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Masnavi III, 3260-65
Whatever by divine destiny becomes lost to you,
know for sure it has saved you from difficulty.
Someone once asked, "What is Sufism?"
The Shaykh replied,
"To feel joy in the heart at the coming of sorrow."
Regard His chastisement as the eagle
which carried off the Prophet's boot,
that she might save his foot from the serpent's bite.
O happy is the understanding that is not dusty and dim.
God has said, Grieve not for that which escapes you,*
if the wolf comes and destroys your sheep,
for that God-sent affliction keeps away greater afflictions,
and that loss prevents much greater losses.
*al-Hadid, 23
Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance
Threshold Books, 1996
eon by Camille and Kabir Helminski from
Persian transliteration courtesy of Yahyá Monastra
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