If I ever take a step on this path

Without You I am helpless:

That power in my body

Which moves me here is You,

My heart, my life, my mind and all

That I know find peace in You,

The wing of my soul fills with joy

As it flies up to the Friend.

A lover who loses himself

Is made a falcon by his Beloved,

A hunter launched high

In pursuit of wild birds and game.

God in His might gives the strength

Of a thousand Hamzas to the lover

Who disrobes mountains

As he travels to the Friend,

Who digs into the heart of mountains,

Like Ferhad with a hundred thousand axes,

Shattering rocks to release

The spring of eternal life.

A fountain rising from the spring

Of eternal life is the lover's union

With the Beloved who speaks of love,

Burning those who thirst.

If you yearn for God's paradise,

I will never call you lover because

Paradise is still only a trap

To catch the souls of fools.

A lover who surrenders to the path

Of truth is already poor,

He accepts what you say,

Not allowed to break hearts.

We know those who came here have gone,

We see those who settled here have left,

But souls who drink from

The wine of love never die,

The soul of Yunus is not trapped

In the illusions of hell as he

Sets out on the path to the Friend,

Merging with His essence.

* * *

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