Within The Spirit

The sea itself is one thing, the foam another; 
Neglect the foam, and regard the sea with your eyes. 
Waves of foam rise from the sea night and day.
You look at the foam ripples and not at the mighty sea. 
We, like boats, are tossed hither and thither,
We are blind though we are on the bright ocean.
Ah! you who are asleep in the boat of the body, 
You see the water; behold the Water of waters!
 Under the water you see there is another Water moving it.
 Within the spirit is a Spirit that calls it.

Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi From: Charles F. Horne, ed., The Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East, Vol.VIII: Medieval Persia, pp. 111-130.