The Phrasing Must Change

Learn about your inner self from those who know such things,

but don't repeat verbatim what they say.

Zuleikha let everything be the name of Joseph, from celery seed

to aloes wood. She loved him so much she concealed his name

in many different phrases, the inner meanings

known only to her.

When she said, The wax is softening

near the fire, she meant, My love is wanting me.

Or if she said, Look, the moon is up or The willow has new leaves

or The branches are trembling or The coriander seeds

have caught fire or The roses are opening

or The king is in a good mood today or Isn't that lucky?

Or the furniture needs dusting or

The water carrier is here or It's almost daylight or

These vegetables are perfect or The bread needs more salt

or The clouds seem to be moving against the wind

or My head hurts or My headache's better,

anything she praises, it's Joseph's touch she means,

any complaint, it's his being away.

When she's hungry, it's for him. Thirsty, his name is a sherbet.

Cold, he's a fur.

This is what the Friend can do

when one is in such love. Sensual people use the holy names

often, but they don't work for them.

The miracle Jesus did by being the name of God,

Zuleikha felt in the name of Joseph.

When one is united to the core of another, to speak of that

is to breathe the name Hu, empty of self and filled

with love. As the saying goes, The pot drips what is in it.

The saffron spice of connecting, laughter.

The onion smell of separation, crying.

Others have many things and people they love.

This is not the way of Friend and friend.

-- Jallaluddin Muhammed Rumi's Mathnawi VI: 4020-43

Version by Coleman Barks

"The Essential Rumi"

HarperSanFrancisco, 1995