A dervish in ecstasy

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A frenzied dervish, mad with love for God,

Sought out bare hills where none had ever trod.

Wild leopards kept this madman company –

His heart was plunged in restless ecstasy;

He lived within this state for twenty days,

Dancing and singing in exultant praise:

“There’s no division; we two are alone

The world is happiness and grief has flown.”

Die to yourself – no longer stay apart,

But give to Him who asks for it your heart;

The man whose happiness derives from Him

Escapes existence, and the world grows dim;

Rejoice for ever in the Friend,

rejoice Till you are nothing,

but a praising voice.

For seventy years my happy heart has led

A life of constant bliss,” a sufi said.

“My God has been so good to me that I

Am bound to Him until the day I die.”

You seek for faults to censure and suppress

And have no time for inward happiness –

How can you know God’s secret majesty

If you look out for sin incessantly?

To share His hidden glory you must learn

That others’ errors are not your concern –

When someone else’s failings are denned

What hairs you split – but to your own you’re blind!

Grace comes to those, no matter how they’ve strayed,

Who know their own sin’s strength, and are afraid

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