—I remembered You, not because I had forgotten You for even a moment; indeed, the lightest form of remembrance is that voiced by the tongue. (1)

• When the lover sets out to meet his Beloved, the battalions of his faculties travel with him: love takes the lead, hope chants to urge the mounts forward, longing drives them on, and fear keeps them together along the road. When he draws near the land of union, the Beloved’s own advance guard comes out to welcome him.

Heal a sickness in a body You will one day lay to rest,
And cool a blazing passion in a heart that You Yourself have set aflame.

Do not leave me, across this wide distance, to my feeble patience—
You know all too well how slight that patience is.

Receive my heart, for I have hastened to send it on ahead to meet You,
While the yearnings within me race before it. (2)

• Once he enters the presence of the Beloved, robes of honor are showered upon him from every side so that he may be tested: will he settle for them as his portion, or will his gaze remain fixed on the One who clothed him in them?

• They filled the vessels of their hearts with provisions fit to be spent only upon the King. When the predawn winds began to blow, those vessels set sail, and by the time dawn broke they had already reached the harbor.

• They crossed the desert of passion on the feet of earnest resolve; before long they returned from the journey. Ease accompanied them on the road to the meeting, and they entered the land of union having secured the profit of eternity. (3)

• They emptied their hearts of every distraction, whereupon the great pavilions of love were pitched within them. They stationed their eyes—at times to keep watch, at other times to sprinkle tears.