One who does not have the Beloved
is like a person without a head.
One who flees the cage of love
is like a bird without wings.
What news could one have of the world
That the Keeper of Secrets does not have?
One who is pierced by the arrows of this glance
is like a warrior without a shield.
One who cannot look within himself
is like a man without valor.
One who can’t open the door of his own heart
is like a lover without a tear.
He has placed a door
In the middle of this path.
Only He who has placed it
can open it.
They say, “Wake up, the dawn has come!â€
But in our sky who sleeps?
Who gets up at dawn?
Our sky
is without a sunrise
and without a sunset.
You’ve only been here a few days
and you’ve become so friendly with life.
I can’t even talk about death anymore.
You’re on the journey home
And your donkey has fallen asleep
in the middle of the road!
– Ghazal (Ode) 721
Version by Jonathan Star
“Rumi – In the Arms of the Beloved “
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York 1997
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.