XXXI: The face of the beloved, the sun, and…

The face of the beloved, the sun, and the moon, are all three one:
Her stature, the cypress, and the pine, are all three one.

I have not the least need, either of honey, or of sugar;
For, the lips of the beloved, honey, and sugar, are all three one.

When I am reclining upon my couch, without her by my side,
Fire, thorns, and this couch of mine, are all three one.

When I cast mine eyes toward her dwelling's door and walls,
A garden, a parterre of flowers, and they, are all three one.

When I am soiled with any dust of the alley she dwelleth in,
This dust, and musk, and amber, are all three one.

O God! make no one acquainted with absence from his love;
For invasion, massacre, and such absence, are all three one!

The very moment that man biddeth adieu unto the world,
Dust, and silver, and gold, unto him, are all three one.

Should the monk, in reality, follow a life of austerity,
The sovereign, the chief, and the monk, are all three one.

It is not right that one should roam in foreign lands;
Therein, he who can see, the blind, and dumb, are all three one.

That town, in which there may be neither sweetheart nor friend,
That town, the ocean, and the desert, are all three one.

At the shops of the sightless dealers in jewels,
The kauri, the ruby, and the pearl, are all three one.

Let not these saintly monitors hold my love in scorn;
For the true lover, the saint, and the father, are all three one.

Through the despotic severity of tyrannical rulers,
The grave, and fire, and Pes'hour, are all three one.

What matter, though he may praise himself unto Rahman?
Still, the fool, the ox, and the ass, are all three one.