Reality and Appearance
‘Tis light makes colour visible: at night
Red, green, and russet vanish from thy sight.
So to thee light by darkness is made known:
All hid things by their contraries are shown.
Since God hath none, He seeing all, denies
Himself eternally to mortal eyes.
From the dark jungle as a tiger bright,
Form from the viewless Spirit leaps to light.
When waves of thought from Wisdom’s Sea profound
Arose, they clad themselves in speech and sound.
The lovely forms a fleeting sparkle gave,
Then fell and mingled with falling wave.
So perish all things fair, to readorn
The Beauteous One whence all fair things were born.
RUMI, Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad (1207 –1273)
Verse translation from Persian by :
R.A.Nicholson (1868 –1945)
Read more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynold_A._Nicholson
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