ARumi poem

I love this poem by Rumi because it describes sufi-intoxication so beautifully, and also the freedom and dispossession which is a part of the sufi experience. 


My favorite verse is : Where are you from? I asked him.
He replied, “Half from Turkistan and half from Farghaneh,
half from water and clay and half from soul and heart,
half from the edge of the sea and half from the depths of the ocean---------

I am drunk and you are insane
tell me, who will lead us home?
How many times have I asked you not to drink so much

for I see no sober soul in town.
Come to the tavern my dearest and taste the wine of love
for the soul is joyous only in the company of lovers.

Go on playing your lute, my drunken gypsy but tell me,
between the two of us, 
who is more drunk?

As I left my house a Sufi approached me,
in his glance I saw a hundred gardens.
He swayed from side to side like a ship without an anchor,
while a hundred reasonable men watched on enviously.

(This is my favorite verse.)

Where are you from?
 I asked him.
He replied, “Half from Turkistan and half from Farghaneh,
half from water and clay and half from soul and heart,
half from the edge of the sea and half from the depths of the ocean.

(because I am divided into so many halves eastern and western , rational and mystic--I feel these words are imprinted on my heart)