"Become like the sky"

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Whatever is steeped in grape juice will acquire the flavor
of the grape.
Whether it be carrots or apples or quinces and walnuts,
you will taste in them the delicious flavor of the grape.
When your knowledge is steeped in the light of faith,
then wayward people will receive light from it.
Whatever you say will be luminous,
for the sky never rains anything but pure water.
Become like the sky. Become like the cloud and shed rain:
the spout rains, too, but it can't produce the rain.
The water in the spout is borrowed;
the water in the cloud and sea is original.
Your thought and reasoning resemble the spout;
inspiration and revelation are like the cloud and the sky.
The rain water engenders all the colors of the garden,
while the spout causes quarrels with your neighbors.

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Har cheh dar dushâb jushideh shavad
dar `aqideh ta`m-e dushâbesh bovad
Az gazar o ze sib o beh o ze gerdgân
lazzat-e dushâb yâbi to az ân
`Elm andar nur chon farghardeh shod
pas ze `elmet nur yâbad qawm-e ladd
Har cheh guyi bâshad ân ham nur-nâk
k-âsmân hargez na-bârad ghayr-e pâk
Âsmân shaw abr shaw bârân be-bâr
nâvdân bâresh konad na-bud be-kâr
Âb andar nâvdân `âriyatist
âb andar abr o daryâ fetratist
Fekr o andisheh-st masal-e nâvdân
vahy o makshufast abr o âsmân
Âb-e bârân bâgh-e sad rang âvord
nâvdân hamsâyeh dar jang âvord

-- Mathnawi V:2486-2493
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra)

The media:

http://tinyurl.com/2c8kes

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"Become like the sky"