Poems on the last prophet of Allah, by Rumi

Poems on The Holy Prophet

by Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi



O Beloved of God, you are the Messenger of the Sole Creator. You are the one chosen by the Holy Lord of Majesty (Who is) without equal.


(You are) the delight of the Lord God (and) the highest Full-Moon of createdbeings, (and) you are the light of the eyes of (God's) Messengers (and) the Lampof our eyes.


On the night of the Ascension, (the angel) Gabriel was at (your) stirrup,(and) you are (the one who was) standing on top of the blue domes (of heaven).


O Messenger of God, you know (that) your community are deprived anddestitute, (and) you are the guide of those who are vulnerable and helpless.


(You are) the cypress tree of the rose garden of prophethood (and) the spring-season of spiritual knowledge.

You are the rosebush of the garden of the ReligiousLaw, and the nightingale of the lofty (heavens).


Shamsee Tabreez is one who has the praise of the Messenger in his heart.

O Mustafa, you are the supreme master.



Book IV.

STORY II. The Building of the "Most Remote Temple" at Jerusalem:


For this cause Mustafa said, "Adam and all prophets

Are my followers and gather under my standard.

Though to outward view I am a son of Adam,

In reality I am his first forefather,

Because the angels worshipped him for my sake,

And 'twas in my footsteps that he ascended to heaven.

Hence in reality our first parent was my offspring,

As in reality the tree is born of its own fruit."

What is first in thought is last in act.

Thought is the special attribute of the Eternal.

This product goes forth from heaven very swiftly,

And comes to us like a caravan.

'Tis not a long road that this caravan travels;

Can the desert stop the deliverer?

The heart travels to the Ka'ba every moment,

And by divine grace the body acquires the same power.

Distance and nearness affect only the body,

What do they matter in the place where God is?

When God changes the body,

It regards not parasangs or miles.






Book III.

STORY XIV. Miracles performed by the Prophet Muhammad:


It is related that the Prophet was once present at a banquet, and after he had eaten and drunk, his servant Anas threw the napkin which he had used into the fire, and the napkin was not burnt, 'but only purified by the fire. On another occasion a caravan of Arabs was traveling in the desert, and was in sore distress through lack of water, whereupon the Prophet miraculously increased the water in a single water-skin, so that it sufficed to supply the needs of all the travelers…Again, a heathen woman came to the Prophet carrying her infant, aged only two months, and the infant saluted the Prophet as the veritable apostle of God. Again, when the prophet was about to put on his sandals, an eagle swooped down upon one of them and carried it off, when a viper was seen to drop from the sandal. The Prophet was at first inclined to grumble at this stroke of ill-luck; but when he saw the viper his discontent was turned into thankfulness to God, who had thus miraculously saved him from being bitten by the viper.


In difficulties there is provided a way of salvation .

In this tale there is a warning for thee, O Soul,

That thou mayest acquiesce in God's ordinances,

And be wary and not doubt God's benevolence,

When sudden misfortunes befall thee.

Let others grow pale from fear of ill fortune,

Do thou smile like the rose at loss and gain;

For the rose, though its petals be torn asunder,

Still smiles on, and it is never cast down.

It says, "Why should I fall into grief in disgrace?

I gather beauty even from the thorn of disgrace."

Whatsoever is lost to thee through God's decree

Know of a surety is so much gained from misfortune.

What is Sufism? 'Tis to find joy in the heart

Whensoever distress and care assail it.

Know troubles to be that eagle of the Prophet's

Which carried off the sandal of that holy one,

In order to save his foot from the bite of the viper

O excellent device! to preserve him from harm.

'Tis said, "Mourn not for your slaughtered cattle

If a wolf has harried your flocks;"

For that calamity may avert a greater calamity,

And that loss may ward off a more grievous loss.




Book II.

STORY III. The King and his Two Slaves:


When Muhammad gained that blessed possession,

In a moment he cleft asunder the disk of the moon.

When Abu Bakr became the exemplar of that grace,

He was companion of that Lord, and a 'c faithful witness."

When 'Omar was enraptured with that beauty,

Like a mind he discerned true and false.

When Osman viewed those brilliant sights,

He diffused light and became "Lord of the two lights."

When Murtaza ('Ali) shined with its reflection,

He became the "Lion of God" in the soul's domain.

When his two sons were illumined by this light,

They became the "pearly earrings of highest heaven;"

…Bayazid saw his way to increased fruition thereof,

And gained from God the name "Polestar of Gnostics."

…A hundred thousand great (spiritual) kings

Exalted by this divine light approach the world.

Their names remain hidden through God's jealousy;

Every beggar tells not their names.




Book VI.

STORY VII. The Three Travelers:


For this cause Muhammad was the intercessor for faults,

Because his eye 'did not wander' from the King of kings.

In the night of this world, when the sun is hidden,

He beheld God, and placed his hopes on Him.

His eyes were anointed with the words, ' We opened thy heart,'

He beheld what Gabriel himself had not power to see."