Discourses of Rumi

FIHI MA FIHI V 45duality will not remain. But as for God’s dying,that is both impossible and inconceivable, forGod is the Living, the Immortal. So gracious is Hethat if it were at all possible He would die foryour sake. Since that is not possible, then youmust die so that God can reveal Itself to you, andduality can vanish.Tie two birds together, and despite their familiarityand the fact that their two wings have beenchanged to four, they will not fly. That is becauseduality exists. But let one bird give up its life andthe other—even though tied to the first—will fly,because duality has vanished.Shams-i-Tabriz was a servant of God who hadthe power to sacrifice himself for the sake of afriend. He prayed to God for that friend, but Goddid not accept his petition. “I do not want you tohelp him,” came a voice. Shams, that son of theSun [Shams-i-Tabriz means literally Sun ofTabriz,] persisted and would not cease hisrequests, saying, “O God, you have implantedthis desire for him, and it will not leave me.”Finally a voice came saying, “Do you desire thatthis should come to pass? Then sacrifice your self,