Discourses of Rumi

44 V DISCOURSES OF RUMIto anyone but themselves.A certain king was sitting, dejected, on thebank of a river. The generals were nervous andafraid of him. His face would not clear up nomatter what they tried. Now he had a jesterwhom he treated as a great favorite. The generalspromised the jester a certain sum of money if hecould make the king laugh. So the jesterapproached the king, but despite all his efforts theking would not so much as look at him. The kingkept staring into the river and did not lift his headat all.“What do you see in the water?” the jesterasked the king.“I see the husband of an unfaithful wife,” theking replied.“King of the world,” the jester said, “yourslave is also not blind.”So it is in your own case. If you see somethingin your fellow that pains you, after all they alsoare not blind. They see exactly what you see.In God’s presence two I’s cannot exist. Youcannot know your self and God’s Self; either diebefore God, or God will die before you so that