Djalâl ad-Dîn Rûmî ~ I am a painter

 

 

I am a painter, a maker of the seen and the hidden.
Every day I shape sublime forms. And then, when
God comes to view them . . . they and I melt away
in Him.

Every phantom knows it lives in my kingdom, and
if I wanted, I could make anything vanish so easily
from any distance, like wax in a flame.

I am both mingled with all and also magnificently
sovereign. This dual state of being and not being
are tides... I let ebb and flow.

There is something to be said for anyone who sits
alone with dignity and silently begs for God.

I am the partner of every affection and act. J am
the only one who is truly guilty, and I am the most
innocent at the same time.

In once finding myself so desolate and empty without
the Beloved, He finally took pity on me and filled
me with Itself.

His brush and all His paints were then, of course,
mine. I now use them to draw a map to your self, so
you wont get lost. 

 

 from The purity of desire  100 poems of Rumi ~ Daniel Ladinsky