Rumi for a Tomcat

O Friend, I'd thought I had loved.

But you have shown me I had not been there.

You placed your old massive white paw on my chest at dawn,

and entered gently anew my heart.

I had not known what a cat means

until you came into my life.

Now my hand carresses your head and back,

you purr full of trust, gentle Jimmy, Jimal-uddin.

Come let us depart for the Garden of the Kitchen,

there to be fed your morning portion.

Let us arise and go there, o my Friend,

that I may afterward again feel you

settling your satisfied weight on my legs

where I lie, thinking of verses

for my cherished old boy.