The Lord is my Shepherd
The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name' sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: For thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
Thou annointest my head with oil; My cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name' sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: For thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
Thou annointest my head with oil; My cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.
Source: KJV
The Golden Rule: "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Proverbs: Happy is the one who listens to me ... For he who finds me finds life
The Golden Rule: "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Extract from Rumi's View of Evil
by Zailan Moris
Animal Soul:
God most High answers them, As I have said, the animal soul in you is your enemy and My enemy; 'Take not My 'enemy and your enemy for friends'. Strive always against this enemy in prison; for when he is in prison and calamity and pain, then your deliverance appears and gathers strength. (Rumi 1961, p. 72)
Human perfection can only be attained after long periods of time when the soul patiently undergoes a painful process of painful alchemy or transformation. The soul like the base metal, lead, has to be transmuted to become gold; that is, "the soul has to be purified, dissolved and crystallized anew to achieve its 'golden nature'; which is immutable purity and luminosity" (Burckhardt 1970, p. 24). Only a self which has purged itself of vices and base qualities arising from the dominance of the nafs and adorned itself instead with virtues (fada 'il) and attributes of God, is perfect; and consequently, attains the utmost limits of the innate potential of the human state. Thus, to be a witness to the divine Unity, man has to 'die unto himself; "What is Tawhid? To burn one's self before the One" (Rumi 1982, I 3008).
In conclusion, it can be stated that for Rumi, in the Absolute and Perfect Being of God, evil does not exist. However, evil exists in the created order. Creation or manifestation which involves separation from God is based on the fundamental principle of contrast and opposition. Evil arises as a I result of separation from God. If God i is symbolized by light, then evil canbe symbolized by darkness. Darkness is not a reality as light is, rather it arises as a result of the lack or absence of light. The presence of darkness is relative to the existence of light. Unlike light, darkness does not possess an independent reality. Thus, evil exists only in the realm of manifestation or relativity; it does not exist as an absolute or self-subsistent reality in contention with or in opposition to God. While evil is limited and relative in nature, the Being of God is absolute and infinite.
Rumi asserts that in creation evil functions as the contrasting manifestation of good. Without evil, good will not be distinct. All the pain and suffering which man experiences as a result of evil are only preparation for the experience and attainment of joy and contentment of good. Evil is not created or valued for its own sake, rather it is created for the necessary manifestation, realization and accomplishment of good. Hence, at the cosmic plane, evil which is limited and relative in nature contributes to the -realization of the total good.
In man, evil arises from the nafs or ego. Like all Sufis, Rumi believes that the human ego can be overcome and finally annihilated through the process of spiritual alchemy, or the purification of the soul (tazkiyat al-nafs). The process of spiritual alchemy involves the transformation of the nafs through the various stages, beginning from its most base state which is that of the al-nafs al-ammarah or 'the soul which incites to evil' to the highest which is its total extinction in God (fana' fi Allah). When the ego or nafs is extinguished in God, man is no longer separated from Him. At the level of fana' or extinction of the self in God, only the truth of the shahadah: La ilaha ill al-Allah, or, 'There is no god but Allah', remains.
Hence, for Rumi, although man cannot totally eradicate evil from this world, he is capable of removing the source of evil from within himself which also separates him from God. Consequently, he must neither despair over the existence of evil in the world nor lose sight of the real possibility of the removal of evil from within himself which enables him to truly return to God or be reunited with Him.
Source: Rumi's View of Evil by Zailan Moris
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