Look at these fragments of soul
which have been chipped off, sparkling in this valley.
Watch this sea. Watch these ships
as they collide with each other.
Look at Azra. See Vamuk.*
See those creatures in the fire.
Look at the Beloved. See the lover.
See the Sultan and His imperial seal.
This pearl has fallen into the sea
which has no beginning and no end.
This sea isn’t wet, nor is it hidden.
A fire has risen up from it
so that everything has become absent,
yet exists at the same time.
Since it is early, walk slowly.
Since your eyes are closed, avoid saying,
“I do not get tired talking about ups and downs.”
If you walk toward a crooked mind, a grudge appears from fate.
That mind is like someone who has had a stroke
and become paralyzed like the poor and destitute ones.
If you are a man, hold your breath in this sea.
O grief, that is what you deserve today and tomorrow.
This pearl is ashamed because of this sea.
In fact, there is no place for water and earth,
no place for mind or heart.
They cannot even be the sea’s foam.
What kind of Love does this heart cook?
What kind of bile does this soul create
that this mind, which adds only more confusion,
makes you so dizzy?
The sugary, jewel-scattering cloud from Shams of Tebriz
is beautiful security in the world which is full of fighting.
*Azra and Vamuk Characters in a Persia love story.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 15, Ghazal 5, Verses 39-47, pages 9-10.