Out in Empty Sky
If you catch a fragrance of the unseen,
like that, you won't be able to be
contained. You'll be out in empty sky.
Any beauty the world has, any desire,
will easily be yours. As you live
deeper in the heart, the mirror gets
clearer and cleaner. Shams of Tabriz
realized God in himself. When that
happens, you have no anxieties about
losing anyone or anything. You break
the spells that human difficulties cause.
Interpretations come, hundreds, from
all the religious symbols and parables
and prayers. You know what they mean,
when God lives through you like Shams.
Ghazal (Ode) 2931
Version by Coleman Barks, with Nevit Ergin
"The Glance"
Viking-Penguin, 1999
