The Persian Mystics: Jalálu'd-dín Rúmí

Rumi · en
A woman bore many children in succession, but none of
      them lived beyond the age of three or four months. In
      great distress she cried to God, and then beheld in
      a vision the beautiful gardens of Paradise, and many
      fair mansions therein, and upon one of these mansions
      she read her own name inscribed. And a voice from
      heaven informed her that God would accept the sorrows
      she had endured in lieu of her blood shed in holy
      war, as, owing to her sex, she was unable to go out
      to battle like the men. On looking again, the woman
      beheld in Paradise all the children she had lost, and
      she cried, "O Lord! they were lost to me, but safe
      with Thee!"



    THE OPTIMISTIC ROSE

    In this tale there is a warning for thee, O Soul,
    That thou mayest acquiesce in God's ordinances,
    And be wary and not doubt God's benevolence,
    When sudden misfortune befalls thee.
    Let others grow pale from fear of ill fortune,
    Do thou smile like the rose at loss and gain;
    For the rose, though its petals be torn asunder,
    Still smiles on, and it is never cast down.




    THE TRUE MOSQUE

    Fools laud and magnify the mosque,
    While they strive to oppress holy men of heart.
    But the former is mere form, the latter spirit and truth.
    The only true mosque is that in the hearts of saints.
    The mosque that is built in the hearts of the saints
    Is the place of worship of all, for God dwells there.
    So long as the hearts of the saints are not afflicted.
    God never destroys the nation.




    "IGNORANCE"

    Blood is impure, yet its stain is removed by water;
    But that impurity of ignorance is more lasting,
    Seeing that without the blessed water of God
    It is not banished from the man who is subject to it.
    O that thou wouldst turn thy face to thy own prayers,
    And say, "Ah! my prayers are as defective as my being;
    O requite me good for evil!"




    A PRAYER

    "Pray in this wise and allay your difficulties:
    'Give us good in the house of our present world,
    And give us good in the house of our next world.
    Make our path pleasant as a garden,
    And be Thou, O Holy One, our goal!'"




    ALL RELIGIONS ARE ONE

    In the adorations and benedictions of righteous men
    The praises of all the prophets are kneaded together.
    All their praises are mingled into one stream,
    All the vessels are emptied into one ewer.
    Because He that is praised is, in fact, only One.
    In this respect all religions are only one religion.
    Because all praises are directed towards God's Light,
    These various forms and figures are borrowed from it.



[Footnote 1: The night of his marriage with Safiyya.]

[Footnote 2: See _Rubáiyát_ of Omar Khayyám, translated by Edward
FitzGerald, second edition, quatrain lxx.]

[Footnote 3: "Form" here is used rather as soul, the love behind
the decaying body.]