Drunkenness is sending its greeting to You,
is sending news to You secretly.
The one whose heart You grabbed is making his soul a slave to You.
O One who makes existence non-existent,
hear the greeting of this drunk.
He is so drunk that he keeps catching his hands and feet in Your trap.
O Sky of Lovers, Your Beauty, which is Soul to the lover’s soul,
offers wine and cheers to Your Love
and is asking you to pray for the goodness of lovers.
O One who is in the taste on every lip,
the direction of prayer for every creed,
the Moon is turning around Your house every night, guarding You.
O One who makes a body out of earth
and changes smoke into the stars of Saturn!
What a shape that smoke makes
coming out of Your earthen body, Your smoky Soul!
Sometimes He gives you wings and you fly.
At other times, He turns you into iron
and, like a ship, you stay stuck, anchored.
One moment He makes you into morning.
Another, He makes you into evening.
One moment, He makes you tremble.
Another one, He makes you laugh.
One moment, He makes you drunk.
The next, He turns you into a wine glass.
You are like a Muhre* in His hand.
Sometimes, you are wine.
Sometimes, you are drunk because of Him.
But, once He breaks this Muhre,
I swear to God, He makes you wholly mature.
Sometimes, it is this, sometimes, that.
But, your end is to realize the Truth.
Putting you through this color or that one
is maturing you, subjugating you.
You were like Noah once
and like Noah, went through lots of trouble.
You endured.
Now, He makes you sail like a ship
without feet, without taking a step.
Be silent with astonishment.
Be astonished by astonishment.
You are a man with wise words,
but words sometimes get out of condition.
*Muhre Burnished glass ball used to polish paper.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 1, Ghazel 55, verses 715-725, pages 137-138.