From Rumi, with Love on Valentine's Day

On the occasion of Valentine's day, I would like to send you my best wishes for you and your family to live in Love and extend it to the whole world family and along with that a poem by Molana :

Molana starts from the very beginning of the Masnavi with the thought of Love. And he relates it to the force that is the force of union that pulls us from where we are now, back to our Source. And this force, is the "fire of Love and the movement or bubbling of Love" (Masnavi line 10, book 1), he says, is really behind the wind in the Ney, the Reed Flute and the bubbling of soulwine, and admonishes all those who do not have this fire, this fire of Love, to acknowledge nonexistence (har ke een atash nadarad nist bad! )

He then goes on to vividly describe in line 22, that Love is the means of cleansing oneself of greed and faults in general, that to demonstrate and take action with the intent and motivation of love is enough to cleanse and purify one's being.

And asks his beloved to be joyous and happy, as the healer of all his ailments, his beloved be happy. For he says, it is the earthly body that can soar in the heavens with the motivation of love; even inanimate, inconceivably heavy and immovable things will move and become nimble, will dance for love; even the mountains will become light and nimble and dance for love.

And then in line 30 he declares once and for all that All is the Beloved and the lover is but a veil, whose existence or ego is the barrier to achieve the Beloved, a veil to see the Beloved be one with the Beloved. That true life is with the Beloved and not being with the Beloved is not to be considered to be life.

A certain rhythm takes us over as we read his poetry, his passionate, yet sober appassionata of Love, one hears the rhythm of the Daf, the frame drum in the far distant background of the mind beating gently but surely to the rhythm he is gushing forth in Love.

Jomle maa'shoogh ast o ashegh parde'i                       

zende maashoog ast o aashegh morde'i (30)

chon nabashad eshgh ra parvaye oo                          

oo cho morghi manad bi par vaye oo (31)

He says in the next verse (32) how can i have any sense of being, how can I know where I am, what is behind me and what is in front of me, when my Companion's Light does not shine behind and in front? 

Man chegoone hoosh daram pisho pas                      

choon nabashad Noor e Yaram pish o pas (32)

Love is needed for these words to be uttered     

if the mirror is not polished, what good is it (33)

Here he mentions the highly important metaphor of the mirror for the first time. And he goes on to say:

Ayenat dani chera ghammaz nist?                      

zanke zangar az rokhash momtaz nist (34) !

Do you know why it is not polished to reflect [what is standing before it] ? Because rust has not been polished from the mirror's face. (34)