Discourses of Rumi

discourse 18Someone said: “Ibn Muqri recites the Koran correctly.”Rumi said: Yes, he recites the form of theKoran correctly, but he has no knowledge of itsmeaning. This is proven by the fact that when heis questioned for its meaning, he cannot answer.He recites blindly. He is like a man who holds anold, tattered sable in his hand; he is offered anewer, finer sable, but he refuses it. So we can seethat he doesn’t know what sable really is.Someone told him that this is sable, and he blindlyaccepted it.It is like children playing with walnuts. Offerthem the nut itself, or the oil of the walnut, andthey will refuse it, saying, “The walnut is what wespin on the table. This doesn’t spin.” God’s treasuriesare many, and God’s sciences are many. Ifhe recites this Koran with knowledge, why doeshe reject the other eternal Koran?I once explained to a Koran-teacher: TheKoran says, “If the sea were ink for the Words of