Water of Eternal Life

Lesson 42: Water of Eternal Life

O King of glory, who needs no drums or banners,
You have made me mad, and madmen live beyond law.
Look at me from a distance, I'm a stumbling fool.
What you see is fantasy only, a mist of nothing.
Step forward yourself now and dare to become nothing.
This nothing I am is the source of the soul;
The real soul, that is, not the one black with grief.
"I" without "I," "you" without "you," together
We'll dive wildly into this burning river;
There's only tyranny and misery on the earth.
You drown in this river, but don't lose your life;
This is the Water of Eternal Life, of grace and mercy.

- Jalal-ud-Din Rumi

(Translated by Andrew Harvey from A Year of Rumi)