quatrain 1868

From sunlight, two versions of quatrain #1868:

With love you cannot bargain
there, the choice is not yours.
Love is a mirror, it reflects
only your essence,
if you have the courage
to look in its face.

-- Translation by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 1999

love is
a mirror
you see nothing
but your reflection
you see nothing
but your real face

--Translation by Nader Khalili
Rumi, Dancing the Flame
Cal-Earth Press, 2001

quatrain 82

From sunlight, two more versions of quatrain #82 to add to the Houshmand version discussed at a hundred bows.

today like everyday
I'm in no sober mood
don't open the door
to my thoughts
begin the music instead
for the one who sees
only the beloved's face
there are a hundred
ways to pray
to prostrate
or to be humbled
to the ground

--Translation by Nader Khalili
Rumi, Dancing the Flame
Cal-Earth Press, 2001

Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don't open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.

Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

-- Version by Coleman Barks
Open Secret
Threshold Books, 1984