Oh formless Heart-ravisher! Oh unformed Form-maker!
Oh Thou who hast given a goblet full of uproar to the lovers!
Thou hast shut my mouth lest I voice the mysteries, and
in the breast Thou hast opened the door I cannot name.
As soon as Thy Beauty threw off its veil in secret, my heart
fell to the saki and my head to the wine.
It was morning, and Thy Image went mounted on its steed.
Holy spirits, innumerable as sand, went on foot.
And those who are famous for their glorification of Thee in
heaven broke their rosaries and pawned their prayer carpets.
The spirit cannot bear to see Thy Face unveiled, and Thy
Beauty is greater than whatever I say.
My spirit is a drunken camel following behind Thee, my
body a collar around the camel's neck.
Shams of God Tabrizi! My heart is pregnant from Thee!
When will I see the child born of Thy auspiciousness!
Translation by William C. Chittick
"The Sufi Path of Love"
SUNY Press, Albany, 1983
O formless Beloved of the pure form-fashioner, O you who
have given the cup full of tumult to the lovers,
You have closed your mouth against uttering secrets, and
opened in the heart the door which I do not mention.
Since your beauty secretly cast off the veil, heart has gone
after saki and hand after wine.
In the morning when your image drove forth riding, holy
spirits, as numberless as the sand, followed on foot;
And those who are famous in heaven for their adoration broke
their rosaries and pawned their prayer rugs.
They cannot endure to gaze on your face unveiled; your beauty
exceeds all that I say.
My soul runs after you like a raging camel; my body is a collar
bound upon the neck of that camel.
Shams-al Haqq Tabriz, my heart is pregnant by you; when
shall I see a child born under your auspices?
Translation by A. J. Arberry
"Mystical Poems of Rumi 2"
The University of Chicago Press, 1991
