THE LOVE OF SUCH A ONE

VI.

O thou who art my soul's comfort in the season of sorrow,

O thou who art my spirit's treasure in the bitterness of death!

That which the imagination has not conceived, that

which the understanding has not seen,

Visiteth my soul from thee, hence in worship I turn toward thee 

By thy grace I keep fixed on eternity my amorous gaze,

Except, O king, the pomps that perish lead me astray.

The favour of that one, who brings glad tidings of thee,

Even without thy summons, is sweeter in mine ear that songs.

In the prostrations of prayer thought of thee, O lord,

Is necessary and binding on me as the seven verses.

To thee belongs mercy and intercession for the sin of infidels:

As regards me, thou art chief and principal of the stony-hearted.

If a never-ceasing bounty should offer kingdoms,

If a hidden treasure should set before me all that is,

I would bend down with my soul, I would lay my face in the dust,

I would say, Of all these the love of such a one for me!'

Eternal life, me thinks, is the time of union,

Because time, for me, hath no place there.

Life is the vessels, union the clear draught in them;

Without thee what does the pain of the vessels avail me?

I had twenty thousand desires ere this;

In passion for him not even (care of) my safety remained.

By the help of his grace I am become safe, because

The unseen king saith to me, Thou art the soul of the world.'

The essence of the meaning of "He" has filled my heart and soul;

"Au" cries the street-dog, and neither have I third or second".

The body, at the time of union with him, paid no regard to the spirit;

Tho' incorporeal, he became visible unto me.

I aged with his affliction, but when Tabriz 

You name, all my youth comes back to me.

-"Selected Poems from the Divani Shamsi Tabriz"

Edited and translated by Reynold A. Nicholson

Source Rumi ORG