CRY OUT IN YOUR WEAKNESS

CRY OUT IN YOUR WEAKNESS

By Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī

A dragon was pulling a bear into its terrible mouth.
A courageous man went and rescued the bear.
There are such helpers in the world, who rush to save
anyone who cries out. Like mercy itself,
they run toward the screaming.
And they can't be bought off.

If you were to ask one of those,
"Why did you come so quickly?" he or she would say,
"Because I heard your helplessness."
Where lowland is, that's where water goes.
All medicine wants is pain to cure.

And don't just ask for one mercy.
Let them flood in. Let the sky open under your feet.
Take the cotton out of your ears, the cotton
of consolations, so you can hear the sphere-music.
Push the hair out of your eyes.
Blow the phlegm from your nose,
and from your brain.

Let the wind breeze through.
Leave no residue in yourself from that bilious fever.
Take the cure for impotence,
that your manhood may shoot forth,
and a hundred new beings come of your coming.
Tear the binding from around the foot
of your soul, and let it race around the track
in front of the crowd.

Loosen the knot of greed
so tight on your neck.
Accept your new good luck.
Give your weakness to one who helps.

Crying out loud and weeping are great resources.
A nursing mother, all she does
is wait to hear her child.
Just a little beginning-whimper,
and she's there.

God created the child, that is , your wanting,
so that it might cry out, so that milk might come.

Cry out! Don't be stolid and silent with your pain.
Lament! And let the milk
of loving flow into you.

The hard rain and wind
are ways the cloud has
to take care of us.

Be patient.
Respond to every call
that excites your spirit.
Ignore those that make you fearful
and sad, that degrade you
back toward disease and death.

(trans. Coleman Barks)