The Balm

You are in possession
of the antidote to all your ills
Yet have not even
the slightest knowledge
of this simple fact.
Your suffering too
finds you as its source,
Yet you see not
how this is so.
You are caught
in the belief
your miniscule body
defines everything you are,
Yet verily,
the entire Universe
is compressed in you.
You are as easy to read
as a splayed volume
The letters
of which bring to light
the secret things.
You do not need
the exterior;
That which is written
in your heart
Tell you all
There is to know.

Hazrati Ali

From the commentary of
Abdul Baki Gülpnarli to the
Turkish edition of the
Mesnevi from Mevlana
Jelalu’ddin Rumi. Translated
from the Turkish by Said Zeren.