Seek from your own earth a fire as yet unseen, another’s apparition is unworthy of your demand.

I have so fastened on myself my gaze, that though the beauty of the Beloved fills all the world, I am left no time to contemplate.

I would not give for Jamshid’s realm that verse of Naziri: ‘He who is yet unslain belongs not to our tribe.’

Though reason whose trade is wizardry mustered an army, your heart will not be dismayed, for Love is not alone.

You know not the way and are uninformed of the stage; what melody is there that is not in Sulaima’s lute?

Tell a tale of the hunting and fettering of sharks: do not say, ‘Our skiff knows not the face of the sea.’

I am disciple of the zeal of that wayfarer who never set foot on any high-road that ran over mountains, deserts and seas.

Be partner with the ring of wine-bibbing dissolutes; beware of allegiance to a Master who is not a man of tumult.