Mevlana Jalal Al Din Rumi, with some modernization from a translator, said:
“Take a look at those flashy fakers in their expensive designer clothing.
Does wearing a particular label increase their understanding of life and death?
Does it quiet the scorpion of grief that inhabits their hearts?
On the outside they look dressed to kill, but on the inside they are dying.
Look over there at that old bum dressed in rags.
His thoughts are sharper than an Armani suit and his words
more exquisite than haute couture.”
Shaikh Rumi wrote these words in the 13th century and they tell us, along with the lessons they teach, people are the same today. What or who motivates people to care more about what they look like than who they are? If our inside is pure it is unimportant to decorate it; that’s gilding the lily. If our appearance is immaculate, but we’re wicked inside, there’s no benefit.
If the words of the renowned enlightened teacher, guide and poet, Jalal Al Din Rumi, don’t alter someone’s behavior, why do some, like me, keep trying? God Willing, if just one person wakes up each time these words are spoken or written, then it’s worth the effort and God Willing, as long as there is a soul to be saved, there will be someone shining a light on The Truth and good advice.
