Two lovers had found a quiet corner in the rose garden early in the morning before the crowds appeared.
“My darling, you’ve traveled the world over and seen many beautiful cities and other incredible sites,” murmured the young girl to her loved one, hoping to challenge him. “Tell me honestly, which is your favorite city?”
“There could only be one place in the world, my love, and that’s right here! My garden of joy is to be by your side, even if we were in the middle of the driest desert! If I ever found myself at the bottom of a dark well but my love was next to me, I’d be in paradise! So the simple answer to your question is: the best city in the world is where one’s love is! And for me, it’s right here next to you.”
The embrace that followed his confession was the sweetest either had
ever tasted.
Source
Rumi, Jalal al-Din. The Book of Rumi: 105 Stories and Fables that Illumine, Delight, and Inform. Translated by Maryam Mafi, foreword by Narguess Farzad, Hampton Roads Publishing, 2018, p. 105.
Jalal al-Din Rumi, The Mathnawí of Jalálu’ddín Rúmí, Book III, vv. 3360–3420, trans. R. A. Nicholson (London: E. J. W. Gibb Memorial/Luzac, 1930).
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