031

Although the soul, I know, One day unveiled shall be, Think not it shall be so By writhing endlessly.

It needs a blow, to stir The sleeping soul from earth Unswept, the harp can ne’er Bring melody to birth.

Thy cup replenish still With tears and midnight sighs, Replenish it until The radiant sun shall rise.

So faint a mote thou art, I fear thou’lt vanish quite; Then fortify thy heart To meet the morning light.

Transcend the dust, nor take Thy self but dust to be; If thou thy breast will break, The moon shall shine from thee.

If in thy face they lock The gate to selfhood’s shrine, Strike head upon the rock And see the ruby shine.

032

Whether the world be foul or fair, With a smile fare on; Forth from the nest, the cage, the snare, The bower, be gone!

Though stranger thou art, and dost not know How the way doth wend, In a bold, familiar manner go In the lane of the Friend.

Each breath that thou drawest, differently The world adorn; Within this ancient hostelry Swift as Time be borne.

If Gabriel lay his hand on thy rein, And the Houris, too, With a loving glance pass on again As fair charmers do.

033

What is this life? A pearl In thy own shell to bear, In the flame’s heart to hurl Thyself, nor melt to air.

Love is with speed to pass Out of this shuttered sphere, To cast the moon’s bright glass High over heaven clear.

Power is from hand to fling The cash of heart and faith. To rule the world, a king, And brave the chance of death.

Philosophy is taught By manly zeal alone, To whet the blade of thought Upon the world for stone.

The living spirit’s trust Is no disordered dream, But of this scattered dust To build a braver scheme.

034

Beyond heaven’s shuttered dome I have found a way to come Where swifter than thought may fly The breath of a morning sigh.

Falcon thou art, and hast made Thy nest in the grassy glade, And its air, I am fearful, might Foreshorten thy pinion’s flight.

Art thou dust become? It is clear Thou canst not be resting here; On the breeze of the morning ride, Sit not by the roadway side.

From the stream of the stars arise And cross the Nile of the skies; For the heart must die right soon If it lodge, though it be in the moon.

Let its breast no longer beam With the rockless lightning’s gleam, Less worth than a straw reckon I The mountain of Sinai.

How men may the manners keep Of the throng, yet consuming leap Ask not of us, whom the gaze Of the passing fair one slays.

When I am dead, this my lay Men will recite, and say: “One man, who was self aware, Transformed a world everywhere!”

035

I am a sinner with self‐respect, I will take no wages without labor; I am scarred because my fault has been put down to His decree.

Through bounty of love and ecstasy, I have taken thought to such heights, That, reaching behind, I can pluck the eyes of the world brightening sun.

Since the First Morning, I have been a drawer of wave and vortex; When the sea becomes calm, I invoke the storm for help.

A hundred times before now, too, I have lit a fire under the world’s feet; My high and low notes burn the world clean of peace and tranquility.

I have danced before idols and worn the holy thread, so that The shaykh of the city may become a man of God by calling me a heretic.

Now they run away from me, now they associate with me; In this desert, they do not know whether I am hunter or prey.

A heart that lacks warmth can ill profit from the company of a man; Come with red hot copper, so that my elixir may work on you.