The story is told of a mystic knower who went on a journey
with a learned grammarian for a companion. They came to the shore of the Sea of
Grandeur. The knower, putting his trust in God, straightway flung himself into
the waves, but the grammarian stood bewildered and lost in thoughts that were
as words traced upon the water. The mystic called out to him, “Why dost thou
not follow?” The grammarian answered, “O brother, what can I do? As I dare not
advance, I must needs go back again.” Then the mystic cried, “Cast aside what
thou hast learned… and cross the water!”
With renunciation, not with grammar’s rules, one must be
armed:
Be nothing, then, and cross this sea unharmed. (Rumi, a
Persian poet)
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Four Valleys; 2019 revised translation by the
Baha’i World Centre, included in ‘The Call of the Divine Beloved’)
