Discourses of Rumi

FIHI MA FIHI V 399are the sleeve and boot of another hand and foot.They say, “So-and-so is under the foot of So-andso,”and “So-and-so has a hand in so manythings.” Surely, when we speak of such a handand foot we do not mean this hand and foot.That Prince came and assembled us and thendeparted. In the same way, the bee unites the waxwith the honey and then flies away. This isbecause our creation was a condition, but, afterall, God’s eternity is not a condition. Our mothersand fathers are like bees, uniting the seeker withthe sought, and assembling together the lover andbeloved. Then one day they suddenly fly away.God has made them a means for uniting the waxand the honey, and then they fly away, while thewax and honey remains. But they do not fly outof the garden. This is not the kind of garden thatis possible to leave. Rather, they go from one cornerof the garden to another.Our body is like a beehive, assembled from thewax and honey of the love of God. Although thebees, our mothers and fathers, brought that honeyand wax together, yet they too are tended by thegardener, and therefore it is the gardener who also