The Lover and the Beloved

Gerhard Richter "Candle"

Ramon Llull (1232-1315) was an eminent Majorcan writer, mystic and philosopher. It is a fragment from its "The Book of the Lover and the Beloved":

 24. The lover was asked where his beloved was. He replied:
- See him in a house that is more noble than any other created nobilities; and see him in my acts of love, and in my suffering and in my weepings.

25. They said to the lover: 
- Where do you go?
- I come from my beloved.
- Where do you come to?
- I go to my beloved.
- When will you be back?
- I will be with my beloved.
- How long will you be with your beloved for?
- As long as my thoughts will be with him.

26. The birds sang of the dawn, and the lover, who is the dawn, awoke. The birds ended their song, and the lover died in the dawn for his beloved.

27. The bird was singing in the garden of the beloved, when the lover came and said to the bird:
- If we don't understand each other by language, let us communicate with love; for to my eyes, my beloved is represented in your song.


28. The lover, who had worked hard to search for his beloved, felt sleep coming to him; and he feared he might forget his beloved. And he cried, so as not to fall asleep, and so that his beloved would not be absent to his consciousness.

29. The lover met his beloved, and he said:
- You need not speak to me; but make a signal with your eyes, which are words to my heart, when I give you what you ask me.

30. The lover disobeyed his beloved, and he wept. And the beloved came to die in the gown of his lover, to let him recover what he had lost; and he gave him yet a greater gift than the one he had lost.

31. The beloved brings love to the lover, and does not pity him for his sorrows, whence he may more strongly be loved and, in the greatest sorrow, find pleasure and renewal.

32. Said the lover:
- I am tormented by the secrets of my beloved, for they are revealed in my deeds, but they are kept secret in my mouth and they are not unraveled by the people.

33. The conditions for love are that the lover be long-suffering, patient, humble, fearful, diligent, trustful, and ready to confront great dangers to honor his beloved. And the conditions for the beloved are that he be truthful, generous, compassionate, and just to his lover.

35. - Tell me, bird who sings love to my beloved: Why does he torment me with love, when he has taken me as his servant?
The bird replied:
- If you endured no hardship for your love, what would you love your beloved with?

36. Deep in thought, the lover mused on the paths to his beloved, when he stumbled and fell among thorns, and the thorns seemed like flowers to him, and his bed seemed to be made of love.

37. The lover was asked if he would change his beloved for someone else. He answered saying:
And who could be better and more noble than supreme good, eternal, infinite in greatness, power, wisdom, love, perfection?

38. The lover was singing and weeping songs to his beloved, and he said that love is swifter in the courage of the lover than lightning is in glare, and thunder is in sound; and more lively is water in tears than in the waves of the sea; and closer to love are sighs than whiteness is to snow.

39. The lover was asked why his beloved is glorious. He answered:
- Because he is glory.
He was asked why he is powerful. He answered:
- Because he is power.
And why he is learned:
- Because he is learning.
And why he is kind:
- Because he is love.

Translated by Jordi Miralda Escudé