Sunday 27 November 2011

Show not Shams-I Tabrizi’s coin to him who has not our fineness...by Rumi

This caravan is not bringing our baggage 
it has none of the fire of our Friend.

Though the trees have all turned green, 
they have caught no scent of our spring.

Your spirit may be a rose garden, but
its heart has not been wounded by our thorn.

Your heart may be an ocean of realities, but
its boiling does not compare with that of our shore.

Although the mountains are very steady
by God, they do not have our steadiness.

The spirit drunk with the morning wine
has not even caught a scent of our winesickness.

Venus herself, the minstrel of heaven,
has not the capacity for our work.

Ask us about the lion of God
every lion has not our backbone.

Show not Shams-I Tabrizi’s coin to him
who has not our fineness !

~ Rumi
– Ghazal (Ode) 695
Translation by William C. Chittick
“The Sufi Path of Love”
SUNY Press, Albany, 1983

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