Discourses of Rumi

FIHI MA FIHI V 159tion. If they have in them the natural quality notto do evil, whether you prevent them or not, theywill proceed according to their good temperamentand pure constitution. So rest assured, and don’tworry. If they are the opposite, they will still gotheir own way; trying to stop them in reality doesnothing but increase their eagerness.Someone said: “We heard some men saying,‘We saw Shams-i-Tabriz, we really saw him.’”Rumi said: Fools, where did they see him?Would you listen to someone who cannot see acamel on the roof of their own house, if theycome along and say, “I found a needle in the fieldand threaded it.” That is a fine story, like the personwho said, “Two things make me laugh—ablack person painting their nails black, and ablind person putting their head out of the window.”They are exactly like that. Blind inwardly,they put their heads out of the window of thephysical body. What can they see? What doestheir approval or disapproval amount to?First it is necessary to acquire inner sight. Thenone can see. But even with sight, how can one seewhat is hidden? In this world there are saints who