Discourses of Rumi

discourse 52Rumi was asked the meaning of the followinglines:When love attains its ultimate goalDesire turns to dislike.Rumi explained: Dislike is a narrow worldcompared to friendship. That is why people runfrom hatred to find friendship. But the world offriendship is itself narrow next to the Source ofboth friendship and dislike. Friendship and enmity,unbelief and faith—these are all opposites thatlead to duality. Yet a world exists where there isno duality but only pure unity, and when wereach that world we are beyond friendship anddislike. There is no room for two in that world.When we arrive there, we leave duality behind.The world of freedom we loved and struggled foris narrow next to that state where no oppositesexist. Therefore, we no longer desire it, and arerepulsed by it.When Mansur al-Hallaj reached his utmostfriendship with God, he became his own enemy