Everything But Sea

Lesson 288: Everything But Sea

The home of fish is the sea
The sea is the soul's garden and country.
The sea will be her shroud and tomb;
Everything but sea for her is a torment and ordeal.
She flees all the colors of a dying world
And steeps herself in the dyes of Jesus.
She has turned to God's own color, since God "does what He wants."
She has abandoned shame and shamelessness, "near" or "far."

- Jalal-ud-Din Rumi

(Translated by Andrew Harvey from A Year of Rumi)