"As you sow, so shall you reap"

Beware Don't say, "Mind you, so and so sowed seed,
and then the locusts devoured it;
why should I bother sowing with such a risk?
Why should I let go of this corn-seed in my hand?"
Meanwhile, to your bewilderment,
one who did sow and labor
fills his barn with grain.
Since the lover patiently continued knocking at the door,
at last one day he gained an intimate meeting.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hin ma-gu "Kinke folâni kesht kard
dar folân sâli malakh kestesh be-khvord
Pas cherâ kâram keh injâ khawf hast
man cherâ afshânam in gandom ze dast"
Vânke u na-gozâsht kesht o kâr-râ
por konad kuri-ye to anbâr-râ
Chon dari mi kuft u az salvati
`âqebat dar yâft ruzi khalvati

-- Mathnawi III: 4800-4803
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra)

The media:
http://tinyurl.com/y7fcwd

"As you sow, so shall you reap"