Thou art wine and I am water
Before such spirit-bestowing Beauty, how should
I not die? How should I not go mad and seize hold of Thy
chainlike tresses?
When I drink Thy wine, how should I not be
obliterated? Thou art wine and I am water, Thou art honey
and I am milk.
Open Thy mouth, that infinite candy — if Thou
acceptest not my excuses, well, I accept Thy blandishments!
Dost Thou know why I laugh? Because of my
own high aspiration — in the city of Thy Love, I am the prince
of lovers!
I and eternal Love were born into the world
from a single womb — though I appear as a new lover, by God I
am exceedingly ancient!
If you open your own eye, you will be fitting
only for yourself. But if you find this vision, you will know
that I am peerless.
Like Men, I fire up the stove of all those who
are cold; and within the stove of warm spirits, my dough is
cooked to the greatest perfection!
In my gentleness, I am like milk — I never
become caught in the throat. Make no mistakes, though I be
salty like cheese!
In my love for Shams of Tabriz, I am a sultan
wearing a crown — but when he comes to the throne, I am his
vizier.
Rumi’s Ghazal 1695, from Rumi’s “Diwan-e Shams”
Translation by Professor William C. Chittick
“The Sufi Path of Love”
SUNY Press, Albany, 1983
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