I said to My Beloved <br /> <br />How, my dearest one, <br />do you know those who truly love You? <br /> <br />My Beloved said <br /> <br />Not by their smiling face, <br />nor by their eagerness; <br />nor by the quickness of their response, <br />nor by the force and wealth of their response <br />pleasing though these are – <br /> <br />but by their stillness: as <br />a rose is still; or as a fine-proportioned vase is still; <br />or as a sunlit golden dome is still; <br />or as the bluest vault of heaven is still; <br /> <br />they have a stillness all about them; for <br />their hearts are ever at rest; there is no need <br />for their still heart to move; they are <br />always the same; they rest in love; <br />they meet you with all love, <br />they greet you with all love; <br />you cannot add to their true love, <br />you cannot take away from their true love; <br /> <br />and if you wish to test their love, <br />the test is constancy; there is no change in them; <br />they speak, they feel, they act, from constancy; <br />what is their substance? It is constancy; <br />I stand with them in constancy, <br />they stand with Me in constancy.. <br /> <br />if that is not what you would ask of them in love, <br />then they are not for you; but they, <br />they are My true lovers, lovers of the truth in Me <br /> <br />-said My Beloved.<br /><br />Michael Shepherd<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/in-the-spirit-of-rumi-16/
