Rumi - What Is The Root of Love?

A certain lover in the presence of his beloved 

was recounting his services and works,
Saying, “For thy sake I did such and such, 

in this war I suffered (wounds from) arrows and spears. 

Wealth is gone and strength is gone and fame is gone: 

on account of my love for thee many a misfortune has befallen me. 

No dawn found me asleep or laughing; no eve found me with capital and means.”

What he had tasted of bitters and dregs 

he was recounting to her in detail, point by point, 

Not for the sake of reproach; nay, 

he was displaying a hundred testimonies of the trueness of his love.
For men of reason a single indication is enough, 

(but) how should the thirst (longing) of lovers be removed thereby?
He (the lover) repeats his tale unweariedly: 

how should a fish be satisfied with (mere) indication (so as to refrain) from the limpid water?
He (the lover), from that ancient grief, 

was speaking a hundred words in complaint, saying, “I have not spoken a word.”
There was a fire in him: 

he did not know what it was, but on account of its heat he was weeping like a candle.

The beloved said, “Thou hast done all this, yet open thine ear wide and apprehend well; 

For thou hast not done what is the root of the root of love and fealty: 

this that thou hast done is (only) the branches.”

The lover said to her, “Tell me, what is that root?”
She said, “The root thereof is to die and be naught.

The Masnawi - Volume 5 - 1245