Thanksgiving
by Rumi

Giving thanks for abundance
is sweeter than the abundance itself.
  Should one who is absorbed with the Generous One
be distracted by the gift?
  Thankfulness is the soul of beneficence;
abundance is but the husk, for thankfulness brings you to the place
where the Beloved lives.
  Abundance yields heedlessness; thankfulness, alertness:
hunt for bounty with the snare of gratitude to the King.

        ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shokr-e ne`mat khvoshtar az ne`mat bovad
shokr-e Bâreh kay su-ye ne`mat ravad
Shokr jân-e ne`mat va ne`mat chu-pust
zânke shokr ârad torâ tâ ku-ye Dust
Ne`mat ârad ghaflat va shokr entebâh
sayd-e ne`mat kon be-dâm-e shokr-e Shâh

           -- Mathnawi III: 2895-2897
              Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
              "Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
              Threshold Books, 1996
              (Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra)

     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Thanksgiving for the bounty is sweeter than the bounty
(itself): how should he that is addicted to thanksgiving go towards
(direct his attention to) the bounty?
   Thanksgiving is the soul of the bounty, and the bounty is as a
husk because thanksgiving brings you to the abode of the Beloved.
   Bounty produces heedlessness, and thanksgiving alertness:
hunt after bounty with the snare of thanksgiving to the King.
   The bounty of thanksgiving will make you contented and princely so
that you will bestow a hundred bounties on the poor.
   You will eat your fill of the viands and dessert of God, so that
hunger and begging will depart from you.

           -- Mathnawi III: 2895-2899
              Translation and Commentary by Reynold A. Nic   holson
              "The Mathnawi of Jalalu'ddin Rumi"
              Published and Distributed by
              The Trustees of The "E.J.W. Gibb Memorial"
courtesy: Sunlight