This soul of mine is suffering from yearning,

The desire to come back to God, its beginning,

Is there any pain worse

Than my endless longing for You?

The fires of love rage in my heart,

The whole world witnesses the fires burning my heart,

Whenever someone is on fire somewhere,

The sign is that smoke pouring from him.

This love of mine has dispatched a guard

For the house of my heart,

My soul is captured already,

How can my enemies harm me?

Let me spread the news to other countries,

Let me write my will for other lovers,

Let me warn them that

The Beloved plays with the lover's heart.

I wonder why there is no remedy

To be found for my sorrow,

I wonder who it can be

Withholding the healer of my sorrow.

According to the sultans' laws,

Their slaves are bound to do wrong,

According to the sultans' will, their slaves

Are either subdued or sent to the market for sale.

Now Yunus do not complain, do not

Mention the pain your Beloved has caused,

All the longing of the lovers will come to an end

When they are in the presence of their Beloved.

* * *

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