The way of the lover is hidden by these two veils. ~ Rumi

Love is a stranger to the two worlds:
in it are seventy-two madnesses.

It is hidden; only its bewilderment is manifest:
the soul of the spiritual sultan longs for it.

Love's religion is other than the seventy-two sects:
beside it the throne of kings is just a floorboard.

In the moments of sema*
Love's bard strikes up the melody:
"Servitude is bondage and power is a headache."

Then what is Love?
The Sea of Not-Being:
there the foot of the intellect
is shattered and can no longer swim.

Servitude and sovereignty are known:
the way of the lover is hidden by these two veils.

~ Rumi
Mathnawi III: 4719-4724
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance
Threshold Books, 1996
*The occasion of listening to spiritual music.
Art by  Angelina Vick