Ma Piyumak Lesa Lyrics (මා පියුමක් ලෙස) by Unknown Artist

Like a lotus, you withered away at my feet,
like dust, you clung upon my feet,
like a drop of honey, you became sweetness to my lips,
like a drop of oil, you clung upon my hair

To our thick darkness, my Lord, you are the moon-lamp,
your face gives me relief, driving all my enemies away,
into the blood that runs in my body, you pour life,
even a sigh, where you are, becomes a joy to me

Like a gentle breeze, entering my body, you brought coolness,
on a cold night, you became a hearth for me,
Jesus, chanting your name, I sing my songs without ceasing,
keeping love overflowing, you alone are my friend

This is a hymn of intimate devotion, and it describes the presence of God through a cascade of small, sensuous, everyday images that add up to a picture of total nearness. The first verse is tender and a little mysterious, “like a lotus, you withered at my feet, like dust, you clung upon my feet, like a drop of honey, you became sweetness to my lips.” God is imagined as something close enough to touch and taste, the humblest, most intimate contact, honey on the lips, oil on the hair, dust on the feet. Divine love here is not distant grandeur but the closeness of ordinary things.

The middle verse names what that nearness does. “To our thick darkness, you are the moon-lamp,” the light in the night; “your face gives me relief, driving all my enemies away”; and, most beautifully, “into the blood that runs in my body, you pour life.” God is woven right into the singer’s living being, so that “even a sigh, where you are, becomes a joy.”

The final verse gathers the images of comfort, “like a gentle breeze you brought coolness,” “on a cold night you became a hearth for me,” warmth against the cold, relief against the heat. And it ends in the simplest, sweetest note of all: “chanting your name, I sing my songs without ceasing, keeping love overflowing, you alone are my friend.” What the listener is left with is the warmth of a God who is not far off but as close as honey on the lips and a fire on a cold night, the constant, intimate companion the heart calls, quite simply, its only friend.