Religion

Ode VIII

by Jalal al-Din Rumi 1207–1273

Translated by R. A. Nicholson (1898) · From Selected Poems from the Divani Shamsi Tabriz (1898)

Religion

The man of God is drunken without wine,
The man of God is full without meat.
The man of God is distraught and bewildered.
The man of God has no food or sleep.
The man of God is a king beneath darvish-cloak.
The man of God is a treasure in a ruin.
The man of God is not of air and earth,
The man of God is not of fire and water.
The man of God is a boundless sea,
The man of God rains pearls without a cloud.
The man of God hath hundred moons and skies,
The man of God hath hundred suns.
The man of God is made wise by the Truth,
The man of God is not learned from book.
The man of God is beyond infidelity and religion,
To the man of God right and wrong are alike.
The man of God has ridden away from Not-being,
The man of God is gloriously attended.
The man of God is concealed, Shamsi Din;
The man of God do thou seek and find!

MLA

Rumi, Jalal al-Din. “Ode VIII.” Translated by R. A. Nicholson. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/rumi/7/.

Chicago

Rumi, Jalal al-Din. “Ode VIII.” Translated by R. A. Nicholson. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/rumi/7/.

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