[Sunlight] "We two were once one" -- Ghazal 2243

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Thy shining Face has become my spirit's mirror -
we two were once one, my spirit and thy Spirit.
Oh perfect, full Moon! The house of the heart is
Thine! The intellect - which was once the master - has
become Thy slave and doorman.
From the day of Alast the spirit has been drunk
with Thee, though for a time it was distracted by water
and clay.
Since the clay has now settled to the bottom, the
water is clear - no more do I say, "This is mine, that is
Thine."
Now the Emperor of Rum has smashed the
Ethiopians* - may Thy laughing good fortune be forever
victorious!
Oh, Thy Face is like the moon - let me lament
from time to time, for Thy eloquent love has become my
veil.

-- Ghazal (Ode) 2243
Translation by William C. Chittick
"The Sufi Path of Love"
SUNY Press, Albany, 1983

* Rum or the Byzantine Empire is employed by Rumi to symbolize
light and union, while the Ethiopians symbolize darkness and
separation.

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[Sunlight] "We two were once one" -- Ghazal 2243