Friend by the Fountain
"Friend by the Fountain"
Stay Close My Heart
Stay close, my heart, to the one who knows your ways;
Come into the shade of the tree that always has fresh flowers.
Don't stroll idly through the bazaar of the perfume-makers:
Stay in the shop of the sugar-seller.
If you don't find true balance, anyone can deceive you;
Anyone can trick out of a thing of straw,
And make you take it for gold
Don't squat with a bowl before every boiling pot;
In each pot on the fire you find very different things.
Not all sugarcanes have sugar, not all abysses a peak;
Not all eyes possess vision, not every sea is full of pearls.
O nightingale, with your voice of dark honey! Go on lamenting!
Only your drunken ecstasy can pierce the rock's hard heart!
Surrender yourself, and if you cannot be welcomed by the Friend,
Know that you are rebelling inwardly like a thread
That doesn't want to go through the needle's eye!
The awakened heart is a lamp; protect it by the hem of your robe!
Hurry and get out of this wind, for the weather is bad.
And when you've left this storm, you will come to a fountain;
You'll find a Friend there who will always nourish your soul.
And with your soul always green, you'll grow into a tall tree
Flowering always with sweet light-fruit, whose growth is interior.
by Rumi
Friends in the Garden (c) 1992
The soul of an eagle is strong brave and free.
Feared hunter by night, Faithful mate by day.
Nurturing its young compassionately.
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Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase each other doesn't make any sense. ~~~Rumi
For the 'hand up' just when I needed it most. For the new things I learned from you and for reminding me of those things that I already knew but had somehow forgotten. For helping me "apply the brakes gently" when I was hell bent on running headlong and headstrong into something that might ultimately hurt me. You shared your confidence with me when I had lost my own, encouraged me to be bold and unafraid when life had beaten me down, you mirrored for me spectacularly who I am when I had lost all vision of myself, for myself. You let me lean without allowing me to become dependant causing me to stand on my own and trust self. You opened doors on the far horizons and within my heart and soul that I didn't even know existed then invited and encouraged me to go through them. It has always been the "high road" and not the easy one that is paramount to living life well. You are like a beacon on that road, entreating others to follow, to soar in fact on eagles wings. It is with love in my heart that I will think of you always: past, present, and future. I am truly blessed to have had you as my friend.
