Maulana Jajaj uddin Rumi was born in 1207 in Balkh Afghanistan and died in 1273 Konia in Turkey where there is a Mausoleum. The following selection is from Masnavi.and translation is by Professor R A Nicholson of Cambridge University. Professor Nicholson commenced the monumental task of translation in 1922 and completed in1940. It has 6 volumes and is called “Masnavi of Rumi”. Khaliq M Khan, September 27, 2019.
When the lamps are lit and the tables are laid, after the evening prayer,
I am engrossed with the thought of my Beloved, with grief, sorrow and lamentation.
My prayer is fiery for I perform the ablution with my tears.
When the call for prayer comes, the gate of my mosque is set on fire.
Strange is the prayer of mad; tell me, is it correct to say prayers
like this in complete disregard of time and space?
Strange are the two rak’ats and stranger still the fourth one.
How strange, I recited a Sura without a tongue!
How can I knock at the door of God, since I have neither heart nor hand.
Since you have taken away my heart and hand, give me protection, O Lord.
By God, I know not as I pray weather somebody has stood up to lead the prayer or a Ruku has ended.
The ABCs of Islam and Sufism 