People are distracted by objects
of desire,
And afterwards, repent of the lust they’ve
indulged,
Because they have indulged with a
phantom
And are left even farther from Reality
than before.
Your desire for the illusionary is a wing,
by means of which a seeker might
ascend to Reality.
When you have indulged a lust, your
wings drop off;
You become lame and that fantasy flees.
Preserve the wing and don’t indulge
such lust,
so that the wing of desire may bear you
to Paradise
People fancy they are enjoying
themselves,
but they are really tearing out
their wings
for the sake of an Illusion.
– Rumi
(selections from the MATHNAWI III, 2133-38, Pg 171)
