Discourses of Rumi

142 V DISCOURSES OF RUMIand exhausting all their powers and means, theyfall into despair. Then God says to them: “Youthought you could achieve this goal through yourown power, action and work. This is the law Ihave laid down: Whatever you possess, spend it inOur name. Then Our grace will supervene.“You must journey upon this infinite road withthe feeble hands and feet that you possess. Weknow well that with feet so feeble you can neveraccomplish this journey. Indeed, in a hundredthousand years you will not be able to accomplisha single stage of this journey. But even as you collapseand fall, with no strength left to struggle farther,then Our loving breath will carry you on.Even a child, so long as it is a suckling, is carriedin the arms, but when it is grown it is set free towalk. Now in this hour when your powers haveleft you, when your own means fail, behold Ourgraces, Our gifts and Our love. You will not witnesseven an atom of such blessings after a hundredthousand strivings.”I do not love or bow down to the Amir onaccount of worldly considerations, for his rank,learning or achievements. Others love him for