The Wings of the Simorgh

The lovers sit in the large room, All have cleared their minds of everything but the Beloved. The booming Daf, the melancholy Ney, and the entrancing Tambour, All singing about the beauty of the Beloved. As the tempo increases, And the Daf begins to dance, The lovers follow suit, And dance in the name of the Beloved. The hearts of the lovers are tied, All passionately expressing their love for the Beloved. There is no ending to the love these darvishes have for Him, They only mute these passions in daily life. These lovers come from all sorts of paths, From musicians, to intellectuals, From Christians and Jews, But in the eyes of the Beloved, Only love is important, One must cast these other names aside. These names are bricks for the castle of the ego, One must blast away the walls and reveal the ego, To rid yourself of them. O Beloved, May you annihilate the castle of the ego within these Lovers, As they love you more than life itself. Listen to their moan,

The lovers are caught in the beloved’s embrace, But as they are drowning in the ocean of Love, The waves tossing them and dragging them asunder, They accept this fate and dive deeper into the abyss. O Beloved! How does your beauty drive men to die in your name! Remember al-Hallaj and his love for you! He was lost in the ocean of Love, When he found only you within himself. The wine that intoxicated al-Hallaj Led him to reveal to all the whispers of the Beloved. There are dangers when revealing the secrets of the heart, Such things are meant to be whispered between lover and Beloved. This potent wine still flows in the rivers and streams, Even in the blood that our hearts pump. Pass to us this sweet wine, So we can become drunk with love for the Beloved. And one day, when we are all cast into the ocean of Love, Do not swim, as the Love for which the Beloved has for you is vast, Let the slow eternal ebb and flow carry you to the Beloved Where Lover and Beloved will