Three passions have governed my life
The longings for love, the search for knowledge,
Unbearable pity for the suffering of humankind
Love brings ecstasy
and relieves loneliness.
In the union of love I have seen.
In a mystic miniature the prefiguring vision
Of the heavens that saints and poets have imagined.
With equal passion I have sought knowledge.
I have wished to
understand the hearts of people.
I have wished to know why the stars shine...
Love and Knowledge
lead me upwards to the heavens,
But always pity
brought me back to earth.
Cries of pain
reverberated in my heart
Of children in famine, of victims tortured
And of old people left helpless.
I long to alleviate evil, but I cannot,
And I too suffer.
This has been my life; I found it worth living....
