[Sunlight] The Body is Too Slow for Me -- Ghazal 1668

~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The Body is Too Slow for Me"

Toward the gardens,
Toward the orchards,
I am going.
If you want to stay here,
Stay here -
I am going!
My day is dark without His Face,
Toward that bright flame
I am going.

My soul is racing ahead of me.
It says, The body is too slow for me -
I am going.

The smell of apples arises
from the orchard of my soul.
One whiff and I am gone -
Toward a feast of apples
I am going.

A sudden wind won't blow me over.
Toward Him, like a mountain of iron,
I am going.

My shirt is ripped open
with the pain of loss.
Searching for a new life,
with my head held high,
I am going.

I am fire, though I seem like oil -
Seeking to be the fuel of His fire,
I am going.

I appear as a steady mountain
Yet bit by bit,
Toward that tiny opening
I am going.

-- Ode 1668
Version by Jonathan Star from a translation by Shahram Shiva
"A Garden Beyond Paradise: The Mystical Poetry of Rumi"
Bantam Books, 1992

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~

------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[Sunlight] The Body is Too Slow for Me -- Ghazal 1668