Discourses of Rumi

410 V DISCOURSES OF RUMIvided—everything becomes pain and affliction.All of these secondary conditions are like a penin the hand of God’s omnipotence. God is themover and writer. Until He decides, the pen doesnot move. Your eye is fixed on the pen, and yousay, “There must be a hand to this pen.” You seethe pen, but you do not see the hand. But seeingthe pen, you remember the hand. There are those,however, who always see the hand. They say,“There must also be a pen in this hand.” But seeingthe beauty of the hand, they do not care aboutthe pen. They simply say, “Such a hand cannot bewithout a pen.”While you are so delighted with beholding thepen that you forget the hand, they are so delightedwith the hand, how could they care for thepen? While you find so much pleasure in barleybread that you never try wheat bread, they havewheat bread, so how could they care about barleybread? If He has given you such joy upon earththat you have no desire for heaven—the true placeof joy—and since earth derives its life from heaven,then likewise, why should the inhabitants ofheaven remember earth?