Gamard's Perfume of Love

Bismillah.

He who frequents the Perfumery of Love,

a thousand times maybe,

visiting the Saint of Scent

Jalaluddin Rumi

father of the top notes

of love aroma

the essence of fragrance

enchanted many.

Gamard is a love drunkard
savoured 1700
stanza of four;
quatrains addict he is,
this one in particular:
"The one who passes by my tomb
will become (spiritually) drunk,
And if he stops (there),
he will become drunk forever.
(If) he goes to the ocean,
the ocean and [ships'] masts will become drunk,
(And if) he goes into the earth,
(his) grave and burial niche will become drunk."

Thirty three years on
he gets drunk every time
drowned in the Ocean of Love
none dares disapprove

O Rumi
let me sniff a little
the perfume of love
count me in
with
Gamard & Farhadi.

Dr. Ibrahim Gamard is the translator of THE QUATRAINS OF RUMI together with Rawan Farhadi. In an email to Lisan al-Din, Dr. Gamard said: "Out of over 1,700 of Mawlana's quatrains, the one that pulls most at my heart is the one that is on the cover of the book (quoted in poem above):

"The reason this quatrain is so special to me, is that I have visited Mawlana Rumi's tomb many times. And whenever I go there, I experience an extraordinary blessing that I have called "the perfume of Love"-- since I first went there 33 years ago. I feel drawn into the Ocean of Allah's Infinite Love for all creation. And often I feel such joy that when leaving, I walk with my head lowered in order to hide the "drunkenness" visible on my face. Ash-shukru li-llâh, al-hamdu li-llâh!"

With regards to Rumi's teachings that the young people should know about, Dr. Gamard has this to say: "One day one of Mawlana Rumi's closest disciples, who followed a particular school of Islamic law (Shâfi`î), told Mawlana that he wished to change to the school of law (Hanafî) followed by his master, Mawlana. Mawlana replied, "No! What is right is that you should follow your school of law, but follow my sufi path and guide people to my way of love." Here is an interpretation of this story for teenagers and young adults:

Rumi teaches that people should follow the religion of Islam, while at the same time following the sufi path of practicing selfless virtues and love of God and love toward all of God's creation."

Ibraham Gamard is a licensed psychologist by profession and received his Ph.D. in 1986. A student of sufism for over thirty-five years, he converted to Islam in 1984. He has been a part of the Mevlevi [Mawlawi] tradition of Islamic sufism (the 700 year-old tradition which originated with Mawlana himself) since 1976. In 2007, he was made a Mevlevi Shaykh, or authorized teacher, by Faruk Hemdem Chelebi, the 22nd-generation direct descendent of Mawlana and the international leader of the Mevlevi tradition. Gamard is the author of Rumi and Islam: Selections from His Stories, Poems, and Discourses. He lives in Northern California.
(Quoted from The Quatrains of Rumi publisher: sophiaperennis.com) 

VISIT Dr. Ibrahim Gamard's website for the complete translation of Rumi's quatrains at Dar-Al-Masnavi. 

Dar-al-Masnavi.org is the activity of the American Institute of Masnavi Studies (AIMS) on the Internet. The Institute is affiliated with the International Hazrat-i Mevlânâ Foundation, in Istanbul, Turkey. The president of the Foundation is the hereditary and actual world leader of the Mevlevi order--the 33rd Chelebi Efendi, Faruk Hemdem Chelebi, the 22nd generation great-grandson of Hazrat-i Mevlânâ Jalâluddîn Rûmî. "Dar al-Masnavi" (literally, "house, or abode, of the Masnavi") is the traditional name for a study center dedicated to studying Rumi's great masterpiece of Islamic sufism.

Yâ HaZrat-i Mawlânâ Jalâlu 'd-dîn MuHammad
-- qaddasa 'llâhu sirra-hu 'l-`azîz.

"O our venerable Master Jalaluddin Muhammad!
-- may God sanctify his precious holy spirit!"