Chaosplay

In the presence of the Beloved, a Lover recalled his ordeals:
“For you, I suffered all horrors in a long war.
Wealth has gone, and strength, and reputation;
because of my love
For you, many, many miseries have attacked me.
Not one dawn found me laughing, not one evening calm.”
Everything that he had tasted of desolation and despair
The Lover told his Beloved, detail by detail, point by point.
And not from revenge at all: he was only offering
A hunderd clear testimonies to the reality of his passion.
The Beloved replied, “Yes, you did suffer all those things.
But open your eyes wide now, and listen very carefully:
You have not accomplished at all what is the root of the root
Of love and fidelity; what you have done is only the branches.”
The Lover cried out: “Tell me, then, what is this root?”
Beloved replied: “to die to yourself and to be anihilated.”
“You did all the rest, ” Beloved added, “but still you are not dead.”
At once the Lover prostrated himself and gave up his soul.
Like the rose, he gave up his life, laughing and rejoicing,
And this laughter stayed with him, like a gift, for eternity.

—from Andrew Harvey’s book: Light upon Light