Everything except love is devoured by Love

The wild beast wouldn’t dare to devour the flesh of the lover:

Love is recognized both by the corrupt and by the good;
and if the beast should attempt to rip the lover apart with words,
the lover’s flesh will become a fatal poison.
To the beak of Love the two worlds are but a single grain.
Everything except love is devoured by Love.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lahm-e `āsheq-rā niyārad khvord dad
`eshq ma`rufast pish-e nik o bad
Var khvord khvod fi al-masal dām o dadesh
gusht-e `āsheq zahr gardad be-kashadesh
Harcheh joz `eshqast shod ma’kul-e `Eshq
do jahān yek dāneh pish-e nul-e `Eshq

– translated by Camille and Kabir Helminski
“Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance”
Threshold Books, 1996