God knows

How thirsty I am to see you, God knows.

But when I see you, the thirst only grows.

I'm a slave to those lips, that ruby flood;

That's why the whole world thirsts after my blood.

#1649: From Rumi's Kolliyaat-e Shams-e Tabrizi

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During the time when Shams was around, he and Rumi were inseparable. This verse has a feel that places it in that time. We are told, however, that these verses poured out from Rumi only after Shams' disappearance and probable murder. This one would seem to be part recollection of Shams' presence, part affirmation of him through his very absence.

It is also said that Rumi claimed that these verses were not written by Rumi himself but by Shams. We get that sense here in the third line. The fourth suggests a realistically based paranoia, but it was Shams who was hunted down and killed. The roles are thus reversed.

Yet another rich expression of his deep love and sense of identity with Shams, with just a hint that God is lurking and watching it all.

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