the locusts who descend and eat crops

“now we terminate those who oversee the nuclear weapons, my lord”

 

I have said to the

crude-minded Fakhruddin Razi

and the dull King Khwarazmshah and

several other joyless philosophers, With your way

you leave behind the beauty of flowers and peacefulness

and walk steadily into darkness. You ignore the obvious miracles

in favor of smoke and ghosts. The false self of ego makes your

decisions. You feel confused and blocked, but wisdom

knows that this material world is a door to spirit.

Specific actions are required, and careful

attention must be given

to friendship.

 

We live in a place where

thorns and poisonous plants grow wild,

but fruit trees, roses, and vegetables need tending.

The diligent farming work is virtue. Fakhruddin and Khwarazmshah

disagree. They’re like the locusts who descend and eat crops rather than help

them grow. I wrap myself like Muhammad in this robe of torso, limbs,

and face, this splendid covering of phenomenal existence,

where I grow toward some destiny I know not,

only that I must live fully here

to reach the next.

 

Bahauddin, father of Rumi

the drowned book

 

daniel chatard