[Sunlight] "That very delay is an aid"

~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God said, "It is not because he is despicable
that I delay My gift to him: That very delay is an aid.
His need brought him from heedlessness to Me,
pulling him by the hair to My lane.
Were I to satisfy his need, he would go back
and immerse himself in that game.
Although he laments to the bottom of his soul:
'Oh Thou whose protection is sought!' - let him weep with
broken heart and wounded breast.
For I am pleased by his voice, his saying, 'Oh
God!' and his secret prayers. . . ."
People cage parrots and nightingales to hear the
sound of their sweet songs.
But how should they put crows and owls into
cages? Who indeed has heard tale of that? . . .
Know for certain that this is the reason the
believers suffer disappointment in good and evil.

-- Mathnawi, VI: 4222-26, 28-29, 37
Translation by William C. Chittick
The Sufi Path of Love - The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi
State University of New York Press, Albany, 1983

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~

------------------------------------

Archive for Sunlight can be accessed at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight /messages
To subscribe, please send an email to : sunlight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to: sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sunlight/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
Sunlight-digest@yahoogroups.com
Sunlight-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Sunlight-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[Sunlight] "That very delay is an aid"