You Are the Only Student You Have
You are the only faithful student you have.
All the others leave eventually.
Have you been making yourself shallow
with making others eminent?
Just remember, when you're in union,
you don't have to fear
that you'll be drained.
The command comes to speak,
and you feel the ocean
moving through you.
Then comes, Be silent,
as when the rain stops,
and the trees in the orchard
begin to draw moisture
up into themselves.
Rumi
-- Mathnawi, V, 3195-3219)
Version by Coleman Barks
"Feeling the Shoulder of the Lion,"
Threshold Books, 1991