Untitled XXVII by Yunus Emre
Our laws are different from other laws. Our religion is like no other. It is different from the seventy-two sects. We are guided by different signs, In this world an hereafter. Without cleansing of visible waters, without any movement of hands, feet, or head- we worship Whether at the Kaaba, in the mosque, or in […]
Untitled XXVI by Yunus Emre
The mature ones are a sea. A lover is needed to take the plunge, a diver to bring up a pearl. When you have brought the pearl to the surface, a jeweler is needed to know its worth. Stay on the road until you arrive. Be speechless. Don’t become a salesman. Find an ‘Ali to […]
Untitled XXV by Yunus Emre
Let’s say the name of Allah all the time. Let’s see what my Lord does. Let’s travel the Way always. Let’s see what my Lord does. Just when you least expect it, suddenly the veil is lifted. The remedy arrives in time. Let’s see what my Lord does. What did Yunus do? What did he […]
Untitled XXIX by Yunus Emre
I haven’t come here to settle down. I’ve come here to depart. I am a merchant with lots of goods, selling to whoever will buy. I didn’t come to create any problems, I’m only here to love. A Heart makes a good home for the Friend. I’ve come to build some hearts. I’m a little […]
Untitled XXIV by Yunus Emre
The drink sent down from Truth, we drank it, glory be to God. And we sailed over the Ocean of Power, glory be to God. Beyond those hills and oak woods, beyond those vineyards and gardens, we passed in health and joy, glory be to God. We were dry, but we moistened. We grew wings […]
Untitled XXIII by Yunus Emre
We entered the house of realization, we witnessed the body. The whirling skies, the many-layered earth, the seventy-thousand veils, we found in the body. The night and the day, the planets, the words inscribed on the Holy Tablets, the hill that Moses climbed, the Temple, and Israfil’s trumpet, we observed in the body. Torah, Psalms, […]
Untitled XXII by Yunus Emre
Ask those who know, what’s this soul within the flesh? Reality’s own power. What blood fills these veins? Thought is an errand boy, fear a mine of worries. These sighs are love’s clothing. Who is the Khan on the throne? Give thanks for His unity. He created when nothing existed. And since we are actually […]
Untitled XXI by Yunus Emre
If I told you about a land of love, friend, would you follow me and come? In that land are vineyards that yield a deadly wine- no glass can hold it. Would you swallow it as a remedy? The people there must suffer. Would you serve the sweetest drink to others and take the bitter […]
Untitled XX by Yunus Emre
Whoever is given the dervish path may his posturing cease and may he shine. May his breath become musk and amber. May whole cities and homelands gather fruit from his branches. May his leaves be healing herbs for the sick. May much good work be done in his shadow. May his tears become a clear […]
Untitled XVIII by Yunus Emre
If you break a true believer’s heart once, It’s no prayer to God-this obeisance, All of the world’s seventy-two nations Cannot wash the dirt off your hands and face. There are the sages-they have come and gone. Leaving their world behind them, they moved on. They flapped their wings and flew to the True One, […]
Untitled XVII by Yunus Emre
I wonder-is anyone here A stranger as forlorn as I? His heart wounded, his eyes tearful A stranger as forlorn as I? Let no one be lonesome like me Or writhe in exile’s agony. Teacher, I hope no one will be A stranger as forlorn as I. They’ll say, “He’s dead. that sad stranger” Hearing […]
Untitled XIX by Yunus Emre
Go and let it be known to all lovers: I am the man who gave his heart to love. I turn into a wild duck of passion, I am the one who takes the swiftest dive. From the waves of the sea I take water And offer it all the way to the skies. In […]
Untitled XIV by Yunus Emre
All men in the whole wide world adore Him whom we adore; How could we deny entry, it’s a road or open door? Whatever, whomever we love, our Loved One also loves; Can the friend of our Friend have something to doubt or abhor? If you are a true lover, befriend the friend of the […]
Untitled XIII by Yunus Emre
It’s the true man who leads the mystic life Whoever is human, whoever dares. Those who stand high and look below with scorn Are bound to fall from the top of the stairs. Though a gray-bearded old man might look grand, There is so much he doesn’t understand, Let him not struggle towards the Holy […]
Untitled XII by Yunus Emre
I used to yearn for God; If I found Him, what then? Day and night I shed tears; If I laugh now, what then? I was a ball rolling On the holy men’s field; Now I am a bat on The sultan’s course, what then? A bunch of red roses At the sages’ parley, I […]
Untitled XI by Yunus Emre
Dear Friend, let me plunge in the sea of love, Let me sink into that sea and walk on. Let both worlds become my sphere where I can Delight in the mystic glee and walk on. Let me become the nightingale that sings A soul freed from the dead body’s yearnings; Let me bury my […]
Untitled X by Yunus Emre
If I rub my face on the ground, My new moon would rise in the skies, Winter and summer become spring. To me all days are holidays. Let no cloud cast a tall shadow On the gleaming light of my moon Whose fullness must never grow dim: From earth to sky its glimmer sprays. From […]
Untitled VIII by Yunus Emre
While I was roaming the wide world I came upon nations in graves: The mighty and the meek lay there Among them awe-inspiring braves. Some were old men, some young heroes: Viziers, teachers-everyone goes; Their days now caught in the night’s throes, Here they lie with death’s other slaves. The path they took was always […]
Untitled VII by Yunus Emre
We have no knowledge of whose turn has come While Death roams about freely among us: Dashing through men’s lives as His own orchard, He plucks and strips anyone He chooses. He crushes people, leaves them with backs bent, And makes multitudes shed tears of lament. He plunders estates to His heart’s content, Routs men […]
Untitled V by Yunus Emre
Your love has wrested me away from me, You’re the one I need, you’re the one I crave. Day and night I burn, gripped by agony, You’re the one I need, you’re the one I crave. I find no great joy in being alive, If I cease to exist, I would not grieve, The only […]
Untitled IX by Yunus Emre
Hear me out, my dear friends, Love resembles the sun. The heart that feels no love Is none other than stone. What can grow on stone hearts? Though the tongue softly starts, Words of venom fume, rage, And turn into war soon. When in love, the soul burns, Melts like wax as it churns. Stone […]
Untitled IV by Yunus Emre
Knowledge should mean a full grasp of knowledge: Knowledge means to know yourself, heart and soul. If you have failed to understand yourself, Then all of your reading has missed its call. What is the purpose of reading those books? So that Man can know the All-Powerful. If you have read, but failed to understand, […]
Untitled III by Yunus Emre
I am before, I am after The soul for all souls all the way. I’m the one with a helping hand Ready for those gone wild, astray. I made the ground flat where it lies, On it I had those mountains rise, I designed the vault of the shies, For I hold all things in […]
Untitled II by Yunus Emre
O God, if you would ever question me, This would be my outright answer to Thee: True, I sinned-brutalised my own being, But what Have I done against you, my King? Did I make myself? I’m your creation. Why drench me in sin, Benevolent One? I saw dungeons when I opened my eyes- Teeming with […]
Untitled I by Yunus Emre
God permeates the whole wide world. Yet His truth is revealed to none. You better seek Him in yourself. You and He aren’t apart-you’re one. The other world lies beyond sight. Here on earth we must live upright. Exile is torment, pain, and blight. No one comes back once he is gone. Come, let us […]