Page 150 - The Book of Rumi

Darvish in the Garden

t was a beautiful sunny morning, and a darvish left home early intending to
Irun a few overdue errands. Soon he found himself walking past a lush gar-
den fi lled with fragrant roses and amazing, plentiful fruit trees. Instinctively,
he entered the garden, intending to spend a few quiet moments alone and
meditate on the beauty he had just witnessed. He found a secluded corner and
sat down, making himself comfortable on a bench in the midst of the shrubs.
Resting his head on his knee, he began to contemplate the grace of God.
A young man, who had also been mesmerized by the beauty of the
garden, walked past the darvish and thought that he had fallen asleep. He
couldn’t hold his tongue and without any consideration for the man’s privacy
approached him and began a soliloquy, accusing the darvish of shutting him-
self off from the magnifi cence that God had created.
“It’s a crime when you refuse to take advantage of the blessings that God
has provided us with,” the young man asserted aggressively. “What are you
doing closing your eyes to all this beauty that surrounds you? By not taking
advantage of it, you’re in fact committing an unpardonable sin!” he continued,
self-pleasingly.
The darvish slowly raised his head and knowingly gazed at the intruder
as he rambled on but kept his silence until the young man fi nally fell silent.
“The signs of the Beloved, young man, are imprinted on one’s heart, and
that’s where you should seek them,” the darvish began. “The beauties that you
speak of exist only in the outside world, while within my heart there’s no limit

to God’s glory. The trees, the flowers, and the fruit that you see are only signs

of His creation; they’re merely a reflection on the surface of the water,” he said
softly but assertively, lowering his head again onto his knee and shutting his
eyes as he resumed his meditation, ignoring the intruder’s presence altogether.

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