All My Youth Returns....by Rumi

You are the comfort of my soul
in the season of sorrow.

You are the wealth of my spirit
in the heartbreak of loss.

The unimaginable,
The unknowable -
that is what you give my soul
when it moves in your direction.

By your grace
my eyes have looked upon eternity.
O Beloved, how could this crumbling empire
ever take me from you?

The voice that sings your name
is sweeter than midnight sleep
more graceful than the song of a royal poet.

When deep in prayer
my faith is bound by the thought of you,
not the seven verses of faith.

You greet sinners with mercy,
You melt stone hearts with love.

If I were offered a kingdom,
And the world's riches were placed at my feet,
I would bow with my face low and say,
"This does not compare to Your love!"

Union is the pure wine.
My life is the cup.
Without your wine
what use is this cup?

I once had a thousand desires,
But in my one desire to know you
all else melted away.

The pure essence of your being
has taken over my heart and soul.
Now there is no second or third,
only the sound of your sweet cry.

Through your grace I have found
a treasure within myself.
I have found the truth of the Unseen world.

I have come upon the eternal ecstasy.
I have gone beyond the ravages of time.
I have become one with you!

Now my heart sings,
"I am the soul of the world."

From my first breath I have longed for You

This longing has become my life.
This longing has seen me grow old. . . .

But one mention of you  Beloved
and all my youth comes back to me.

~ Rumi
-- Version by Jonathan Star
"Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved"
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York 1997