I'm a slave to her, and fear of her delights me.
My better half, who stands alone, delights me.
They ask me, 'Do you enjoy her loyalty?'
I don't know; even so, her cruelty delights me.
#418, from Rumi's Kolliyaat-e Shams-e Tabrizi
Edited by Badiozzaman Forouzanfar (Tehran, Amir Kabir, 1988).
Translated by Zara Houshmand
Zara Houshmand's features index
RECOMMENDED
Rumi:
The Life Teachings and Poetry of Jalal al-Din Rumi
By Frankin D. Lewis
The
Essential Rumi
American bestseller
By Coleman Barks (Translator)
|