quatrain 269

From sunlight, two further interpretations of quatrain #269, to add to Houshmand's discussed at lovely one.

I see His face,
I see His smile –
There is my joy!
I feel His rage
I feel His painful blows –
There is my joy!

But what's this?
He has asked for my head!
At least He has asked me for something –
There is my joy!

-- Version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva
A Garden Beyond Paradise
Bantam Books, 1992

I am in love not only
with his smile and radiant face
but also with his wrath and contempt.
He has asked for my head
I do not care if I lose it
what makes me ecstatic is
Him asking.

-- Translation by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Hidden Music
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2001