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From book 5 of The Mathnawi - Printable Version

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From book 5 of The Mathnawi - Lunoor - 09-21-2010

One of the marvels of the world isthe sight of a soul sitting in prison with the key in its hand!  Covered with dust,


with a cleansing waterfall inches away!  A young man
who rolls from side to side,


though the bed is comfortable and a pillow holds his head.
He has a living master, yet


he wants more, and there is more.  If a prisoner hadn't
lived outside, he would not


detest the dungeon.  Desiring knows there's satisfaction beyond this.  Straying maps


the path.  A secret freedom opens through a crevice you
can barely see.  Your love


of many things proves they're one.  Every separate stiff
trunk and stem in the garden


connects with nimble root hairs underground.  The awareness
a wine drinker wants cannot


be tasted in wine, but the failure brings deep thirst
closer.  So the heart keeps ignoring


the waterfall and the key, but there is one guiding through
all the desiring restlessness.


The old captains are blind to the young man's qualities.
They keep arguing their tired


arguments: how spiritual maturity arrives like leaflessness,
the lightness of winter trees


that comes with age.  Such predictable phrases breeze out of the old soldiers


who presume to advise Muhammad!  Don't use words in the
presence of the Friend.  When


you sit down with your beloved, tell the chaperone, the
word-woman who brought you


together, to leave.  Silence is better.
~Rumi


From book 5 of The Mathnawi - Guest - 08-21-2019