Pure Love

For Mevlana the friendship of those who worshipped goods and belongings was only worldly. For him the condition for friendship is sacrifice of oneself for a friend; when necessary throwing oneself into fights for the friend. Those he loved, he loved with his whole self. His understanding of love wasn't delineated by simple benefits to be gained or wayward trickery; his love was the enthusiasm of gallant hearts expecting nothing in return. While explaining that love is the remedy for everything, he said this: "Because of love, copper becomes gold, pain brings vigor to love, and the dead come to life through love." Mevlana said that greatest love is the love of God; he gave tidings of eternal life dissolved within the Love of God. In one of his verses he offered this: "Those who gather together in love don't die like the common folk." (to be continued)

Discussions on Rumi...Hasan Dede's Own Words By Ayşe Özalp and Carole J. Douglas