Poem: A believer’s search for the beloved

We live in search of truth
Yet distract ourselves with lies
We blindly shop every bazaar in vain
And never hearken to our inner cry

What ugliness you haply invite
What beauty you let slip away
You give up immortality tomorrow
Foolishly to satisfy your lust today

The answer you seek is tightly enclosed
Beyond a gate of icy darkness and fiery light

Kindle yourself with His submission being cold to all else
No other weapon will win you this fight

Enrobe your naked spirit with His warm belief
Letting His love be your guide instead of your eyes
No other fortune will follow you through death
These are the hidden keys that unlock Paradise

I once had wings and ravished in flight
I soared as quietly as a dove
Then You snuck up like a thief in the night
And snatched every feather of my freedom

You told me to sacrifice my own self
To bid farewell to my own will and liberty
But after this slaughter I found infinite life
I was actually imprisoned and You set me free

I renounced every luxury and forsook vain pleasures
Fasting from the tempting banquet of this transitory life
I stripped myself of materialistic riches
And was crowned in the garb of your blessed light

Only to win the Beloved’s glance
Have I reduced myself to dirt
I am ever restless in pangs of wanting
You alone are the cure to my hurt

Lost in Thy addiction, but found by Thy grace
Enlivened by Thy quickening touch
Thou hast made me the mirror of Thy countenance
No other power can separate us

My Sweetheart has ignited my being
Ablaze with hunger for just one kiss
Yet strangely, I rejoice in Your mercy of mystery
For madness would erupt if I tasted Thy lips

Bewitched in charm of your worship
I feed off the enchantment of your slaves
Who dance like dervishes in everlasting bliss
I have become no different than they

Enslaved in anguish for a Treasure
Whose face adorns every beauty
Whose luster outshines the brightest heavens
And Whose mere whisper heralds ecstasy

I’m drowning in the holy abyss of Your desire
Now every heartbeat echoes Thy noble name
Drunk in the elixir of Your obsession
My every breath is devoted to Thy praise

I want nothing to do with this world
With this fleeting mirage of a home
Let others drink freely of its poison
But let me have You, yes You alone

I was destitute, a frail pebble amidst the sands
But your strength transformed me into a mountain
I was hideous and submerged in darkness
And You turned me into a resplendent diamond

I have found at last that divine fountain
Whose pure water makes dry deserts into lush gardens
The one death I welcomed for Your sake was returned
With unending lives again

My only delight is to suffer for Thee
O Conqueror of the empire of every heart
But I cannot bear the hell that afflicts me
Every second we spend apart

I am with You regardless of victory or defeat

happiness or sadness, I love you now and ever after
Whenever hope seems to fade, a gentle voice utters
I love you and I am yours forever

Together we have transcended every limitation
Your everlasting Will have I become
I no longer exist, there is no “You and I”
Only You, as I have vanished into your Majesty