Please enjoy the first poem from the book - Freedom From Yourself - Rumi's Selected Poems from the Divan Shams Tabrizi translated by Alexander King

 

 

1ST POEM

 

I went through a journey without I*

 

There, my heart opened up to joy without I*

 

The Beloved who always hid His face from me

 

Suddenly showed His beautiful face to me without I*

 

I died from the pain of not finding you

 

A new birth came and I was reborn without I*

 

Now I am always drunk without any wine

 

Now I am always happy and joyful without I*

 

Do not ever remember me for who I* was

 

I am the remembrance of me without I*

 

I say happy and loving words without I*

 

It is I who is always alive without I*

 

All the doors of fortune and joy were closed on me

 

Suddenly they were opened to me without I*

 

With I*, even if I am a king, I am a slave of time

 

Without I*, there is no slavery in all my kingdom

 

I am drunk with the wine from Shams Tabriz

 

May this drunkenness of love be always without I*

 

1 I* Represents I as ego and the state of mind were we are not in the present moment; either we are fearful of the future or guilty of the past and constantly.