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"RUMI, Fountain of Fire"

 

WHATEVER HAPPENS
to the world around
show me your purpose
show me your source

even if the world
is Godless and chaos
show me your anchor
show me your love

if there is hunger
if there is famine
show me your harvest
show me your resource

if life is bitter
everywhere snakes everywhere poison
show me your garden
show me your meadow

if the sun and the moon fall
if darkness rules the world
show me your light
show me your flame

if i have no mouth
or tongue to utter
words of your secrets
show me your fountain

i'll keep silence
how can i express
your life when mine
still is untold

"RUMI, Fountain of Fire", ghazal number 2144,
translated 21 December 1991 by Nader Khalili,
Burning Gate Press, Los Angeles, 1994.