Quatrain 81 from Rubaiyat of Rumi
امروز چو هر روز خرابیم خراب
مگشا در اندیشه و برگیر رباب
صدگونه نماز است و رکوعست و سجود
آنرا که جمال دوست باشد محراب
Description:
English Translation of the Quatrain
Today, as every day, we are ruined, ruined.
Do not open the door of thought, but pick up the reed flute.
There are a hundred kinds of prayer, bowing, and prostration,
For the one whose heart is the prayer niche of the Beloved's beauty.
Analysis of the Quatrains
State of Ruin: The first line suggests a state of spiritual or emotional distress.
Abandoning Thought: The poet suggests that intellectual pursuits are not the path to true spiritual understanding.
Diverse Forms of Worship: The "hundred kinds of prayer" refer to various forms of worship and spiritual practices.
The Heart as a Sanctuary: The "prayer niche" symbolizes the heart as the place where one encounters the divine.
This quatrain, like much of Rumi's poetry, can be interpreted on multiple levels:
Mystical Experience: The poem describes a state of spiritual longing and the inadequacy of conventional forms of worship.
The Path to the Divine: The poet suggests that the heart is the true path to divine union.
The Limitations of Intellect: The poet emphasizes the limitations of intellectual understanding in spiritual matters.