With the Beloved

"You are with your Friend, and you do not know how to make love.
You are deeming your Friend to be a stranger: upon a joy, you have bestowed a grief.
Such a divine grace is flowing like the Nile--since we are Pharaohs, it seems to us to be like blood...
I have put it to the test more than a thousand times: I do not deem my life to be sweet without You.
Sing to me, O object of my desire, the melody of resurrection!
Farewell, my friends: I have set towards the Saint who commands and is obeyed.
Moment by moment I am being roasted in the flames of separation from Him: I will go there, come what may!
Although He is making His heart like a hard rock against me, my soul is bound for the source of all knowledge.
It is the abode of my Friend, and the city of my King: in a lover's eyes this is the meaning of "love of one's native land.'
O You, who make the cheek radiant, O Spirit of everlastingness, draw my heart to Yourself, and generously bestow on me a meeting with You...
For lovers, the only lecturer is the beauty of the Beloved, their only book and lecture and lesson is His face.
They are silently outwardly, but the strong sound of their repetition is going up to the high throne of their Friend.
Their only lesson is enthusiasm. "

Rumi (Vol. 3 from 3781-3848)

Commentary: That is our work.. to go enthusiastically toward the One we love.