Heart Space
Mevlâna Jalâluddîn Rumi Heart The deliciousness of milk and honey is the reflection of the pure heart: from that heart the sweetness of every sweet thing is derived. The heart is the substance, and the world the accident: how should the heart's shadow be the object of the heart's desire? Is that pure heart the heart that is enamored of riches or power, or is submissive to this black earth and water of the body, or to vain fancies it worships in the darkness for the sake of fame? The heart is nothing but the Sea of Light: is the heart the place of vision of God--and then blind? [III, 2265-9] On Resurrection Day God will ask, "During this reprieve I gave you, what have you produced for Me? Through what work have you reached your life's end? Your food and your strength, for what have they been consumed? Where have you dimmed the luster of your eye? Where have you dissipated your five senses? You have expended eyes and ears and intellect and the pure celestial substances; what have you purchased from the earth? I gave you hands and feet as spade and mattock for tilling the soil of good works; when did they by themselves become existent? [III, 2147-2153] You know the value of every article of merchandise, but if you don't know the value of your own soul, it's all foolishness. You've come to know the fortunate and the inauspicious stars; but you don't know whether you yourself are fortunate or unclean. This, this is the essence of all sciences - that you should know who you will be when Judgment Day arrives. [III, 2652-4] Surely there is a window from heart to heart: they are not separate and far from each other. Two earthenware lamps are not joined, but their light is mingled as it moves. No lover seeks union without the beloved seeking; but the love of lovers makes the body thin as a bowstring, while the love of loved ones makes them comely and plump. When the l