O my Life who adds Soul to my soul, lift the curtain.
O One who takes care of my grief, who is willing to stay with me all night long!
O One who hears my cries, timely and untimely!
O One who puts fire into every atom of my being!
When my wail echoes on the mountain,
You will hear the sound of the mountain accompany my sounds and cry with me.
You are devoid of all form.
Yet, You are a magnet to all of my forms.
Even if the valley where I stay is vast and heartwarming,
it becomes nothing but a small, cold place to which I am tied
if I attempt to do anything without Your joy.
Pleasure and drinking, the mind and thought, the garden and meadows
are all empty without You.
Without You, every one of these things becomes a headache, a big heavy log on my feet.
The more I try to escape from myself, the more I become a slave to myself.
When I untie my feet, I see that my feet are immediately tied again.
Some nights or early mornings, I feel desperate.
“Rise, rise,” I say. “Reflect on my roof.”
Right then, I turn into such a shape filled with sweetmeats that I lose my self.
I say, “This is me. This is my sugar.”
Tonight is one of the lonely nights.
But, mercy for us, I will read to You tonight from the book of Love.
I will empty my bags tonight in order for my wails and cries to come out
as if they were coming from a reed flute, nice and clean.
From now on I will not be a bag of bread, but a bag of wind,
because my heart is bright with these cries.
There is no help, no remedy for my sickness and trouble except You.
You are the soul’s Calinus,* my Ebu Ali Sina.**
*Calinus Aelious Galenus, better known as Galen of Pergamon, a prominent Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire (d. 210 C.E.)
**Ebu Ali Sina An Islamic sage (d. 1037 C.E.)
Divan-i Kebir, Meter 8b, Gazel 134, Verses 1197-1209, Pages 26-27.