Discourses of Rumi

FIHI MA FIHI V 247filled our friend’s house with prayer rugs—wouldthat Jalal were rolled up in them and burned, sothat our friend might escape from such misleading!But Jalal has poisoned our friend’s trust in theSheikh of God, ridiculing the Sheikh to his face,while our friend says nothing and destroys himself.Jalal has snared our friend with rosaries, litaniesand prayer carpets.Perhaps one day God will open the eyes of ourfriend, and he will see what ruined him and drovehim far away from the compassion of the Sheikhof God. Then he will strike himself with his ownhand, saying, “You destroyed me. Now I havecommitted these heavy crimes and evil acts. It isexactly the way they saw it in their revelations—the foulness of my deeds, and my vile and sinfulbeliefs, were hidden behind my own back in thecorner of my house. I, myself, was concealingthem from the Sheikh of God and burying them,while He saw everything and said, “What are youhiding? By God’s will, if I had summoned thosefoul forms, they would have marched out beforeme one by one, visibly, uncovering themselves,telling their true nature, and what they concealed