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The Talisman of the Self

You plundered my broken heart

          and broke apart

my head with the stone

          of desire for You. 


Thousands are drenched in blood

          approaching union with You,

heart and soul lost,

          head and feet broken. 


Love for Your face has summoned me

          to Divine Unity,

for it has broken both visible

          and hidden idols. 


Totally drunk, I burst out

          of self-existence

like a water bubble bursting

          on the ocean. 


The cupbearer has sent me

          to the wine vault,

for I’ve lost my goblet and

          broken my jug. 


Perhaps I will see the treasure of the Beloved

          clearly again,

now that my soul has broken

          the talisman of the self. 


For you, Nurbakhsh,

          this world has been a dream

by which people are bewitched

          and hearts are broken.

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