Lyrics

O NIGHTINGALE
Rumi ~ translation by Andrew Harvey from his book ‘Light Upon Light’


O nightingale with your voice of dark honey! Go on lamenting!
Only your drunken ecstasy
can pierce the rock’s hard heart!
Surrender yourself,
and if your cannot be welcomed
by the Friend
Know that you are rebelling inwardly
like a thread
That doesn’t want to go
through the needle’s eye!

The awakened heart is a lamp;
protect it by the hem of your robe!
Hurry get out of the wind,
for the weather is bad
And when you’ve left this storm,
you will come to a fountain;
You will find a Friend there
who will always nourish your soul

And with your soul always green,
you will grow into a tall tree
Flowering always with sweet light-fruit, whose growth is interior

Stay close my heart
to the One who knows your ways