God’s lovers employ various metaphors and symbolic actions to hide their love of the Divine– Jaihoon reveals some of their ‘cover-up games’ in these verses
Hey His Fear-veiled friend
May I unveil a hidden truth
Though a liar I am of nil worth
My deeds:
Stained with the sinful thorns
My heart:
Filled with the Rose’s thoughts
The games His Lovers play
Are truly sly
They laugh in joy
Though they seem to cry
Lord knows the excuses they make
For others to label ‘For His sake’
They see the sun
And think of Him
They sigh at the moon
And think of Him
Even in the motherly love to a child
His love so appears in their restless mind
Sometimes they refer to it as Tabrez
To hide what has set their soul ablaze
How cleverly they use for Him
Symbols such as the Rose
Or as the Gardener who
For their soul with mercy cares
Instead of calling Him
By ‘one hundred less one’ names
They utter ‘…al haqq’
And themselves debase
In their prayers they yearn
Not for His favors just
But a daring heart, which
With His love shivers
Dumb and quiet are they not
As they overtly seem
Calm do they remain, though-
Within them is a thunderstorm
Ah! Consider yourself, for instance
Who speaks mostly in bold silence
Remember, when you
That Treasured Truth uttered
So far which your
Him-loving heart shuttered
How can a shell teach the pearl
How can vinegar compare itself to Honey
How dare I tell you what you already taught me:
“My Merciful Him who Loves me”
April 15, 2003. Edit march 2023
