If a Tree could Wander

written by


« Reload image

Oh, if a tree could wander
  and move with foot and wings!
It would not suffer the axe blows
  and not the pain of saws!

For would the sun not wander
  away in every night ?
How could at ev'ry morning
  the world be lighted up?

And if the ocean's water
  would not rise to the sky,
How would the plants be quickened
  by streams and gentle rain?

The drop that left its homeland,
  the sea, and then returned ?
It found an oyster waiting
  and grew into a pearl.

Did Yusaf not leave his father,
  in grief and tears and despair?
Did he not, by such a journey,
  gain kingdom and fortune wide?

Did not the Prophet travel
  to far Medina, friend?
And there he found a new kingdom
  and ruled a hundred lands.

You lack a foot to travel?
  Then journey into yourself!
And like a mine of rubies
  receive the sunbeams? print!

Out of yourself ? such a journey
  will lead you to your self,
It leads to transformation
  of dust into pure gold!

© Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi