love's emptiness

A heart that circles round the door of love

Will die, at last, by the dagger of love.

This point is written in the book of love:

He has no head at all whose head holds love.

#1071: From Rumi's Kolliyaat-e Shams-e Tabrizi

With rings being so central yesterday, I went for circle today. I've also been wondering about war and peace, love and hate, the contrast between the submissive self-sacrificing Jesus and the megalomaniacal Mo. They all form part of one great jigsaw puzzle or mosaic or perhaps they are elements in an ever unfolding tapestry.

Like the good mystic poet that he is, Rumi refers to several opposites here. The door of love and the dagger of love are feminine and masculine symbols that can each cover a good deal of ground. The door speaks of inside and out, of shelter and exposure. The dagger speaks of cutting through, of pointedness and focus. The image of dagger is followed by the concept of a point, suggesting the polarity of centre and circumference of the circle. The head is contrasted to the heart but like the heart it meets its end in love. To think of love, to reason about love, to seek any logic in love, is to go mad and lose one's head, one's sanity. All the poets seem to agree on that one. Love is supra-rational and even saying that is silly.

With heart pierced and head lost, with what else can one speak? The lover can only speak through his longing and words rise up only when one is lost for words. Let the emptiness of love abide for that is the channel of its speech. Nor male, nor female, nor truly "it", love's endless mystery and pain.