Masnavi II, 3559-61
Everyone is overridden by thoughts;
that's why they have so much heartache and sorrow.
At times I give myself up to thought purposefully;
but when I choose,
I spring up from those under its sway.
I am like a high-flying bird,
and thought is a gnat:
how should a gnat overpower me?
Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance
Threshold Books, 1996
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski from
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra
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