O my soul, behind the curtain of the soul, there is a secret world, a secret drinking.
Behind the curtain of Absence, there are hundreds of Josephs of Canaan.
There, that body is gone. The soul is the one who stands alone.
The flesh is dead, but the soul flies above the garden of heaven.
If you want to look at it differently, see yourself at night.
Your body is almost dead, but your soul walks throughout that garden.
O Love, You are such a beauty. You have such charm. I praise You, praise You, praise You.
I have counted hundreds of Your talents and have not yet finished.
You are hundreds of times beyond all this.
Believers are sweet. They look sweet. They talk sweet.
Love is great. Love is exalted.
What language should I use that you don’t already know?
Run until you limp, until no strength remains in your feet.
Then, hundreds of fast horses will come to you from the Sultan.
One lover was about to die.
Someone asked, “Why do you smile while you are dying?”
The lover answered, “Why shouldn’t I smile?
I have turned into a whole mouth. I smile without showing my teeth.
I have become hundreds of smiles.
“Half of me was sugar cane. Now that I’ve become sugar,
My other half, having contemplated on becoming scattered sugar,
Has turned that way.”
Don’t call anyone a candle if he doesn’t smile while giving his soul;
Ambergris smells better when it is crushed.
O one whose name has spread around the world, the thing you deserve is Soul.
You are the player of the Beloved. Why do you desire only bread?
Tell that nobody to empty his pockets, throw away his mantle.
Who gives up expecting God’s purse?
Who is the one expecting, but deprived?
The sky is sending hundreds of lights from God’s purse.
The sea is scattering all these pearls from the gifts of God.
The sky keeps scattering, but these are only leftover bread crumbs.
If you deserve the table, leave the sky alone. Go that way.
If your hand gets tired, He gives you another hand.
If your neck can’t stand the ring of royalty, He gives you another neck.
Say another gazel and pray for the reward of your efforts from God.
Like the Fountain of Life, sprinkle a handful of water on the one who is burned.
Divan-i Kebir, Meter 3, Gazel 212, Verses 1976-1991, Pages 363-365