When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.
When actions come from another section, the feeling disappears.
Don’t let others lead you.
They may be blind or, worse, vultures.
Reach for the rope of God.
And what is that?
Putting aside self-will.
Because of willfulness people sit in jail, the trapped bird’s wings are tired, fish sizzle in the skillet.
The anger of police is willfulness.
You’ve seen a magistrate inflict visible punishment.
Now you see the invisible.
If you could leave your selfishness, you would see how you’ve been torturing your soul.
We are born and live inside black water in a well.
How could we know what an open field of sunlight is?
Don’t insist on going where you think you want to go.
Ask the way to the spring.
Your living pieces will form a harmony.
There is a moving palace that floats in the air with balconies and clear water flowing through, infinity everywhere, yet contained under a single tent.
This is a poem written by my favorite poet, Mewlana Jelaluddin Rumi, titled Moving Water. To me, through this poem, he is expressing that true joy comes from obeying God and having faith in only Him. Anything a person does that is not for God will poison the river of joy inside of himself, for any actions not for God are actions lead by the devil. A person must follow teachings from the Qur’an and hadith and not follow any other person or thing in faith, for faith in God should be one’s faith. People that try to steer a person away from God, are devil in disguise. A person must let go of everything else and trust only God, to do that a person must let him/herself be vulnerable. For those who are not vulnerable are confident in themselves and praise themselves not understanding everything is from God Almighty. Those who are willful in themselves and not God are truly lost on the inside and are the equivalent of something/someone that is trapped miserably. Those people who are willful in themselves and not God receive the punishment of being trapped miserably and those who have faith in God acknowledge that.
When a person leaves their prideful self, only then is the blindfold lifted. Leaving pride behind will release the tensions of the soul that the person did not even know were there. Carrying the qualities of arrogance damages a person’s soul without them realizing. When a person is constantly sinning, he/she does not realize he/she is even doing anything wrong. Truly when a person gives up bad habits and sins they are reborn. They are just like innocent kids pure of sin and their eyes are open to what sins are. After a sinner repents, he/she will have stronger faith. For when a person takes one step towards God, God comes running to the person.
This world is unfortunately very misguiding, and God is testing His people to see who His true believers are. A person must not get distracted with this world, for this world is only a test, only a stop onto the final destination. It is the devil’s purpose to deceive the people to carry evil qualities and enjoy the pleasures of this world. Even the pleasures of this world lead to tortured souls. The goal and true destination is heaven where God will be to be reunited with Him. A person must go through temptations of this world to receive the pleasures of the next. A person has to go through the pain and troubles of this world to receive the joys of the next world to be with God Almighty.
From Pain Comes Poetry 