Discourses of Rumi

88 V DISCOURSES OF RUMIA prince orders a tent to be stitched. One persontwists the rope, another strikes the pegs,another weaves the cloth, another stitches, anotherrends, another uses a needle. Though to outwardappearance they are diverse and different, ininner purpose they are united and performing asingle task.So it is with the affairs of this world. When youlook at it carefully, all are doing God’s service;reprobate and righteous, sinner and disciple, deviland angel. For example, the king wants to testand try his slaves so the steadfast can be sortedfrom the weak-hearted, the loyal from the traitor,the faithful from the fake. If he did not havetempters and provokers, how could he test hisslaves’ loyalty? So, the tempters and provokersare serving the king, since it is by the king’s willthat they act. He sends a wind to show the differencebetween the stable and the unstable, to separatethe gnat from the sparrow-hawk, so thegnat will vanish and the sparrow-hawk remain.A certain king ordered a slavegirl to adorn herselfand offer herself to his slaves, so their loyaltycould be revealed. Though the girl’s action