{
 "id": "ameen-rihani/a-chant-of-mystics",
 "title": "A Chant of Mystics",
 "ordinal": null,
 "subtitle": null,
 "poet": "Ameen Rihani",
 "poet_slug": "ameen-rihani",
 "language": "en",
 "book": "A Chant of Mystics and Other Poems",
 "book_slug": "a-chant-of-mystics-and-other-poems",
 "book_kind": "volume",
 "sequence": null,
 "container": null,
 "epigraph": null,
 "first_published": {
  "year": 1921,
  "venue": "A Chant of Mystics and Other Poems (1921)",
  "note": "First located printing is this volume; an earlier periodical printing has not been established.",
  "uncertain": false,
  "sources": [
   "https://archive.org/details/chantofmysticsot00riha"
  ]
 },
 "source": {
  "kind": "standard-ebooks",
  "repo": "standardebooks/ameen-rihani_poetry",
  "file": "poetry.xhtml",
  "upstream": [
   "https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Myrtle_and_Myrrh",
   "https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Chant_of_Mystics_and_Other_Poems",
   "https://archive.org/details/myrtlemyrrhpoems00riha",
   "https://archive.org/details/chantofmysticsot00riha"
  ],
  "rights": "public domain (SE dedication; underlying text pre-1931)"
 },
 "verification": {
  "level": "structural-only",
  "last_checked": "2026-08-20"
 },
 "stats": {
  "n_lines": 405,
  "n_stanzas": 63,
  "n_parts": 0,
  "longest_line_chars": 73,
  "max_indent": 9
 },
 "site_ready": true,
 "parts": [],
 "stanzas": [
  [
   {
    "text": "From the Mist of Arcana we rise,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Through the Universe of Secrets we come,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And we enter the Tavern as Lovers,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Whose features are pale as the false dawn,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Whose statures are lean as the new moon.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Like unto a jar is the body,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the soul in the jar",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Is the silvery voice of the Fountain,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Is the rose-scented breath of the Mountain,",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "For your sake we have come",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "In the shape of a jar from the Sea;",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "For your sake we have come as Disgrace,",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "But glory incarnate are we.",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "For the sake of the world we dance",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "O’er the flame, on the point of the lance.",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "O, think us not mortal, for we",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Are the light on the foam of the sea.",
    "indent": 4
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Of a truth, we are kin to the sun,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The infinite source of all splendors;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "We are one",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "With the world’s riddles and wonders.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But not of the world nor the sun is the breath",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "That lingers awhile in the regions of Death.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The dust on our sandals betrays us, we know⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "We have travelled afar our devotion to show",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To him who is waiting for us at the gate",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Of the Garden of Union our longing to sate.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "We shall interpret the Truth,",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "We shall the Secret unveil;",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "For naked we come, like the dew,",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "Like the zephyr, we come, and the gale:",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Naked, through thorn-bush and grass,",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "We speak and we pass.",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Our garments were burned in the fire of the Mind,",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "In the world where the Deaf still dispute with the Blind.",
    "indent": 2
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "We are the Truth,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And into the world",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "From the Universe of Secrets we’re hurled.",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "We are are the Truth,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And into the skies",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "From the Mists of Arcana we rise.",
    "indent": 2
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "In the light of the day, in the stars of the night we behold",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The face of the Master, the feet of the Pilgrim of old;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In the sigh of the wind and the voice of the thunder we hear",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The plaint of the bard and the rhapsodic chant of the seer.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Without them, alas, we are dumb,",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "Though not deaf to the flute and the drum.",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "But the vision is true,",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "Allahu, Allahu!",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "They are garbed in blue,",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "Allahu, Allahu!",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "They are drenched with dew,",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "Allahu, Allahu!",
    "indent": 4
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Hail, Sana’i the Moon of the Soul,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The Guide and the Road to the goal.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Hail, Attar the Vezier of Birds,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Who sing in his musk-scented words.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Hail, Arabi, the Tongue of the Truth,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The Eye of the Prophet, in sooth.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Hail, Rabi’a, the Heart of the Sphere,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Beloved of the bard and the seer;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The Rosebud that rises to greet",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The splendor beneath Allah’s feet.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Hail, Gazzali, the Weaver of Light,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The maker of wings for the flight.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Hail, Hallaj, the Diver divine,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Whose pearls decorate every shrine,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Whose blood was the pledge that his words,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "I am Truth, shall fore’er be a sign.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To Jelal’ud-Din Rumi, all hail!",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The Master who flung every veil",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To the wind, who ne’er sober was seen,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Though ne’er to the tavern had been;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But ever⁠—and often alone⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Was dancing before Allah’s throne.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Hail, Tabrizi, who nourished the Bard",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "With jasmine and myrtle and nard;⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Who loafed and invited his soul",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And would not write a word in his Scroll.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Hail, Fared, the love-stricken one,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The heart of the rhapsodic Sun;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The soul of the Vineyard, the Press",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "That knew every vineyard’s caress:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The host of the Tavern divine⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The Saki, the Cup, and the Wine.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "The vision is true,",
    "indent": 6
   },
   {
    "text": "Allahu, Allahu!",
    "indent": 7
   },
   {
    "text": "They are garbed in blue,",
    "indent": 6
   },
   {
    "text": "Allahu, Allahu.",
    "indent": 7
   },
   {
    "text": "They are drenched with dew,",
    "indent": 6
   },
   {
    "text": "Allahu, Allahu!",
    "indent": 7
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "And casting the years from their folds and the shame",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "From their bosoms, they leap in the circle of flame;",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "They leap, with a flash of their limbs, to the dance",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "In the tender caress of the Beautiful’s glance.",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "For only in rapture the face of Belovéd is seen",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Through the mask of the spheres and the veils of existence terrene;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And only the slaves of Devotion and Love have the feet",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "That dare to approach the enravishing glow of the Screen.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Yea, hither we come as the flame of his rapturous fire,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And to the music of rebec and flute, in the dance, we expire.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Yea, Man is as near the Belovéd",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "As far from the world he may be;",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "He is full of the beauty of Allah",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "As he’s void of the Thou and the Me.",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "Life and the world we abandon",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "That the Life of the world we may see.",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "O, come to the assembly of Lovers",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "In the shade of the Tuba tree.",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "O, come to the Banquet of Union",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "And taste of the ecstasy.",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "O, come to the Tavern where nectar",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "And wine are a-flow as the sea.",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "For only the drunken are sober,",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "And only the fettered are free.",
    "indent": 2
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Like the waves of the ocean we rise and we melt into foam",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "That the Moon’s caravan might carry us back to our home.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Likes the motes in the sun-beam we dance in the dawn’s disarray",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "That the sun might preserve us awhile from dust and decay;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But the atoms of being, the motes in the Sun of his Love,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Are aflame with desire to be where no night is nor day.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Like a child in the cradle whose mother must rock it to sleep,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "We rock to and fro that the child of our heart might be still;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Like the lonely palm, when the whirlwinds over it sweep,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "We sigh and we chafe in our chains, and we bow to his will.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Like the bird in the cage who pecks at his sugar and sings,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So we, in the Cage of the world, to quiet our wings.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But the vulgar will say that the dance of the palm ’s to the wind,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the bird to the sugar is singing⁠—Alas! for the blind!",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "We come for their sake in the shape of a jar from the Sea;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "We are filled with the water that heals; and though sealed, we are free.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Nor Crescent nor Cross we adore;",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "Nor Budha nor Christ we implore;",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "Nor Muslem nor Jew we abhor:",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "We are free.",
    "indent": 5
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "We are not of Iran or of Ind,",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "We are not of Arabia or Sind:",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "We are free.",
    "indent": 5
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "We are not of the East or the West;",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "No boundaries exist in our breast:",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "We are free.",
    "indent": 5
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "We are not made of dust or of dew;",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "We are not of the earth or the blue:",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "We are free.",
    "indent": 5
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "We are not wrought of fire or of foam;",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "Nor the sun nor the sea is our home;",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "Nor the angel our kin nor the gnome:",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "We are free.",
    "indent": 5
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Yea, beyond all the moons and the suns and the stars, in a place",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Where no shadow of horizon is, nor of darkness a trace,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Where the Garden of God is a-bloom on Love’s radiant strand,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "There is our temple, our home, and our own native land.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Yea, body and soul to the world and the sun do we give,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And in the First Soul⁠—the Soul of Belovéd⁠—eternally live.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Awake, O ye Pilgrims, awake!",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "O Lovers, arise and prepare!",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "The drum of departure we hear;",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "The Driver is come for the fare.",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "The camels are ready; their bells",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "Are decking with silver the air.",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "Awake, O ye Pilgrims, awake!",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "O Lovers, arise and prepare!",
    "indent": 3
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "The nightingale sings on the branch",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "To wake up the blossoms; the creek",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "Whispers a word to the fern,",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "Who follows, his favor to seek;",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "The tulip is begging to go",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "With the zephyr who kisses her cheek;",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "The face of the Mist is a-glow,",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "For Dawn mounts the Minaret to speak:",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "Open the road is, and safe;",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "No gates and no sentries are there;",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "Awake, O ye Pilgrims, awake!",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "O Lovers, arise and prepare!",
    "indent": 3
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Each moment a spirit is sent",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "With a message of mystery sealed;",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "Each moment a spirit goes forth",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "That the mystery might be revealed.",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "And whenever the Dawn opes his eyes,",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "A blind one on the wayfare is healed;",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "Whenever a Lover appears,",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "The Night drops her star-studded shield;",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "Whenever a Lover is slain,",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "Blooms a flower in the world’s barley field.",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "And always the pangs of departure",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "Are wrought into torches that flare.",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "Awake, O ye Pilgrims, awake!",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "O Lovers, arise and prepare.",
    "indent": 3
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Ere the saki was born, ere the vineyard existed,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The cup, bright and brimful, enchanted our eyne;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Ere the tavern was built, we revelled and trysted",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "With the loved One and drank to his beauty divine.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "We drink till we wander away from Self and Desire⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "We drink till in drunkenness we, on his bosom, expire.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "We have known long ago all the raptures of madness;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "All the raptures of burning from childhood we know;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "In our soul is the soul of the Mother of gladness;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In our heart is the heart of the Father of woe.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Transported and smitten, we wander with ne’er a complaint;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Our story entrances the sinner, enraptures the saint.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Transported and smitten and drunk, we are thought to be mad;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Self-abandoned, unity-seeking, we’re the puzzle of fools;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "For the madman’s madness is varied in art, and the sad",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Piety-monger tickles his heart while he drools.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "O, mind not the strings of our robe, they were loosed in the revel;⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "They snapped when we drank with the saint and danced with the devil.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "There is nothing that we would conceal in the seeking;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Our love is the sun and our passion its flame;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "To dance-hall or tavern, we come not a-sneaking;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For the right and the wrong of the world are the same.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "And if you are a seeker, the blood of Hypocrisy shed;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Nor be trammeled by Shame⁠—take a poniard and cut off her head.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "For your sake we have come",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "In the shape of a jar from the Sea;",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "For your sake we have come as Disgrace.",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "But glory incarnate are we.",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "O think us not mortal, for we",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Are the light on the foam of the sea.",
    "indent": 4
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Still higher our rank, though we come",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "With the flute and the drum.",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "In the veils of the world do we come",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "With the flute and the drum.",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "As vigilant warders we come",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "With the flute and the drum.",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "To call you to the Tavern we come",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "With the flute and the drum.",
    "indent": 3
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Perchance in our sleep we become unaware",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Of the circumstance strange of our birth;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Perchance a hair",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Divides the heaven and the earth.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "But whether two worlds or a hundred, the loved One is all;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Only One do we seek, only One do we know,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Only One do we hear, do we see, do we call.",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "We come as the heroes and slaves of the Mighty, the Dear;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "We come as the mind and the soul of the violet Sphere.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "What place have your meat and your bread",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "Where we were first born, and first fed",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "Through our eye and our ear?",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "And now, without eyes we can see,",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "Without tongues we can speak,",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "Without ears we can hear.",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "And when the clouds and the storms of the Mind",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "Darken and shut out the skies,",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "We kindle the torch of the Heart,",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "Which we give to the mighty and wise.",
    "indent": 3
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "For the heart is the bird of a world made holy by song;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "’T is the love-lorn and love-guided bulbul the owls among.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And when it wings all exultant its way over mountain and moor,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "It dreads nor the depths nor the heights nor the transcending lure.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "The heart is a treasure of gold in the dust-pit of things;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "’T is the rebec of love and of love forever it sings;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "’T is the pearl in the sea and the phare on the shore of the Mind;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "’T is the ear of the deaf and the all-seeing eye of the blind.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "The heart is the maker of dreams, the alembic of power:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "’T is the gate to all beauty, the key to the ivory tower;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "’T is the crown of the Budha, the Christ, ’t is the sword of the Prophet;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "’T the flame in the temple of faith, and of reason, the flower.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "The heart is the last star that leaves in the wake of the Night,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the first star that ushers Aurora’s pageant of light;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "’T is the first and the last ray of hope, the salvation of man;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "’T is our guide and our standard⁠—the leader of our caravan.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Hearken! the voice of our leader",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "In the dawn’s stillness and glow:",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Allahu, Allahu! We’re ready!",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Sight-seeing with us, who will go?",
    "indent": 5
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "The hour of departure is come,",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "The caravan ’s moving. Woh ho!",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "We are bound for a country of wonder,",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Sight-seeing with us, who will go?",
    "indent": 5
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Wherever we stop on the way",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Is a feast for the heart, and a show;",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Everywhere, too, is a tavern,",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Sight-seeing with us, who will go?",
    "indent": 5
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "He who has led us thus far",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Will lead us still further, we know:",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "He opens to us every gate⁠—",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Sight-seeing with us, who will go?",
    "indent": 5
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "He is the magnet and we",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Are but pieces of steel: woh ho!",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Earthward the Magnet is moving!⁠—",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Sight-seeing with us, who will go?",
    "indent": 5
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Sweet scents from the curl of his tresses",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Are a-float on the breezes that blow",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "From the radiant peaks of the world:⁠—",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Sight-seeing with us, who will go?",
    "indent": 5
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "As we fix our amorous gaze",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Upon him more amorous we grow:",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "He moves in a soul-witching maze:⁠—",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Sight-seeing with us, who will go?",
    "indent": 5
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Come! but come empty of purse and empty of hand;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Who travel with us shall not hunger or thirst, nor shall need;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "For the stores of the Master are open in every land,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And his Stewards, the Earth and the Sun, his wishes exceed.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "He is our need,",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Our staff and our creed;",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Of our hope and despair,",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "He’s the Sun and the Seed.",
    "indent": 4
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Come, but come empty of heart and empty of mind;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Who travel with us shall not carry a thought or a care;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "For they who all things abandon, everything find,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And they who are drawn to the loved One, escape every snare.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "He is our care,",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Our goal and our snare;",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Of our grief and our joy,",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "The bequeather and heir.",
    "indent": 4
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Grape-juice must ferment in the jar,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Ere it turns into wine;",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "So the heart, in the jar of Desire,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To sparkle and shine.",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "Like the face of the mirror that ’s clear",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Of image and form,",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "So the heart must be free e’en of shadows",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To reflect the divine.",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "O Brothers, our words are the petals",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Of the rose that eternally blooms",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "In the thornless rose-bush of the Soul,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Which his image assumes.",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "O Brothers, our word is the truth,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Our standard the guide;",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "No Sufis are speaking, but he",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In whom all things abide.",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "Yea, his parrots are we, sugar-chewing",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And repeating his words evermore,",
    "indent": 3
   },
   {
    "text": "While the habitants rude of the world",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Camel-like thistles devour.",
    "indent": 3
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Sugar-chewing we come for your sake;",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Awake, O ye Pilgrims, awake!",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "The cypress that once graced the grove,",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Is a-float on the river of Love.",
    "indent": 5
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "O Lovers, the Veil of the Secret he rends,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And like light drops of water, he gently descends.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "He walks on the face of the turbulent sea,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Driving before him the waves to their lee;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Like a shepherd he calls, and his flock turned to foam,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Scurries and scampers, impatient for home.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A moment, alas! When his face is revealed,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "All the wounds of the world are miraculously healed.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A moment, alas! When his light disappears,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The world is submerged in an ocean of tears.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "We are the light that is spun",
    "indent": 6
   },
   {
    "text": "For the firefly and the sun;",
    "indent": 6
   },
   {
    "text": "We are the thread in the pearls",
    "indent": 6
   },
   {
    "text": "Of the sea and the tear.",
    "indent": 6
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Make use of our pearls, and our foam, and our fire;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For your sake we have come as Disgrace from the Sea;⁠—",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "For your sake we have come in the flesh of Desire,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But glory and beauty incarnate are we.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "We are the flowers in his Garden, the lights in his Hall,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The sign on his Portal, but he, he is all⁠—he is all!",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "The banquet, the host, and the guest⁠—",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "The seeker, the sought, and the quest⁠—",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "All three,",
    "indent": 6
   },
   {
    "text": "Is he.",
    "indent": 6
   },
   {
    "text": "The given, the taker, the giver⁠—",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Love, the beloved, the lover⁠—",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "All three,",
    "indent": 6
   },
   {
    "text": "Is he.",
    "indent": 6
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "And we, to rejoin him, like torrents, escape through the hills;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "No fetters, no walls can restrain us, no welfare, no ills.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Hope is sighing,",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Faith is crying,",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Creeds are dying⁠—",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Allah, Allah!",
    "indent": 9
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "A clap of thunder",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Rents asunder",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Man’s little Wonder⁠—",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Allah, Allah!",
    "indent": 9
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Idols tumble",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "In a jumble,",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Temples crumble⁠—",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Allah, Allah!",
    "indent": 9
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Flames are sweeping;",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Priests are reaping;",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Kings are weeping⁠—",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Allah, Allah!",
    "indent": 9
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Ashes cumber",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Flame and ember,",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Who remember⁠—",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Allah, Allah!",
    "indent": 9
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Night is crawling,",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Stars are falling,",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Souls are calling⁠—",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Allah, Allah!",
    "indent": 9
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Orbs are winging,",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Fire-bringing,",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "And of him singing⁠—",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Allah, Allah!",
    "indent": 9
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Clove and nard, in",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "His first garden.",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Wait his pardon⁠—",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Allah, Allah!",
    "indent": 9
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Every flower",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "In his bower",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Is Love’s dower⁠—",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Allah, Allah!",
    "indent": 9
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "His compassion",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "And his passion",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Are our fashion⁠—",
    "indent": 8
   },
   {
    "text": "Allah, Allah!",
    "indent": 9
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Whirl, whirl, whirl,",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Till the world is the size of a pearl.",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Dance, dance, dance,",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Till the world ’s like the point of a lance.",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Soar, soar, soar,",
    "indent": 4
   },
   {
    "text": "Till the world is no more.",
    "indent": 4
   }
  ]
 ]
}