Mevlâna Jalâluddîn Rumi
The World
This world is like a tree,
and we are the half-ripe fruit upon it.
Unripe fruit clings tight to the branch
because, immature, it’s not ready for the palace.
When fruits become ripe, sweet and juicy,
then biting their lips, they loosen their hold.
When the mouth has been sweetened by felicity,
the kingdom of the world loses its appeal.
To be tightly attached to the world signifies immaturity;
as long as you’re an embryo,
blood-drinking is your business.
[III, 1293-7]
When a man is busy in earnest,
he is unconscious of his pain.
I mention this insensibility to pain
so you may know how much the body resembles a garment.
Go, seek the one who wears it;
don’t kiss a piece of cloth.
[III, 1610]
Our body is our veil in the world:
we are like a sea hidden beneath a straw.
[IV, 823]
The saint’s greeting of peace has become God’s greeting,
because the saint has set fire to the household of self.
He has died to self and become living through the Lord,
so the mysteries of God flow from his lips.
The death of the body in self-discipline is life:
the sufferings of the body are the cause of everlastingness to the spirit.
[III, 3363-5]