As soon as we entered the realm
of loving-kindness and compassion,
we trampled the stuff of impermanence
and pre-eternity, too.
We washed away the image of other things
from the mind
until we spoke of our fidelity
before the Beloved.
Sincerely, we tore away the veils
of identity and fame
and out of love pitched our tent
beyond existence and non-being.
The gold of the realm of possibilities
increased in value
when we minted the coins
of purity and love.
Ecstatically, we demolished
the edifice of selfhood
and with the hands of yearning built
the palace of loving-kindness.
We ignored the distinctions
of custom and religion;
in love, we banished thoughts of quantity and quality
from the kingdom of the heart.
By remembrance of the Friend, we were saved
from the plight of multiplicity;
from the ocean of “no god,” we arrived
to raise a banner on the shore of “but God.”
The khaniqah of compassion and fidelity
is no place for debate;
we erased from the book
all that was not about the Friend.
We walked the land of loving-kindness
and compassion,
where His sun-like face
bestowed light to the soul.