For a lifetime the fire of love
burned my heart and soul,
until the Beloved taught me
the lover’s way.
Jealous love gave me no chance
to cry out;
to keep me silent
the Beloved sewed my lips tight.
Like a moth I circled around Him
ecstatically for so long
that He burned me like a candle
and set me alight in every gathering.
For ages He preserved me
in the heart of time
so I should now proclaim aloud the
whisperings of love.
I am the servant of the master of the Magi,
for he bought me from myself
and sold me in the tavern
for the price of wine.
Inspired by the Beloved’s breath,
Nurbakhsh said drunkenly,
“For a lifetime the fire of love
burned my heart and soul.”