Discourses of Rumi

246 V DISCOURSES OF RUMIin graces and miracles. Do you not see how therod held in Moses’ hand did not remain as it was?So, too, with the Moaning Pillar and the Stick inthe hand of the Prophet, and prayer in the mouthof Moses, and iron in David’s hand—they did notremain in their original form, but were changed.So, too, with subtleties and sacred words, whenthey fall into the hand of darkness and brute intellect,they are changed as well.The Kaaba is a tavern for your prayers.So long as it comes from you, your essence shares.The unbeliever eats in seven stomachs, andJalal al-Tibrizi eats in seventy stomachs. Even ifhe has only one stomach, still he eats in seventystomachs, because everything that is hateful ishateful just as everything from the beloved isbeloved. If our friend had returned, I would havesat with him and counseled him, and not left untilhe drove Jalal far away. For Jalal is a corrupter ofour friend’s faith, heart, spirit and reason. If onlyJalal had induced our friend to corrupt practicesother than religion, such as drinking wine andsinging girls—for those can be put right whentreated by a Sheikh of Divine Grace. But Jalal