In preparation to attend a Middle-East conference I immersed myself in something other than geo-politics for the sake of being able to shift the focus to something more aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable. Something that will appeal to my right brain and will be a wonderful diversion if things become politically tense. I love Rumi's poems and so as an amateur poet I have begun to study them in-depth and decided to share the most scholarly (and passionate) ones here. Enjoy!

~ Looking For Your Face ~ by Rumi

From the beginning of my life
I have been looking for your face
but today I have seen it

Today I have seen
the charm, the beauty,
the unfathomable grace
of the face
that I was looking for

Today I have found you
and those who laughed
and scorned me yesterday
are sorry that they were not looking
as I did

I am bewildered by the magnificence
of your beauty
and wish to see you
with a hundred eyes

My heart has burned with passion
and has searched forever
for this wondrous beauty
that I now behold

I am ashamed
to call this love human
and afraid of God
to call it divine

Your fragrant breath
like the morning breeze
has come to the stillness of the garden
You have breathed new life into me
I have become your sunshine
and also your shadow

My soul is screaming in ecstacy
Every fiber of my being
is in love with you

Your efflugence
has lit a fire in my heart
for me
the earth and sky

My arrow of love
has arrived at the target
I am in the house of mercy
and my heart
is a place of prayer

~Poem by Rumi; Translation by Farsi scholar Fereydoun Kia