Praise compared to vapour drawn upwards, and then descending in rain - Jalal al-Din Rumi

Though water be enclosed in a reservoir,

Yet air will absorb it, for 'tis its supporter;

It sets it free and bears it to its source,

Little by little, so that you see not the process.

In like manner this breath of ours by degrees

Steals away our souls from the prison-house of earth.

"The good word riseth up to Him," 1

Rising from us whither He knoweth.

Our breathings are lifted up in fear of God,

Offerings from us to the throne of Eternity.

Then come down to us rewards for our praises,

The double thereof, yea, mercies from the King of Glory.

Therefore are we constrained to utter these praises,

That slaves may attain the height of God's gifts.

And so this rising and descent go on evermore,

And cease not for ever and aye.

To speak in plain Persian, this attraction

Comes from the same quarter whence comes this sweet savour.

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Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207 - 1273) Persia (Iran)

Translated by E.H. Whinfield

Source: Masnavi i Ma'navi; the spiritual couplets of Maulána Jalálu-'d-Dín Muhammad Rúmi, Translated and Abridged by E.H. Whinfield, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd., 1898

From: The Masnavi, Book 1, Story IV