My friends, do you know

Where the true friends of God are?

Wherever I look I see them,

Wherever I want to see them I do.

My words are like echoes

Bouncing off the stone of those

Who feel no love in their heart,

Know this, whoever feels no inner love

Is truly remote from me.

Come, don't become a liar,

Don't tell lies to love, just come,

If you tell lies here, tomorrow

You will be locked up there.

Now if you don't know where

You come from, and you don't understand

The meaning of these words,

Still longing for union

With Haqq, with the Truth, know that

This wisdom can be found in the Qur'an.

My words are true, He is the source of love

And He gives His love,

Whoever keeps a ray of love

In his heart is actually manifesting God.

Many say Yunus is an old man,

They plead with him to forget this love,

But the arrow of love has just pierced

Us now and the wound is still fresh.

* * *

(From: Yunus Emre: His Life and Selected Poems written and edited by Faruk Dilaver)