XVIII: When the black eye-lashes become submerged in the…

When the black eye-lashes become submerged in the heart's moisture,
Then both property and effects become engulfed in the ocean of the heart.

Thou speakest vainly of the heart's disquiet unto the "Father of Desire:"
What know children of the deep, deep sorrows of the heart?

Unto every other countenance than that of my own beloved,
I have permanently closed, altogether, the eyes of the heart.

That the highest canopy of heaven is beneath its shadow,
In the same degree, the more supernal is the banner of the heart.

This sanctuary is more sacred than Abraham's tabernacle,
If one would restore the desolated sanctuary of the heart.

Though others should set itself, feet upon the earth's surface,
I have on the empyrean itself, placed the foot of the heart.

That spot, which lieth midway 'twixt the firmament and world,
Is a place of seclusion--'tis the very staircase of the heart.

From whom, then, shall I crave it, save from thee my God,
Since the world's physicians cannot prepare the salve of the heart?

There are, indeed, very many extrinsic friends in the world;
But Rahman nowhere findeth, a single friend of the heart.