I beheld the lovely rosebower face, that eye and lamp of all brightness,
That altar before which the soul prostrates, that gladness and place of security.
The heart said, “I will yield up my soul there, I will let go of being and selfhood.”
The soul also joined in the concert and began to clap hands.
Reason came and said, “What shall I say regarding this good fortune and sublime felicity,
This scent of a rose that made upright as a cypress every back that was curved and bent double?”
In love all things are transformed; Armenian is changed to Turk.
Soul, you have attained to the Soul of the soul; body, you have abandoned bodihood.
The ruby is the alms of our Beloved; the dervish eats the gold of the Rich;
That Mary in anguish discovers anew dates fresh and ripe.
Lest the eye of a stranger should fall upon it, do not show off your good deed to men;
If your desire from faith is security, seek your security in seclusion.
What is the place of seclusion? The house of the heart; become habituated to dwell in the heart;
In the heart’s house is delivered that bowl of wholesome and everlasting wine.
Be silent, and practise the art of silence; let go all artful bragging;
For the heart is the place of faith, there in the heart hold fast to faithfulness.
