[Sunlight] "Your worst enemy"

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If your grasping ego had not waylaid you from within,
would bandits have any power to lay a hand on you?
Because of this demanding jailor, desire,
the heart is captive to greed, desire, and harm.
Because of that inner jailor, you've become a crazed thief
even more susceptible to that jailor's power.
Pay attention to the wise council of the Prophet:
"Your worst enemy is between your two sides."*

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Gar nah nafs az andarun râhet zadi
rah-zanân-râ bar to dasti kay bodi
Ze ân `avân-e moqtazi keh shahvatast
del asir-e hers o âz o âfatast
Ze ân `avân-e serr shodi dozd o tabâh
tâ `avânân-râ be-qahr-e tost râh
Dar khabar be-shenaw to in pand-e neku
Bayna janbaykum lakum a`dâ `adu*

*Hadith of Prophet Muhammad.

-- Mathnawi III: 4063-4066
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance"
Threshold Books, 1996
(Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra)

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[Sunlight] "Your worst enemy"