Last night I learned how to be a lover of God,
To live in this world and call nothing my own.
I looked inward
and the beauty of my own emptiness
filled me till dawn.
It enveloped me like a mine of rubies.
Its hue clothed me in red silk.
Within the cavern of my soul
I heard a voice of a lover crying,
"Drink now! Drink now!" --
I took a sip and saw the vast ocean --
Wave upon wave caressed my soul.
The lovers of God dance around
And the circle of their steps
becomes a ring of fire round my neck.
Heaven calls me with its rain and thunder --
a hundred thousand cries
yet I cannot hear ...
All I hear is the call of my Beloved.
~Maulana Rumi
