More Rumi

FOURTEEN QUESTIONS

What if I broke off a whole branch
of roses? What if I lost myself in

the Friend? How would it be to have
no faith? What if I picked a pick-

pockets pocket? Does it mean any-
thing when a single basket is lost

in Baghdad, when one wheat grain is
missing from the barn? How long will

this illusion last? What remains
when a lover sits quietly with the

beloved for one second? Will it
involve you at all if I say some

unsayable things? Will my heart feel
relieved doing that? Something has

passed between lover and beloved.
Are you part of these goings-on?

What does the soul feel when Jesus
heals the body? This is the night

when life decrees can change. If
the moon came to visit me, would

that affect other people? Shams
Tabriz, if I gave workers a holiday

and if I turned the marketplace
upside down, would that be a kind of

image for how you loved the world?

FYI -- All of these poems come from Coleman Barks' translation of Rumi's poems called "The Soul of Rumi, A new collection of ecstatic poems," Harper San Fransisco 2001.

Who is this "Friend" Rumi speaks of? I've read the Koran, and I see no Friend there. I see a petty tyrant named "Allah," who demands servitude and adherence to a ridiculous, outdated set of tribal cultural standards.

There is a Friend in the Bible, of course.

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8. Likewise

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

John 15:13-15

Rumi knew the God who is Friend. That is not "Allah." Peace be upon him.