Translated by Coleman Barks

What was said to the rose that made it open was said

to me here in my chest.



What was told the cypress that made it strong

and straight, what was



whispered the jasmine so it is what it is, whatever made

sugarcane sweet, whatever



was said to the inhabitants of the town of Chigil in

Turkestan that makes them



so handsome, whatever lets the pomegranate flower blush

like a human face, that is



being said to me now. I blush. Whatever put eloquence in

language, that's happening here.



The great warehouse doors open; I fill with gratitude,

chewing a piece of sugarcane,



in love with the one to whom every that belongs!




From The Soul of Rumi: A New Collection of Ecstatic Poems, translated by Coleman Barks, published by HarperCollins. Translation copyright © 2002 by Coleman Barks. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins. All rights reserved.