THE GLITTER OF THIS FANTASY

by Rumi

Now comes the final merging,

Now comes everlasting beauty.

Now comes abundant grace,

Now comes boundless purity.

The infinite treasure is shining,

The mighty ocean is roaring,

The morning of grace has come -

Morning? - No!

This is the eternal Light of God!

Who occupies this beautiful form?

Who is the ruler and the prince?

Who is the wise man? -

Nothing but a veil.

The wine of love removes these veils.

Drink with your head and your eyes -

Both your eyes,

and both your heads!

Your head of clay is from the earth,

Your pure awareness is from heaven.

O how vast is that treasure

which lies beneath the clay!

Every head you see depends on it!

Behind every atom of this world

hides an infinite universe.

O Saaqi, free us from the facade of this world.

Bring wine - barrels full!

Our eyes see too straight -

straight past the truth!

The Light of Truth shines from Tabriz.

It is beyond the beyond

yet it is here,

shining through every particle of this world.

Ghazal (Ode) 464

Version by Jonathan Star

"Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved "

Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York 1997