the shaykh-Love

Whatever purifies you is the correct road -- I will 
not try to define it.
Be silent and hold fast to the shaykh-Love -- for 
in the two worlds, he is your leader. 

From Sunlight: "What is the Way?"

the flame of the tongue

Now I pass to you this silence, 
so that the alternations of night and day 
with their flaming language 
may finish the story. 

... Barks ...

Now I close these two lips, so that the lamp of day and night
even with the flame of the tongue may tell you the whole story.

... Arberry ...

From Sunlight: The Meeting - Ghazal 45

the eloquence of silence

Now let me sit here, 

on the threshold of two worlds, 

Lost in the eloquence of silence.

source: Seek the King of Hearts, seek the Eternal Friend (via Sunlight)

quatrain 168

From Sunlight, two interpretations of Quatrain 168: 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tonight we go to that place of eternity.
This is the wedding night –
a never-ending union
of lover and Beloved.

We whisper gentle secrets to each other
and the child of the universe
takes its first breath.

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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This night there are no limits to what may be given.
This is not a night but a marriage,
a couple whispering in bed in unison the same words.
Darkness simply lets down a curtain for that.

-- Version by Coleman Barks
"Unseen Rain" 
Threshold Books, 1986

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