The Voice of Love

The voice of Love,
Each moment comes,
From everywhere.

We were in heaven once,
We were friends to angels once,
To that place let us return;
That is our country, our home.

Higher than heavens, we are.
Greater than angels, we are.
Why not leave them both behind?
Our goal is Majesty, Divine.

How far apart, this dust,
From what is substance pure;
Though we came down,
Let's return up once more.

Youthful fortune is our friend;
Our work: to give our soul to Him.
The leader of our caravan,
Glory of the world, Mustafa!
This sweet fragrance of the breeze
Comes from His flowing tresses.
The radiance of our thought
Illumined 'by the morning bright'.

By his look the Moon was cleft;
She could not bear the sight;
Fortunate was the Moon,
That humble beggar of the sky.
Each moment come and see
The cleaving of the Moon, our hearts.
Why does the vision of that vision
Not grace our eyes?

The wave of 'Am I not'
Came and wrecked the body's ship.
Once more that ship shall wreck
When the body attains union again.

Like fowl and fish, from the ocean
Of the soul,
Man has emerged;
Once risen from the sea
Why should this bird
Make his home the earthly tree?

Yet we are pearls of that sea
And that is where we shall abide.
Why else should waves emerge
From the sea of the soul, and create this urge?

The time of Union
Is the time of eternal Beauty.
The time of favour and bounty
Is the ocean of perfect purity.

The wave of Bounty has appeared;
The thunder of the sea arrived.
The dawn of the Blessedness has dawned.
Not the Morn, it is the light of God
That's dawned!

What is this picture, form?
Who the king and who the prince?
What is wisdom?
All are veils.
The veils are removed
Through this ecstasy!

The spring of this wine
Is in your very head and eyes.
In your head itself there's nothing,
But you have two heads:
One of clay
The other of heaven's substance
Pure.
So many pure heads
Under the earth do lie
That you can konw that this head
Depends on the other head:
The other head is hidden from sight,
This head apparent.
Just as behind the anifest world
Lies the infinite universe!

Tie up the water source, cup-bearer,
Bring wine from the jar:
The vessel of perception
Is narrower that the narrowest pass.

The Sun of Truth shone
From Tabriz, and I said to him:
'Thy light is one with all,
Apart from all.'

Jalaluddin Rumi