On Spiritual Perception

Selections from Rumi’s Mathnawi

Translations by Kabir & Camille Helminski

Vision of the World

Know, son, that everything in the universe

is a pitcher brimming with wisdom and beauty.

The universe is a drop of the Tigris of His Beauty,

this Beauty not contained by any skin.

His Beauty was a Hidden Treasure so full

it burst open and made the earth

more radiant than the heavens.

[I, 2860-2]

This world and that world are forever giving birth:

every cause is a mother; the effect born is as a child.

When the effect was born, it too became a cause

so that it might give birth to wondrous effects.

These causes follow generation upon generation,

but it takes a very well-illumined eye

to see all the links in the chain.

[II, 1000-2]

Let the skeptic know:

all that is absent in the world

is present to one who receives ideas from God.

To Mary, John the Baptist's mother would appear,

though she was far away from her.

You can see a friend even with your eyes shut,

when you've made the skin a window for spiritual ideas.

[II, 3612-4]

Polishing the Mirror

Someone with a clear and empty heart

mirrors images of the Invisible.

He becomes intuitive and certain

of our inmost thought,

because "the faithful are a mirror for the faithful."

[I, 3146-7]

Those with mirror-like hearts

do not depend on fragrance and color:

they behold Beauty in the moment.

They've cracked open the shell of knowledge

and raised the banner

of the eye of certainty.

Thought is gone in a flash of light.

[I, 3492-4]

Though the worlds are eighteen thousand and more,

not every eye can see them.

Every atom is indeed a place of the vision of God,

but so long as it is unopened,

who says, "There is a door"?

[I, 3756; 3766]

When the mirror of your heart becomes clear and pure,

you'll behold images which are outside this world.

You will see the image and the image-Maker,

both the carpet of the spiritual expanse

and the One who spreads it.

[II, 72-3]

The sufi's book is not of ink and letters;

it is nothing but a heart white as snow.

[II, 159]

One who sees without distortion, free of prejudice,

has light in the eyes.

Self-interest blinds you

and buries your knowledge in a grave.

Lack of prejudice makes ignorance wise;

its presence makes knowledge perverse.

Accept no bribe, and your sight is clear;

act selfishly, and you become blind and enslaved.

[II, 2550-3]

When the heart becomes whole,

it will know the flavors of falsehood and truth.

When Adam's greed for the forbidden fruit increased,

it robbed his heart of health.

Discernment flies

from one who is drunken with desire.

He who puts down that cup

lightens the inner eye,

and the secret is revealed.

[II, 2738-43]

Perceiving Oneness

The cause of narrow mindedness is multiplicity:

the senses are drawn in many directions.

Know that the world of unification lies beyond sense:

if you want unity, march in that direction.

[I, 3099]

The Sun, which is spirit,

became separated into rays through the windows

which are bodies.

When you gaze on the Sun's disk, it is one,

but one who is screened by his perception

of bodies is in some doubt.

Plurality is in the animal spirit;

the human spirit is one essence.

Inasmuch as God sprinkled his light upon them,

they are essentially one.

His light never really separated.

[II, 186-9]

Discerning

If you have a touchstone, go ahead, choose;

otherwise, go and devote yourself

to one who knows the differences.

Either you must have a touchstone

within your own soul,

or if you don't know the way,

find someone who does.

[II, 746-7]

When the ear is penetrating, it becomes an eye.

Otherwise, the word of God becomes entangled

in the ear and does not reach the heart.

(II 862]

If not for the faulty things in the world,

every fool would be a shrewd merchant.

Then it would be easy to know the value of goods.

[II, 2939-40]

When it comes to human essences,

the foundation of these buildings we build,

know there are differences.

Neither is one person's life like another,

nor is any death the same.

Never think anyone's grave is similar.

How indeed shall I describe the difference that exists

among souls in that other world?

Put your work to the touchstone as you work.

[II, 3022-5]

The Spiritual Faculties

Generosity, then, comes from the eye—

not from the hand—it's seeing that matters:

only one who sees is saved.

[II, 900]

The five spiritual senses are all connected.

They've grown from one root.

As one grows strong, the others strengthen, too:

each one becomes a cupbearer to the rest.

Seeing with the eye increases speech;

speech increases discernment in the eye.

As sight deepens, it awakens every sense,

so that perception of the spiritual

becomes familiar to them all.

[II, 3236-9]

When one sense grows into freedom,

all the other senses change as well.

When one sense perceives the hidden,

the invisible world becomes apparent to the whole.

[II, 3240-1]

When one sheep of the flock jumps over a stream,

they all jump across on each other's heels.

Drive the sheep, your senses, to pasture:

Let them feed on the pasture shown by

He who has brought forth the herbage,

that they may graze on hyacinth and wild-rose;

and be led to the green meadows of the Realities;

that every one of their senses

may become a prophet to the others,

and lead all senses into that paradise.

[II, 3242-5]

Only With God

Though you may learn wisdom by rote,

it leaves when you're unworthy to receive it.

But if you don't read and it sees your ardor of love,

Knowledge will be a docile bird, obedient to your hand.

[II, 318-21]

The world is full of remedies,

but you have no remedies until God

opens a window for you.

Though you are unaware of that remedy now,

God will make it clear

in the hour of need.

[II, 682-3]

The sensuous eye is a horse;

the light of God is the rider:

without the rider the horse is useless.

The light of God rides the body's eye.

The soul yearns for God.

God's light enhances the senses.

This is the meaning of Light upon Light.

[II, 1286, 1290-3]

Conventional knowledge is for sale;

when it finds a purchaser,

it glows with delight.

The purchaser of real knowledge is God:

its market is always splendid.

The owner of real knowledge has closed his lips

and is enraptured in his trading:

the buying is without end,

for God has purchased.

[II, 3265-7]

Conclusions

Spiritual life is awareness in the time of trial:

the more awareness you have,

the more spiritual life is yours.

Our spiritual life is more than animal spirit. How?

It has more awareness.

The spiritual life of angels is greater than ours;

it transcends common sense.

Yet the spiritual life of heart-gnostics is greater still.

Don't be bewildered by this.

[II, 3326-9]

We’re quite addicted to subtle discussions;

we're very fond of solving problems.

So that we may tie knots and then undo them,

we constantly make rules for posing the difficulty

and for answering the questions it raises.

We're like a bird which loosens a snare

and then ties it tighter again

in order to perfect its skill.

It deprives itself of open country;

it leaves behind the meadowland,

while its life is spent dealing with knots.

Even then the snare is not mastered,

but its wings are broken again and again.

Don't struggle with knots,

so your wings won't be broken.

Don't risk ruining your feathers

to display your proud efforts.

[II, 3733-8]