Discourses of Rumi

FIHI MA FIHI V 37purses of gold. He does not grant these things forthem to say, “This is all there is. The king will notgive out any other blessings,” and so make dowith that amount. If the king knows any subjectsare going to say that, and take such gifts forgranted, he will never bestow any blessings whatsoeverupon them.The ascetic is one who sees the hereafter, whilethe worldling sees only the stable. But the chosenones of God, who have true knowledge, see neitherthe hereafter nor the stable. Their eyes arefixed on the first principle, the source of all things.When the chosen one sows wheat they know thatwheat will grow, because they see the end fromthe beginning. So it is with barley and rice and allthings—seeing the beginning, their eyes are notfixed on the end. They know the conclusion fromthe start. Such men and women are rare.It is pain that guides us in every enterprise.Until there is an ache within, a passion and ayearning for that thing arising within us, we willnever strive to attain it. Without pain it remainsbeyond our reach, whether it is success in thisworld or salvation in the next, whether we aim at