عشق

Every week, my Iranian friends and I like to translate Persian verses from the poetry of Rumi into English. We enjoy debating the semantic and spiritual meanings of each line–and our spirited linguistic workout keeps my Persian skills fresh. Here are a few verses from what we’ve been translating this week:

Hey you–who lives off the soul of this world.
Shame on you! Why do you live this way?
Don’t live like a corpse without love,
Die in love: and alive you shall remain…

— Rumi