O One who, without a wine cup, gives to the soul
ecstasy even better than eternal drunkenness,
come, if for only one moment.
Give us our blessing,
that moment which has been cleaned of everything, including cleanness.
How long must we wait for that unique moment?
You are such a Sultan of plunder.
Because of the greatness of Your pillage,
even the enemy is waiting to be pillaged,
Is it His form or the form of the Universe?
Why doesn’t the soul know this?
Certainly the feet know
that if the shoes fit, those shoes belong to them.
Feet are comfortable in their own shoes.
Someone else’s shoes would feel tight and uncomfortable.
The mind has this capability,
but it is unable to withstand such a moment
when it is jailed in this world.
The soul knows his peers, his friends, because in the world of Absence,
that knowledge is given to the soul according to his limits, his capacity.
This is just the same
as the grown-up clothes of the prince
being hidden in the basement chest.
Open the lock of the Heart. Walk towards the treasure.
If you were to have this treasure,
you would have all of the answers
to all of the questions in both worlds.
If you knew what kind of drunkenness you would have there,
you would know that the tavern of man is the heart.
But you are a little child yet.
Your feet are stuck in the mud. You will have to wait awhile.
Wait awhile, then luck may bring a bunch of grapes.
Look. There is dust far away in the distance, raised like a flag.
On this flag is written,
“This is the proof,
the evidence of the sign of Shems of Tebriz,
to whom all Tebriz and China are singing praises.”
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 1, ghazal 135, verses 1745-1756, pages 333-334.