Light up Love's Fire

"Now that I'm tied and tangled in Thy floating hair.

Am become Thy half-crazed lover," looking for Thee everywhere. 1

"There'll be no end to longing till I find my heart's desire.

Either I'll win my own heart's life or lose my life entire." 16

"All for Thee, O spirit's Guide, I emptied out this room." 2

~

Chorus: "Light up Love's Fire" with your burning sighs!

"Throw on the pyre" all that ever dies!

"Then with one step, it is not far, enter the place where the lover's are." 14

~

"Save me, O Great Mystery of God! See me faint and fall."

"Save me, I am as nothing in the eyes of all."

"Save me, for without Thee I only burn and sigh." 10

Save me, this is my last plea, please don't let me die.

This love sickness will never heal until I reach my Goal. (Chorus)

~

"When the pangs of longing for Thee struck the knocker on my door,

"Then in the wine shop of Thy Love, I drank my own heart's core." 2

Except for Thee, I have no desire, I have no cares.

"A distracted lover, I -- of men's lives I have no share." 4

"Yes, the envy of Heaven would be this ruined heart of mine." 7

~

"When the Sun of Truth rose out of Heaven and the veils were cast aside,

I recognized my Beloved, His Splendor and His Light.

"When He, unto my soul, a welcome did impart."

I said, 'Yea, Thou art the surest balm for every aching heart.' 9

The effulgence of His Beauty flashed from His World into ours. 8

And I thought, 'Let all men know that I love Thy Matchless Charm!'

~

"Pluck Thy strings on the theme of servitude to Him.

And with the song of this bondage awaken thou a world.

Speak Thou of this Almighty Height, this Wondrous Station.

Open Thy lips in" adoration and "praise of Him." 15

"Obedient to Thy Wish and Will, I bow before Thy Face." 8

~

Chorus 2: O peoples of the world! Open your eyes! Be glad!

The Promised One's Light now has broken!

The Mystic Cup is in His Hand!

Blessed are they who drink freely the Chalice of Immortality!

~

Chorus 3: This is the Flaming Fire! "This is the Paradise!"

"These are the Cleansing Waters!" These are the Fountains of Life! 15

Refresh your soul and your yearning heart!

Then set your goal for a thousand stars!

~

Entire Reference: Dawn Over Mount Hira by Marzieh Gail, p. 39-41.

Poem by Ali Kuli Khan, translated by his daughter Marzieh Gail:

1

"Now that I am tied and tangled in Thy floating hair,

Am become Thy half-crazed lover, with peace of mind at war,

Life in hand I stray and wander, looking for Thee everywhere,

Thou art Egypt's beauteous Joseph, I the wife of Potiphar;

Like that grayhair who bought Joseph, I would suffer for Thy face.

2

When the pangs of longing for Thee struck the knocker on my door,

From within me faith and reason fled their home.

Then in the wineshop of Thy love I drank my own heart's core.

All for Thee, O spirit's guide, I emptied out this room --

Now behold me mocked and mad and half seas over for Thy face.

3

In the Magian' secret tavern, O sweet the brimming glass,

O sweet it is to seize Thy snaring hair.

O sweet for me to weep out my blood as along love's way I pass,

Sweet to receive this cup from Thee with no outsider's there,

And my eyes athirst since time began, drinking in Thy face.

4

Except for Thee, for neither world have I a care,

From any words save Thine, from all desire free,

A distracted lover I - of men's lives I've no share,

I but the dust beneath Thy feet, O swaying cypress tree,

For me there is no place of flowers except Thy face.

5

O good is this tossing and turning on the sickbed of love,

Sickness that never will heal, but by love's crying.

Though reason warn me as to the perils of love,

Against the anguish of love I am not one to be sighing --

I, bound from time's dawning to the hyacinth hair that frames Thy face.

6

When like Majnun I fled to the desert of the mad,

I set the sand on fire with my burning sighs.

I put all men out of my heart but Thee, and was glad,

And my cupped hands brimmed with tears from my weeping eyes,

And I thought, let all men know that I love Thy wondrous face.

7

The day I filled my glass with Thy love's wine,

This tavern-corner gloried over Heaven's dome.

Yes, the envy of heaven would be this ruined heart of mine

Should Thy bright brow but shed its rays into my lowly room --

Therefore my soul's eye never leaves Thy matchless face.

8

As the Sun of Truth rose out of this earthly world of His,

He opened up before Thee His secret treasure-store.

The effulgence of Thy beauty flashed from that world into this,

And from nothingness, the Divine Decree stood humbly at Thy door,

And said: 'Obedient to Thy wish and will, I bow before Thy face.'

9

O people of Baha, the Covenant hath come, be glad!

He is the balm for every aching heart,

And now is the earth in His Father's splendor clad.

When He unto my soul a welcome did impart,

It answered: 'Save me! For I drown in the ocean of Thy face.'

10

Save me, great Mystery of God, I faint and fall.

Save me, without Thee I only burn and sigh.

Save me, I am as nothing in the eyes of all,

Save me, in every city: 'He is mad!' they cry,

Of this lost, distracted wanderer in the desert of Thy face.

11

O Thou, O Thou from whose sunbright brow the moon hath drawn her rays,

The thought of whom illumines many a weary lover's soul,

But to behold Thy face I have no dream in all my days.

Then fulfill my hopes, in grace, grant me leave to reach my goal,

A desert wanderer I, and yearning for the garden of Thy face.

12

Without Thee, only a prison to me is Heaven and its flowers,

Without Thee, only a place of thorns, the blissful bowers.

O Thou whose brow so moonlight fair is the envy of spring hours,

In his love for Thee,

He is torn free,

Is Ishti'al, form all that be,

And again and again,

Cries this refrain:

I am lost in the glory of Thy face.

~

(The following was 'Abdul-Baha's response to this poem:)

13

"Thy verses were full of savor; they were running waters, a fount of learning, and most sweetly eloquent. Reading them cheered and refreshed us. From the consuming blaze of that yearning heart a flame was kindled in ours and our whole being responded and caught fire."

14

('Abdu'l-Baha quotes Hafiz:)

"Light up love's fire,

Throw on the pyre

All things that be.

Then with one step (it is not far)

Enter the place where the lovers are."

15

('Abdu'l-Baha continues:)

"The way to praise this servant it to adore the Holy threshold, to worship humbly at the doorstep of the one Lord. This is perpetual grace; this heavenly bestowal; this is achieving the uttermost goal; this is the Sadrah tree that marks the boundary' (i.e., the Manifestation of God). Speak thou of this almighty Height, this wondrous Station, open thy lips in praise of Him. Pluck thy strings on the theme of servitude to Him, and with the song of this bondage awaken thou a world.

...These are the cleansing waters; this is the flaming up of splendor; this is the laudable grace; this is the paradise of all delights; this is bounty pressed down and running over; this is 'Abdu'l-Baha's most burning wish -- the supreme desire of this embodiment of indigence, of nothingness... Al-Baha be upon thee."

~

16

"There'll be no end to longing till I find my heart's desire

Either I'll win my own Heart's Life or lose my life entire.

But this I know, though I be dead, my body will burn on:

Open my grave when I am gone

And see my shroud on fire." (Hafiz)