Not this not that (Mathnavi VI, 634)
Carosone
Lyrics by Rumi, 12th century Persian poet and founder of rotating Dervishi.
You cannot shun sunlight
no more than a suave rose survives
without its liquid beams
Plant your inner space
with seeds where feathers of flame
play gracefully.
There’s something higher we know
but you say not more, not this, not that:
I don’t know.
You are tied up in nots,
but beyond your cautious nots
you must see and say what really is
without not knowing.
(Mathnavi VI, 634).
You cannot shun sunlight
no more than a suave rose survives
without its liquid beams
Plant your inner space
with seeds where feathers of flame
play gracefully.
There’s something higher we know
but you say not more, not this, not that:
I don’t know.
You are tied up in nots,
but beyond your cautious nots
you must see and say what really is
without not knowing.
(Mathnavi VI, 634).