Thursday, April 14, 2011

the good root

Are you fleeing from Love because of a single humiliation?
What do you know of Love except the name?
Love has a hundred forms of pride and disdain,
and is gained by a hundred means of persuasion
Since Love is loyal, it purchases one who is loyal;
it has no interest in a disloyal companion.
The human being resembles a tree;
your root is a covenant with God.
That root must be cherished with all one's might.
A feeble covenant is a rotten root, without grace or fruit.
Though the boughs and leaves of the date palm are green
greenness brings no benefit if the root is corrupt.
If a branch is without green leaves, yet has a good root,
a hundred leaves will put forth their hands in the end.

-- Rumi (translated by Kabir Helminski)

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