The yearning of the true mystic for the Beloved is an ache that is deep and true. Three poets who caught this spirit in their poems and songs are Jelaluddin Rumi, the thirteenth-century Sufi seer; Hafiz, the most popular poet in the Persian world; and Lalla, a Kashmiri poet who was always ready to dance for the Holy One.
On this live performance, the inimitable Coleman Barks and a handful of musicians convey the God-intoxication of these frenzied souls caught up in the sweet pain of longing and the ecstatic joy of union with the Beloved. I was most moved hearing a new technique where a woman chants a line of a poem followed by Coleman's poetic reading of it. The fluidity comes across most poignantly in a selection by Lalla about dancing with nothing on but air.
Hearing the spiritual verse of these three mystics on the path of love will transport you into a state of devotional vibrancy. When Coleman Barks utters the words of Rumi, "Let the beauty we love be what we do," the meaning immediately comes to life.