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The Circle of Unity

As long as you are not bound to a Beloved

          through loving-kindness

your soul will never experience the delight

          of liberation.


Your notebook of knowledge

          is but a toy of your imagination —

reading it in the beginning causes suffering,

          in the end fatigue.


In truth, whatever you see other than love

          is false.

You will never again hear Truth’s secret

          this concisely.


Unconsciousness and humility,

          lowliness and nothingness

are a few signs of the lover’s

          pre-eminence.


In love’s battleground

          the selfless rend

receives the rank of commander

          from the Sultan of Beauty.


Cling to the circle of Divine Unity,

          for this solid foundation

grants safety from faltering,

          error and dispersion.


Aided by the heart, we climbed beyond

          the limits of space and creation.

While seated here, we made many journeys

          beyond the horizons.


We drank just a mouthful and

          have remained drunk.

Since the day of the pre-eternal covenant,

          our wine has been perpetually intoxicating.


O Nurbakhsh, I see you are undisturbed

          by the flood of events;

though you may be a drop,

          you are joined with the Ocean.

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