OH HAPPY DAY by Jalaluddin Rumi

OH HAPPY DAY when in you presence,

my ruler, I shall die!

When near the sugar-treasure melting

like sugar I shall die!

Out of my dust will grow a thousand

of centrifolias

When in the shade of yonder cypress

in gardens I shall die.

And when you pour into my goblet

the bitter drink of death,

I'll kiss the goblet full of joy, dear,

and drunken I shall die.

I may turn yellow like the autumn

when people speak of death,

Thanks to your smiling lip: like spring time

and smiling shall I die.

I have died many times, but your breath

made me alive again,

Should I die thus a hundred more times

I happily shall die!

A child that dies in mother's bosom,

that's how I am, my friend,

For in the bosom of His Mercy

and kindness, I shall die.

Say: Where would death be for the lovers?

Impossible is that!

For in the fountain of the Water

of Life - there I shall die!


From: Look This is Love translated by Annemarie Schimmel