One Song

by Sheikh Jalaluddin Rumi

Every war and every conflict between human beings 
has happened because of some disagreement about names.

It is such an unnecessary foolishness, 
because just beyond the arguing 
there is a long table of companionship 
set and waiting for us to sit down. 

What is praised is one, so the praise is one too, 
many jugs being poured into a huge basin. 
All religions, all this singing, one song.
The differences are just illusion and vanity. 

Sunlight looks a little different on this wall 
than it does on that wall 
and a lot different on this other one, 
but it is still one light. 

We have borrowed these clothes, 
these time-and-space personalities, 
from a light, and when we praise, 
we are pouring them back in.