Sweeter than wine

The one who has not had a taste of love
Is but a piece of wood or stone to God.
Love extracts water from stones;
Love removes rust from mirrors.
infidelity seeks war, faith peace;
Love sets fire to war and peace alike.
Love opens its mouth in the sea of the heart;
It devours the two worlds like a whale.
Like a lion, love knows no ruse;
It does not change from a lion to a fox.

(Divan 1331:1-5)

Translated by Fatemeh Keshavarz,
‘Reading Mystical Lyric: The Case of Jalal al-Din Rumi‘,
University of South Carolina Press, 1998.