“If you are wise like the Friend of God,
the fire is water to you, especially this fire of Love,
which is the soul of all waters . . . and you are a moth.
But the ignorant moth behaves differently than we do:
it sees the light and ends up in the fire.
The heart of the mystic sees fire and goes into the Light.
A fire has been made to look like water,
while within the apparent fire is a real fountain.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~
Chon Khalil-e Haqq agar farzāneh-‘i
Ātesh āb-e tost va to parvāneh-‘i
Khāsseh in ātesh keh jān-e āb-hāst
Kār-e parvāneh beh ‘aks-e kār-e māst
U be-binad nur va dar nāri ravad
Del be-binad nār va dar nuri shavad
Teshi-rā shakl-e ābi dādeh-‘and
Va andar ātesh cheshmeh-‘i bo-g’shādeh-‘and
— Mathnawi V:438; 442-443; 445
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
“Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance”
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahy¯ Monastra)
