The qawwals in the subcontinent of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh often sing the following poem, which is attributed to Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi, but is not found in his Divan:
To karimi man kamina barda am
Laiken az lotf-e shoma parvarda am
Zendagi amad baray bandagi
Zendagi bi bandagi sharmendagi
Yad-e u sarmaya-e iman bovad
Har gada az yad-e u soltan bovad
Sayyed o sarvar mohammad nur-e jan
Mehtar o behtar shafi-ye mojreman
Chun mohammad pak shod az nar o dud
Har koja ru kard wajh Allah bud
Shahbaz la makani jan-e u
Rahmatal lil ‘alamin dar shan-e u
Mehtarin o behtarin-e ambiya’
Joz Mohammad nist dar arz o sama’
An Mohammad Hamid o Mahmud shod
Shakl-e ‘abid surat-e ma’bud shod
Awliya’ Allah o Allah awliya’
Ya’niy did-e pir did-e kebriya
Har ke pir o zat Haqq ra yak na did
Nai morid o nai morid o nai morid
Mawlavi hargez na shod mawla-e rum
Ta gholam-e Shams Tabrizi na shod
You are the Generous One and I am the humble servant,
But because of Your subtle grace I get nourished.
Life is only to serve!
Life without service is a shame!
The foundation of faith is the remembrance of Him.
Every beggar is like a king because of the remembrance of Him.
Mohammad, the light of the soul, is the chief and the leader.
He is the greatest and the best mediator for the sinners.
Because Mohammad was purified of fire and smoke,
Wherever he turned his face to, there was the Face of Allah.
His soul is like a falcon in the place of no place.
Because of his dignity he was the mercy of the worlds.
He was the greatest and the best of the prophets.
No one is on earth or in the heavens except for Mohammed.
This Mohammad is one who praises and is the praised one.
He is the reflection of the Adored One in the shape of a devotee.
The friends of God and God, the friends:
That is to say, if you have seen your spiritual teacher you have seen the Grandeur of God.
The one who doesn’t see the spiritual teacher and the Essence as one,
Is no disciple, is no disciple, is no disciple!
A professor could never become mawlana Rumi,
If he had not become the slave of Shams Tabrizi.