The 11th century poet, Omar Khayyam, says “I am my own, and, what I am, I am / من زان خودم چنان که هستم هستم” Calligraphy and hand painted border by Stewart J. Thomas, www.palmstone.com
Omar Khayyam
Dance when you are perfectly free
“Dance when you are perfectly free” Persian (Farsi) calligraphy by S.J. Thomas. No Ruz Pirooz!
Rumi: Don’t sleep!
Poetry by Jalaluddin Rumi, calligraphy by Stewart J. Thomas, palmstone.com. A popular translation of this passage reads:
“The breezes at dawn have secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep!
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep!
you really want.
People are going back and forth across the door sill where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep!”
Poetry
Calligraphy by Stewart J. Thomas of the poem by Rumi, translated as:
“The breezes at dawn have secrets to tell you
Don’t go back to sleep!
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep!
People are going back and forth
across the doorsill where the two worlds touch,
The door is round and open
Don’t go back to sleep!”
Persian Poetry and Calligraphy
“Out of pain and problems have come the sweetest songs, and the most gripping stories. Bring them home, so that they may live another day. These memories will never fade.” Persian calligraphy by Stewart J. Thomas
If you want light, you must light a fire
“If you want light, you must light a fire,” poetry by Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, known by most simply as Rumi, the great poet who can be claimed by several modern nations, but who wrote in Persian (Farsi) in a manner that sounds as fresh, direct and poetic today as it must have when he first uttered the lines centuries ago. Original calligraphy by Stewart J. Thomas.
All who wander are not lost
All who wander are not lost, Arabic calligraphy by Stewart J. Thomas
Oh Soul, you worry too much
Persian (Farsi) calligraphy by Stewart J. Thomas, selection from the poem of Jalaludin Rumi, known in English as “Oh Soul, you worry too much”
Poetry from Mahmoud Darwish
3 lines of poetry from Mahmoud Darwish:
between two countries
never belonging in one
no longer belonging in the other
Calligraphy, ink and watercolour on mulberry paper by Stewart J. Thomas.
Fire in Rain
Persian (Farsi) translation of “I am the fire that lives only in the rain.” Original Persian (Farsi) calligraphy by Stewart J. Thomas on marbled paper.