By Jalaluddin Rumi
Translated by Coleman Barks
In the early morning hour,
just before dawn, lover and beloved wake
and take a drink of water.
She asks, "Do you love me or yourself more?
Really, tell the absolute truth."
He says, "There is nothing left of me.
I'm like a ruby held up to the sunrise.
Is it still a stone, or a world
made of redness? It has no resistance
to sunlight."
This is how Hallaj said, I am God,
and told the truth!
The ruby and the sunrise are one.
Be courageous and discipline yourself.
Completely become hearing and ear,
and wear this sun-ruby as an earring.
Work. Keep digging your well.
Don't think about getting off from work.
Water is there somewhere.
Submit to a daily practice.
Your loyalty to that
is a ring on the door.
Keep knocking, and the joy inside
will eventually open a window
and look out to see who's there.
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I had a lot of chores to do on Friday on account of having had company all week, but of course it was worth it. We watched the ice dance rhythm dance performances at the skating world championships, which was very enjoyable, while doing work and eating lunch, and we watched most of the Maryland women's game (which unfortunately they lost to South Carolina, but if they were going to lose, that's not a bad team to lose to) before we took a walk as the rain slowed to a drizzle.
We watched more skating in the evening, the fantastic women's free skate in which I kept thinking it can't get better and they kept doing so until Alysa Liu did what everyone including her had thought was impossible a few weeks ago and it was absolutely thrilling to watch. Catching up on The Wheel of Time, Doctor Odyssey, and Suits L.A. was very anticlimactic after that. Here's what the sky looked like between our walk and the evening skating, with eagles posing as the rainbow intensified:
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