Discourses of Rumi

FIHI MA FIHI V 101are strictly obedient. For instance, if a group ofsoldiers follow the orders of their commander, hetoo cares for their welfare and is duty bound towork at securing it. But if they are not obedient,how can he be expected to look after their interests?The mind is the commander of the humanbody. So long as the parts of the body surrenderto it, all the body’s affairs proceed perfectly, butwhen they disobey, the whole natural orderbreaks down. Haven’t you seen when a man isdrunk, his hands and feet and tongue refuse toobey him? Then on the following day, when he issober again, he cries, “What have I done? Whydid I do and say such horrible things?”In the same way, a village works together inperfect order only when there is a leader that thevillagers follow.Just as the mind is commander in the midst ofthe body, so all the different beings who make uphumankind, together with their many minds,knowledge, speculation and learning, are thebody of humanity, and the saint is the mind in the