“There is no “before” left to me. It has been a long time since I have had any before. If they come, they come before an image they believe to be me.”

Original: مرا پیشی نمانده است. دیر است که مرا پیش نیست. اگر می‌آیند پیش صورتی می‌آیند که آن را من می‌پندارند. — Rank and precedence dissolve once the self is no longer stationed as an object of approach. · Fihi Ma Fihi (Persian)

• Humility
• Presence
• Self

“It was the thought of me that brought you here. That thought did not speak a word, yet without words it drew you.”

Original: خیال من تو را به حضور من آورد. این خیال با تو سخن نگفت که حال تو چون است؛ خیال بی‌سخن تو را اینجا کشید. — Rumi answers the charge of silence by arguing that presence already speaks before speech begins. · Fihi Ma Fihi, Discourse 2 (Persian)

• Presence
• Silence
• Speech

“Within us there is a mouse and there is a bird. The bird lifts the cage; the mouse drags it down.”

Original: در ما موش است و مرغ. مرغ قفس را بالا می‌برد و موش فرود می‌کشد. — The inner life is pictured as a single cage pulled by contrary creatures until both natures are given up. · Fihi Ma Fihi, Discourse 7 (Persian)

• Conflict
• Self
• Unity