Plucked Up Out Of All

I was dead, I became alive; I was weeping, I became laughing;
 the power of love came, and I became everlasting power.
My eye is satiated, my soul is bold, I have the heart of a lion, I have become shining Venus.
He said, “You are not mad, you are not appropriate to this house”;
I went and became mad, I became bound in shackles.
He said, “You are not intoxicated; go, for you belong not to this party”;
I went and became intoxicated, I became overflowing with joy.
He said, “You are not slain, you are not drenched in joy”;
before his life-giving face I became slain and cast down.
He said, “You are a clever little man, drunk with fancy and doubt”;
I became a fool, I became straightened, I became plucked up out of all.
He said, “You have become a candle, the qibla of this assembly”;
I am not of assembly, I am not candle, I have become scattered smoke.
He said, “You are shaikh and headman, you are leader and guide”;
I am not a shaikh, I am not a leader, I have become slave to your command.
He said, “You have pinions and wings, I will not give you wings and pinions”;
in desire for his pinions and wings I became wingless and impotent.
New fortune said to me, “Go not on the way, do not become pained, for out of grace and generosity I am now coming to you.”
Old love said to me, “Do not move from my breast”;
I said, “Yes, I will not, I am at rest and remain.”
You are the fountain of the sun, I am the shadow of the willow;
when You strike my head, I become low and melting.
My heart felt the glow of the soul, my heart opened and split,
my heart wove a new satin, I became enemy of this ragged one.
The form of the soul at dawn swaggered insolently;
I was a slave and an ass-driver, I became king and lord.
Your paper gives thanks for your limitless sugar, for it came into my embrace, and I dwelt with it.
My darkling earth gives thanks for my bent sky and sphere, for through its gaze and circling I became light-receiving.
The sphere of heaven gives thanks for king and kingdom and angel, for through his generosity and bounty I have become bright and bountiful.
The gnostic of God gives thanks that we have outraced all; above the seven layers I have become a shining star. I was Venus, I became the moon, I became the two hundredfold sky; I was Joseph, henceforth I have become the waxing Joseph. Famous moon, I am yours, look upon me and yourself, for from the trace of your smile I have become a smiling rosegarden. Move silently like a chessman, yourself all tongue, for through the face of the king of the world I have become happy and blissful.

Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi (Mystical poems of Rumi- A.J. Arberry)