Coal to DiamondMy flesh is so vile, I am less than dustwhile your brilliance out-blazes the mirror&r

Coal to DiamondMy flesh is so vile, I am less than dustwhile your brilliance out-blazes the mirror’s heart.My darkness defiles the chafing-dishbefore my cremation; a miner’s boottramples my cranium; I’m covered with ashes.Do you know my existence’s bleak essence?Condensations of smoke, black clouds stillbornfrom a single spark; while in feature and naturestarlike, your every facet’s a splendor,gleam of the King’s crown, the scepter’s jewel.“Please, friend, be wise,” the diamond replied,“assume a gemlike dignity! Carbon must harden,to fill one’s bosom with radiance. Burnbecause you are soft. Banish fear and grief.Be adamant as stone, be diamond.Allama Iqbāl, after Nietzscheloose translation by Michael R. Burch -- source link

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