When I want to leave

You hold my feet and won’t let me go.

You steal my heart,

and sit on top of it.

Because of the secret You whispered,

and the moon You revealed,

Love’s wind whirls in my head

and my heart loses its hands and feet.

You pass many nights in vigil,

and soar across this sky-dome with the wings of

fasting,

in love with flight.

You saw me lost, waving and crying,

and said, “I am the guide.

I’ll show you the road

for which you have been searching.”

I’m hidden behind the wall

and yet I’m right beside you.

You are oppressed and suffering,

yet I am near.

You who are anxious to get

where you think you’re going,

I’ll make your dreams come true.

I’ll cook well every pot you try to boil.

My friend, you thought you lost Him;

that all your life you’ve been separated

from Him.

Filled with wonder,

you’ve always looked outside for Him,

and haven’t searched within your own house.

The funny part is

that in that search,

Beauty has always accompanied you.

Wherever you have been,

He is the One holding your hand.

Keep looking for Him with Him;

You and He are on the same road.

O Beloved, You’re so obvious

You’re hidden from sight!

– Rumi

After kicking Doubt out of my humble abode in the cold light of the day, I would always, under one pretext or another, invite her back in through the rear door every time the sun melted away.

At times, Doubt, dressed as the lady of reason, would berate me for what she had already decided were mere flights of fancy.

“But the signs,” I always protested inwardly.

“He’s not coming back,” she always pronounced with finality, drawing out each and every syllable.

Then, one day, Doubt stopped appearing at my door – at neither the front nor the back.

As I gently closed the door behind me and made my way to the hearth, the ebony marble floor engulfed the moon’s billowing reflection and, with it, a wish.