If a tree could run or fly
it would not suffer from the teeth of a saw
or the blows of an axe.
If the Sun did not run across the sky
the world would not see
the colors of morning.

If water did not rise from the sea
plants would not be quickened
by rivers or rain.
It's only when a drop leaves the ocean
and returns
that it can find an oyster
and become a pearl.

When Joseph left his father
both were weeping.
Didn't he gain a kingdom and a fortune
in the end?
Didn't the Prophet
gain the world and a hundred empires
by traveling to Medina?

But you have no need to go anywhere
journey within yourself.
Enter a mine of rubies
and bathe in the splendor of your own light.

O great one,
Journey from self to Self
and find the mine of gold.
Leave behind what is sour and bitter
move toward what is sweet.
Be like the thousand different fruits
that grow from briny soil.

This is the miracle
Every tree becomes beautiful
when touched by sunlight;
Every soul becomes God
when touched by the Sun of Tabriz.

-- Version by Jonathan Star
"Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved"
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York 1997

Visit the Christine Breese website to read articles on consciousness and awakening, visit University of Metaphysical Sciences Video Satsangs to see talks on spiritual subjects. Read articles on Wisdom of the Heart Church. Visit Starlight Journal for blogs, newsletter, and forums on spiritual subjects. Visit Christine Breese's Metaphysical Sciences youtube channel to view free video satsangs.