Hodja, greetings to you.
I want to start a journey.
I have found a passage, a road on the roof of the sky.
My soul has decided to return to its origin.
My eye has returned to the place where sight was given to it.
Now the torrent is carrying me to my destination.
How thirsty my heart has been, burned by separation from that sea.
Like a Turk, I will ride my horse with joy to the door of the Sultan’s temple,
Because He gave me a belt as big and wide as a nomad’s tent.
I have disappeared under the sun like a shadow. I have reached Nothingness.
That is why I follow Him like the moon.
Like a ruby, I have different sparks, a different kind of Love
Thanks to His heat and light.
Never mind my shell. Even if He breaks my essence, my marrow,
I am still marrow and essence, quite fresh.
Even if He breaks me like a reed, I have lots of sugar.
My feet are tied like a cypress, like an iris, but I am free.
I am like stone, like iron, but I have sparks in my heart.
O Charmer of my heart, I am losing my manners, my modesty,
But the things I obtain from You are enough for me forever.
O my Master, I don’t have any more patience.
Don’t leave my heart, don’t push me away.
Your separation is intolerable.
O Love, let me know You are coming. Welcome. Come.
If I am kept away from You, to whom will I be close?
From whom will I be given peace and tranquility?
Even if I die and am put in a coffin, my food is still Your Love.
I appear human, but I am nourished by the food of angels.
Master, how auspicious You are. Nobody has Your beauty.
Nobody can kiss Your lips; nobody can even talk about Your lips.
I mention Your name every night. I keep telling Your stories.
O generous Sultan who has a temper like the sea, You tell the rest of it.
I’ll close my mouth like a shell.
I mean, I have a pearl inside of me.
Divan-i Kebir, Meter 3, Gazel 107, Verses 979-992, Pages 182-183