' Catch the Scent '...

Whether one moves slowly or with speed,
the one who is a seeker will be a finder.

Always seek with your whole self,
for the search is an excellent guide on the way.

Though you are lame and limping,
though your figure is bent and clumsy,
always creep toward the One.

Make that One your quest.

By speech and by silence and by fragrance,
catch the scent of the King everywhere.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gar gerân o gar shetâbandeh bovad
ânke juyandeh-st yâbandeh bovad
Dar talab zan dâyeman to har do dast
kay talab dar râh niku rahbarast
Lang o luk o khofteh-shakl o bi adab
su-ye U mi ghizh va U-râ mi talab
Gah be-goft va gah be-khâmushi va gah
bui kardan gir har su bu-ye Shah




--Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi
Mathnawi III: 978-981
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra