| The Gift: A Mirror |
| Divine Face of Jalalud-Din Rumi |
| Translation & Commentary by Seema Arif |
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| This website has been created and maintained by Seema Arif |
| Rumi tells us about the quality of the righteous: They keep looking for the source of right knowledge. They adorn themselves with the best of knowledge their resources can provide and use this knowledge to serve life. Click Here for Detail |
| The Epilogue |
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| How can one be so proud? Rumi tells us that even angels have not escaped this malady? (Click here for Detail) |
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| (1) Ajab is a spiritual malady caused by unbounded intellect. It is a pride related to supposed excellence or perfection of the worldly knowledge one possesses. It leads to challenge the sovereignity of God in the universe and control of God in one's life. The soul becomes neglectful, seeking worldly pleasure and enjoying worldly success instead of seeking divine mercy. |
| Contd...from the previous page..... |
Nothing is worse than considering oneself the master O' egocentric fool, it will lead you to disaster The blood of your heart may weep in your eyes You may get rid of 'ajab' arrogance in sweet cries (1) The problem with Satan was: I am the best Still this virus in each consciousness rest One may think of oneself as meek and modest Apparent is the clear water, hidden is the dust Just shake it a little bit for nasty surprise Dirty it shall become; the dung will rise All rivers are full of waste and dung from gutter Though running waters appear to be clean and clear The wise mentor knows the art of purification Cleaning the hearts like water for gardens A river may try but cannot clean all distension An alchemist only knows the art of distillation (2) A sword cannot craft a handle for itself Seek for thy wounds an appropriate physician Every wound is covered by thousand flies How deep is the cut nobody can realize These flies are your false hopes and ideas absent Thy wound is despair, your heart's resentment If the physician dresses your wound wisely You will be relieved of your pain nicely However, recovery of health do not reckon It is just the shadow of the divine compassion O with injured back, do not withdraw your attention Don't regard temporary relief a permanent solution |
| (2) Knowledge needs purification also; with bombardment of ideas it has also become impure and only the wisest know to distinguish right from wrong ideas. Wisdom is the ability to choose rightly. All information is neither science nor knowledge. It is like a river full of dung and we need sages like Rumi to teach us art to purify knowledge which would be useful for us in this life and with the rigor of this learning our heart is shaped into flawless diamond, self reflecting in itself, ready to present as a gift to the creator.
Neither choice of right knowledge is easy nor the choice of mentor is readily available.; We may have to look hard for it and strive at our best not only to learn but test our learning against rigor of adverse times and situations. |