Come To Me, My Truly Beloved
I have had enough of silent nights, of my unspoken grief and tired wisdom. The more the years advance, the more I realise that this is not the kind of love I am on the Earth to seek. That’s why I ask you to come to me, my truly Beloved. You are my treasure and my breath of life, dress my earthly self’s inner wounds and be my spirit/soul’s cure. You and I we are one and need no words, just come to me without a sound.
I now know that love means reaching for the sky and with every breath tearing away a hundred veils. Love steps away from the ego. It opens the eyes of inner vision and does not take this world so seriously. If you understand all this, congratulations, dear heart! You have joined the circle of lovers, but please tell me in your own words how all this began for you. For me it happened when I was absorbed in my work in this world, though I never lost my longing for my true home in the realms of the Highest. One day, exhausted with no strength left, I turned to God and the Angels and asked for their help. Suddenly they lifted me into the grace of Divine love. Words cannot describe the mystery of this experience.
Dear heart, why are you are so unreasonable? You have fallen in love. Why then are you still worrying about your life? Those who insist on robbing and stealing have reason to fear earthly laws as well as spiritual ones. But although you profess to be in love with the Highest, nonetheless you are worrying about what people may think of you.
While in earthly life, I will run fast and keep running until I catch up with the spirits of the air and the wind. I will dissolve into air and become nothing, so I can reach my Beloved more easily. I will become fire, burn my house and head for the desert. I will become all pain, so I can be healed. I will become humble and turn into soil so your flowers can grow in me. I will kiss the ground and become water, so I can flow into your rose garden. I will make my face shine like a golden coin, so I can become worthy of you, my one and only truly Beloved. I came in this world helpless and fearful but now that I am approaching the end of my journey, I am finding comfort and safety in you. The blessing of truth is like water, it can only flow downstream, back into the great ocean of life. Was I born into earthly life to find my way home to you, my Beloved?
There is no bargaining with the love I feel for you. And the choices I make are no longer the ones of my earthly self but yours. Your will is mine and my will is yours. Now I know that love is the true nature of life throughout the whole of Creation and that it is also the essence of human nature that provides a mirror of our soul. This kind of love can only reveal itself to those who look into its face and have the courage to act it out in their own lives.
When you recognise the face of anger, false pride and all manner of other negative characteristics in others, do not turn away. Know that they are mirrors of your hidden inner self. Place your own negativity under your feet, turn it into a ladder for climbing ever higher into your true nature. There is no peace until you become the master of the desires of your lower earthly self. Let go of all anger. An outburst of it may taste sweet at the moment it is happening, but anger destroys – not merely the other one. In time it also kills you. Refuse to act as one of life’s victims. Be a conqueror by taking charge of every aspect of your being. If that sounds too difficult, ask God and the Angels for their help.
It takes humility to climb to freedom. My dear heart, never think you are better than others. Listen to their sorrows with compassion. If you want peace, do not harbour bad thoughts, do not gossip and do not teach what you do not truly understand yourself.
When a tree is planted every leaf that grows tells you of the tree’s love for its Creator. Let your life be like this and never forget that whatever you sow – in this lifetime and all others – is bound to bear fruit. Therefore, if you have any sense, my dear friend, plant nothing but love and remember that we show our worth by what we seek, not by our words but our actions and deeds. Water flows to those who want purity, so wash your soul of all desires and be cleansed for the table of the highest love.
Shall I tell you a secret? Flowers attract the most beautiful lovers with their sweet smile and scent. When writing poetry or prose, if you put the cravings of your small earthly self for fame and glory to one side and allow God’s inspiration to flow through you, it will do so and can then speak to people’s hearts and souls forever.
Do not spend unnecessary time with those who lack understanding. Never sit in judgement over them or throw stones at them or their talk. Each in their own sweet time they too will re-awaken into the awareness of their true nature. As the mirror of the soul easily gets rusty when dipped into muddy waters, it is better by far to keep the company of those who already have opened their hearts and learnt to love wisely, God’s way.
Maulana Rumi
From the Islamic Tradition
Edited by Aquarius
This article is a chapter from ‘Astrology On The Healing Journey’.
If it has whetted your appetite to read more, please follow the link below:
‘Astrology On The Healing Journey’