Discourses of Rumi

238 V DISCOURSES OF RUMIGod bestows on the saints a great and mightycapacity to endure. Out of a hundred wrong acts,they mention one, so that it will not becomedifficult to overcome. The other mistakes theyhide and even praise, saying, “That wrong ofyours is right,” so that little by little they canovercome this ignorance.It is the same when a teacher is teaching a childhow to write. When the child writes their firstwhole line, the child runs to show it to theteacher. In the teacher’s eyes it is filled with mistakes,but the teacher speaks to the child kindlyand encourages them, “That is excellent. Youhave written well. Bravo, bravo! Only this letter isnot quite right, this is how it should be. And thisother letter looks like this.” The teacher calls afew letters wrong out of that line, and shows thechild how they ought to be written. The rest ispraised, so the child will not lose heart. Thechild’s weakness gathers strength from thatapproval, and so gradually they are taught andassisted on their way.We hope that God will grant the Amir all thedesigns of his heart. We hope God will also grant