Do Not Despair

Do Not Despair

A Poem By Mawlana Jalal al-Din al-Rumi

Say, do not despair because the Beloved drives you away; if
He drives you away today, will He not call you back tomorrow?
If He shuts the door on you, do not go away; be patient
there, for after patience He will seat you in the place of
honour.

And if He bars against you all ways and passages, He will
show you a secret way, which no man knows.

Is it not the case that when the butcher cuts off the head of
a sheep with his knife, he does not abandon what he has slain,
but first slays, and then draws?

When no more breath remains to the sheep, he fills it with
his own breath; you will see whither God's breath will bring
you!

I spoke this as a parable; else, His generosity slays no man,
rather it rescues him from slaying.

He gives all the kingdom of Solomon to a single ant; He
bestows both worlds, and does not startle a single heart.
My heart has travelled round the world and found none
like Him; whom does He resemble? Whom does He resem-
ble?

Ah, silence! For without speech He gives to all of this wine
to taste, He gives to taste, He gives to taste, He gives to taste.