"The lover's ailment"

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The lover's ailment is not like any other;
Love is the astrolabe* of God's mysteries.
Whether Love is from heaven or earth,
it points to God.

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`Ellat-e `âsheq ze `ellat-hâ jodâst
`eshq astorlâb-i asrâr-e Khodâst
`Âsheqi gar zin sar va gar zân sarast
`âqebat-i mâ-râ bedân serr rahbarast

-- Mathnawi I: 110-111
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Daylight"
Threshold Books, 1994
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra

* Astrolabe: an astronomical instrument for taking the altitude of
the sun or stars, and for the solution of other problems in astronomy
and navigation. Used by Greek astronomers from about 200 B.C., and
by Arab astronomers from the Middle Ages, until superseded by the
sextant.

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~

"The lover's ailment"