who is this existence who puts sadness in your heart who is this soul who sweetens your grief as soon as you crawl the one who first frightens you with deadly snakes before opening the treasure vault who changes a monster to an angel a sorrow to happiness who gives the blind wisdom and inner sight who changes darkness to light thistles to flowers who sheds the sins of the sinful like autumn leaves and puts guilt in the heart of its own enemies who makes them repent and in silence says amen and whose amen brings inner happiness and soulful delight who changes bitter thoughts to lightness and joyous zeal bestows fire and makes you leap with unknown joy the fire that can make a hero from a desperate heart who is this existence who is this tell me who — Translation by Nader Khalili Ghazal (Ode) number 528, from Rumi’s Diwan-e Shams, “Rumi, Fountain of Fire” Burning Gate Press, Los Angeles, 1994