“O flower gatherer!” says the rose,
“Tear me not away from my parent stem.
Through it flows the life-sap of the Infinite,
and I blossom, I glow, I perfume the universe.
All who come hither may drink joy
from the fragrance of my soul.
O flower gatherer! Why dost thou take me away,
to keep me all for thyself alone,
denied to all others?
Yes, it will be so — thou wilt have me all for thyself.
But only for less than the twinkling of an eye.
And I — my perfume, my beauty, my soul,
all that I am — shall die.”
(Bhai Vir Singh ji — translated by Prof. Puran Singh)
