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The Blind Alley of Life

The thread of “I” and “you” can be

          severed from the world.

O swift-winged bird,

          the cage of the body is breakable.


O idle babbler,

          what is this delay?

This blind alley of life is

          no place to settle.


Pass from this world;

          there is nothing to see here,

for it is but an empty promise,

          a broken cup.


Your selfishness is the bait,

          your imagination the snare.

How weary your body and soul are

          from this bait and snare!


At rest is the Sufi who has become freed

          from the fetters of “I” and “you.”

Yes, the way of safety is to become

          free from these fetters.


The bird of the heart, finding the wings

          and feathers of aspiration,

flew from its roof,

          as it knew it should soar.


When Nurbakhsh separated

          from all of creation,

he saw that a bond with “other than the Truth”

          should not be made.

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