Overcome

Ha Mim.

Last night, at the Garden of Love,
The Great Simurgh,
Ornamented with feathers of fire,
And enveloped in tender passion,
Came to me,
Carrying the Light of the Beloved...

I asked her,
"O my Love, have you come
For this beggar?"

She, who speaks not
The language of humans nor houris,
Answered with a twinkle
In my own eye and
Vanished the way
Lightning vanishes.

Early in the morning,
The humming of a solitary songbird
Woke me up,
Her whisper came from
The rain-caressed, rustling branches
Whose beloved is every homesick lover.

Huuuuuummm...
Huuuuuummm...
Huuuuuummm...

As the day progressed,
Like Hunters and the Hunted,
I heard the winds
Speak unto the shadows
Beneath the face of the sun,

"Love says unto herself,
'Be your own fuel,
And consume yourself'!"

And I,
Green and black,
Burnt,
Overcome,
Extinct,
I was no more.

"I am Muhammad."

"I am Being,
Glory is my Face,
Praise is my Robe."

"Muhammad is my Light,
'Ali is my Eye and my Sword,
Al-Shiddiq is my Heart,
'Isaa Ruhullaah is my Soul,
Jibreel is my Tongue."

"Truth is my Breath,
And, Love, oh Love,
Love is my Heartbeat."

"I am Muhammad."

At night, a company of dervishes
Sought me, saying,
"We saw you burning
The faces of both the east and west,
The north and south!"

I said,
"Is there anything more
You can desire, O little cups?"

They said,
"Tell us where you have
Brought that Burning Light from!"

I said,
"Watch! I shall indeed put it out,
In the shyness of the night,
As the evening winds long for it too!"

So the Fire, the Light, vanished
From their sight.

Thus I said unto them,
And unto you, my beloveds,
"Now tell me where it has gone!"

And they, overcome,
Left me alone with Love.

Ishq,

Dani

(Written at the Shrine of Hazrat Nizam ad-Din Awliyya, Delhi, 2004)