Discourses of Rumi

60 V DISCOURSES OF RUMIenjoying my charity and my wealth, and that ofmy ancestors, he became somebody. Now he hasreached the point of saying such things to me!”“People of the court,” cried the man, springingup in the vizier’s face, “and nobles and pillars ofthe state! What he says is quite true. I was nourishedby his wealth and charity and that of hisancestors until I grew up, contemptible and crudeas you see me. If I had been nourished by someoneelse’s bread and wealth, surely my appearance,my manners and my worth would have beenbetter than this. He picked me out of the gutter;but all I can say is; Oh, I wish that I were dust. Ifsomeone else had picked me out of the gutter, Iwould not have been such a laughing stock.”The disciple, who is fed at the table of a loverof God, has a clean and true spirit. But those whoare nourished by the hands of an imposter and abraggart, learning the science from them, becomejust like their teacher, contemptible and feeble,weak and unable to make up their minds aboutanything.Within our being all sciences were originallyjoined as one, so that our spirit displayed all hid-