Discourses of Rumi

232 V DISCOURSES OF RUMIseparated from hated things. The desirable cannotexist without the hateful, since what we like isalways compared to what we hate, and the morewe think evil of one thing, the more we desire itsopposite. Joy is the end of sorrow; the end of sorrowwithout joy is impossible. So they are oneand indivisible.Until a thing passes away, its true meaning cannotbe known. No one’s life can be judged until itis finished, because what starts evil can turn outgood. And until words pass away into speech,who can know their purpose?Whoever criticizes a Sufi in reality does the Sufia good turn, for the Sufi shies away from praise.The Sufi is an enemy of vanity, hence whoeverspeaks evil of the Sufi’s ego, speaks evil of theSufi’s enemy, and therefore helps them. “Thingsbecome clear through their opposites.” So the Sufiknows the critic is not really their enemy, but theirfriend.I am like a smiling garden surrounded by awall of filth and thorns. Those passing by do notsee the garden; they see only the wall and ridiculeit. Why then would the garden be angry with