Discourses of Rumi

62 V DISCOURSES OF RUMIIt was for this reason that the Prophet said,“Now there comes to you a Messenger fromamongst yourselves.” In other words, the greatocean is that same substance as your own water,it is all from one self and one source. But for thoseelements that do not feel the attraction of familiarity,this failure does not come from the wateritself, but from the pollution in that water. Thispollution is mixed in so closely that the waterdoes not know whether its own shying away fromthe ocean comes from itself, or from the essenceof that pollution. And so, evil men do not knowwhether their attraction toward evil springs fromtheir own nature, or from some dark elementmingled in.Every line of poetry the saints and prophetsbring forth, every tradition, every verse theywrite, is like a witness bearing testimony. Theybear witness to every situation according to thenature of the situation. In the same way we havetwo witnesses at the inheritance of a house, twowitnesses at the sale of a shop, two witnesses at amarriage. So too, the saints bear witness. Theinner form of their testimony is always the same;