Page 185 - The Book of Rumi

Love Pulls the Ear

ajnoun and Laily’s love affair was known to everyone, but some doubted
Mits sincerity. One day, a group of suspecting men, whose vision was
clearly constrained by their inferior intelligence, bumped into Majnoun as he
wandered through the streets, his head fi lled with thoughts of Laily.
“Hello, Majnoun,” one of the men called out. “We’ve been wondering
about it for some time and can’t fi gure out why you’re so madly in love with
Laily. She’s no beauty—what do you see in her?”
Majnoun was caught off guard; his mind was totally occupied with
thoughts of his beloved and couldn’t exactly catch the men’s train of thought.
He looked at them with baffl ement.
“Majnoun, don’t look so surprised; we’re serious! If you come with us,
we’ll introduce you to lots of beautiful girls, and you’ll never look at Laily
again!” another of the men boasted, quite pleased with himself.
“Your eyes are blind,” Majnoun retorted. “You can never see her beauty!
Not like I do! To only grasp what’s on the surface is the reaction of an idiot!”
He turned to walk away but changed his mind and came back to the
cluster of men.
“Let me tell you something,” he asserted, his voice rising with each new
phrase. “To only perceive what’s visible to the eye is like having a beautiful jug
but being oblivious to the real beauty of the wine inside, because you can only
see the container. I drink from a pitcher, and I taste the delectable wine; but
if you drink from the same vessel, God will only allow you to taste vinegar.
Laily’s love will never enter your hearts. Love for her shall never pull your ear.
I’ll taste honey from a pot while you’ll taste poison. Every person sees what
he chooses to see.”
This time, Majnoun pushed his way straight through the group of men
while holding his head high, more ecstatic in his love for Laily than ever before.

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