Discourses of Rumi

FIHI MA FIHI V 105sions the cat it destroys the lion, as the gnatdestroyed Nimrod. In short, when we realize thatall things are of God, all things become one andthe same in our eyes.I hope, too, that you will hear these wordswithin your hearts, for that would be profitable.But if a thousand thieves come from outside, theycannot open the door without some fellow-thiefinside who can unlock that door. Speak a thousandwords from the outside, still, so long as thereis none to answer from within, the door neveropens. So too with a tree—as long as there is nomoist thirst in its roots, even if you poured athousand torrents of water over it, it wouldaccomplish nothing. First there must be a thirst inits roots for the water to nourish it. Although thewhole world is ablaze with the sun’s light, unlessthere is that spark of light within the eye, no onecan behold that light. The root of the matter is thereceptiveness within Soul.Soul is one thing and spirit is another. Don’tyou see during sleep how Soul travels abroad?Spirit remains in the body, keeping it alive, butSoul wanders and is transformed. WhenMohammed said, “He who knows his own self