, not their volume. Rain grows flowers, not thunder.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Why should I brood when every petal of my being is blossoming?�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch 

What you seek also pursues you.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Don’t be satisfied with stories of others’ accomplishments. Create your own legend.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch 

Love renders reason senseless.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Your heart’s an immense ocean. Go discover yourself in its depths.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The only prevailing beauty is the heart’s.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Bur

Love is the bridge between your Heart and Infinity.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch 

Bare rock is barren. Be compost, so wildflowers spring up everywhere.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Your task is not to build love, but to bring down all the barriers you built against it.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I want to sing as the birds sing, heedless of who hears or heckles.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The moon shines brightest when it embraces the night.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The moon shines most bright

when it embraces the night.

�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The moon shines brightest

when the night is darkest.

�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

We come whirling from nothingness, scattering stardust.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I was so drunk my lips got lost requesting a kiss.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Ignite yourself, then seek those able to fan your flames.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Eyes identify love. Feet pursue.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

If your heart is light, it will light your way home.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

You must understand 

“one” and “two” 

because one and one make two. 

But you 

must also understand 

“and.” 

�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Are you still in the dark that your light lights the worlds?�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Why do you remain prisoner when the door's wide open?�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

As you begin to follow the Way, the Way appears.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Everything beautiful was made for the beholder.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The universe lies not without you, but within. Look within yourself: everything you desire, you already are.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

When the inferno rages, it will incinerate a hundred veils and carry you ten thousand steps toward your goal.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Come, come, fellow traveler. Wanderer, worshiper, itinerant: it makes no difference. Ours is no caravan of despair. Come, even if you have broken ten thousand vows. Come yet again, come, come.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

When will you begin the long trek toward reconciliation with yourself?�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

There is eloquence in silence. Stop weaving and the pattern is perfected.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The essence of the rose abides not in the perfume but the thorns.�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The Study

by Rumi

loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

This morning, like so many mornings, we awoke feeling empty and frightened.

Don’t retreat to the study to seek refuge in books. 

Pick up an instrument and let the beauty we love become our composition.

There are innumerable ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

�"Rumi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The heart is the thousand-stringed lyre

Tuned to the chords of Love.

�"Hafiz aka Hafez, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I swear to God

by Mansur Hallaj

translation by Michael R. Burch

I swear to God, the sun never rose nor set

without Your love being mingled with my breath;

nor have I ever confided in anyone

except when communing with You.

Kurds are Birds

by Kajal Ahmad, a Kurdish poet

loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Per the latest scientific classification, Kurds

now belong to a species of bird!

This is why, 

traveling across the torn, fraying pages of history, 

they are nomads recognized by their caravans.

Yes, Kurds are birds! And,

even worse, when

there’s nowhere left to nest, no refuge for their pain,

they turn to the illusion of traveling again

between the warm and arctic sectors of their homeland. 

So I don’t think it strange Kurds can fly but not land.

They wander from region to region

never realizing their dreams

of settling, 

of forming a colony, of nesting.

No, they never settle down long enough 

to visit Rumi and inquire about his health,

or to bow down deeply in the gust-

stirred dust,

like Nali.

A Serious Matter

by Michael R. Burch

Listen, love, it’s a serious matter:

I love you better despite the fetter.

I love you madder than any hatter.

Now even though you’re my chains’ begetter

and keep me your slave with that braless sweater,

I love you better despite the fetter.

You say you’re afraid that you’re getting “fatter,”

but your curves are my lust’s prime aider and abettor. 

Listen, love, it’s a serious matter.

I love you madder than any hatter.

When you come to bed in sheer lace, my thoughts scatter:

first to the firmer, then to the latter. 

I love you better despite the fetter.

I love you madder than any hatter.

Listen, love, it’s a serious matter!

Author's Note

These are my modern English translations of Rumi, Hafez/Hafiz, Mansur Hallaj and Kajal Ahmad.