Discourses of Rumi

344 V DISCOURSES OF RUMISomeone said: “A true lover must be submissiveand abject and long-suffering.” And they listedother qualities.Rumi said: Should the lover be like thatwhether the beloved wishes it or not? If the loveris this way against the desire of the beloved, thenthey are no lover but merely following their owndesire. If the lover accepts the desire of thebeloved, then when their beloved does not wantthem to be submissive and abject, how could theybe submissive and abject? Therefore, the statesaffecting the lover are unknown, and we can onlyknow how the beloved wishes us to be.Jesus said, “I wonder at the living creature thatcan eat a living creature.” The literalists say thatthis refers to people eating the flesh of animals.This is an error. Why? Because when people eatflesh, it is not animal any longer, but inanimate.Once the animal is killed, the living spirit is gonefrom that flesh. The true meaning of this saying isthat the Sheikh mysteriously consumes the disciple.I wonder at a process so extraordinary!Someone asked the following question:“Abraham said to Nimrod, ‘My God brings thedead to life and turns the living into the dead.’