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The Rose by Ummi Sinan (16th Century) Timeline English version by Jennifer Ferraro and Latif Bolat Original Language Turkish Muslim / Sufi 16th Century I dreamt I came to a magnificent city      whose palace was the rose, rose. The crown and throne of the great sultan,      his garden and chambers           were the rose, rose. Here they buy and sell but roses      and the roses are the scales they use, Weighing roses with more roses,      the marketplace and bazaar           are all roses, rose. The white rose and the red rose      grew coupled in one garden. Their faces turn as one toward the thorn.      Both thorn and blossom           are the rose, rose. Soil is the rose and stone is the rose,      withered is the rose, fresh is the rose. Within the Lord's private gardens      both slender cypress and old maple           are the rose, rose. The rose is turning the waterwheel      and gets ground between the stones. The wheel turns round as the water flows.      Its power and its stillness           are the rose, rose. From the rose a tent appears      filled with an offering of everything. Its gatekeepers are the holy prophets.      The bread and the wine they pour           are the rose, rose. Oh Ummi Sinan, heed the mystery      of the sorrow of nightingale and rose. Every cry of the forlorn nightingale           is for the rose, the rose.     -- from Quarreling with God: Mystic Rebel Poems of the Dervishes of Turkey, Translated by Jennifer Ferraro / Translated by Latif Bolat Amazon.com   / Photo by Jay Khemani /	Themes   Bread   Crown   Food   Garden   Rose Recommended Books Gul: The Rose (Audio CD), by Latif Bolat Quarreling with God: Mystic Rebel Poems of the Dervishes of Turkey, Translated by Jennifer Ferraro / Translated by Latif Bolat
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

Can't you smell the perfume of roses in the air after reading this poem?

Ummi Sinan gives us a vision where all the world is filled with roses. A world made of roses. Not just roses, but “the rose” ‹ The Rose.

In Sufi mystical language The Rose is often used as an image of God, and the heart ‹ God is the true Heart of Being.

The rose unfolds in a gentle circling that invites one to yield inward. The rose is a symbol of lovers and of union. The rose resonates strongly with the gently awakened heart.

The rose grows from a bush of thorns yet reveals a delicate inner beauty and shares an intimate, sweet wine-like fragrance, symbolic of how the soul emerges from the tribulations of worldly difficulty and, in so doing, recognizes its innate beauty.

When Ummi Sinan recognizes The Rose everywhere, it is the mystic's recognition that God has taken up residence within the heart (or, rather, that the Divine presence has always been there) ‹ and it's the further recognition that all of creation is somehow within the awakened heart. Everything encountered is encountered in the heart.

Let's get a little more specific with some of the sacred imagery hereŠ

Ummi Sinan gives us an image of “the white rose and the red rose” that grow “coupled in one garden.” This is an important pairing of colors that appears in esoteric traditions all over the world, in Sufism, in alchemy, as a sign of rank in the Catholic Church, painted on Hindu and Buddhist temples. The colors white and red represent the masculine and feminine energies on all levels ‹ white is male and red is female. The white represents purity, essence, divine spirit; the red is the power of manifestation and awakening life. So when Ummi Sinan tells us of a white rose and a red rose that are “coupled” in the divine garden, he is giving us an image of the fundamental polarities in natural, eternal balance in the divine garden. Recognizing this harmony on all levels is a prerequisite to entering the rose garden.

In the closing lines, Sinan reminds himself (and us) to “heed the mystery / of the sorrow of the nightingale and rose.” In Sufi poetry, the nightingale is said to sing such an enchanting, mournful song because it is hopelessly in love with the rose. The rose is the Beloved, the Heart of hearts, and the nightingale is the lover, the seeker, the Sufi. “Every cry of the forlorn nightingale / is for the rose, the rose.” Every yearning in the world, every cry of longing and desire in the world is the crying out of creation for the Beloved. It is the crying out for the intoxication of unity.

The wheel turns round as the water flows.
Its power and its stillness
are the rose, rose.

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You can hear this Sufi song performed on Latif Bolat's website.

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Have a beautiful day!

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2009 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.