merchimerch: (Default)
merchimerch ([personal profile] merchimerch) wrote2007-12-06 11:31 am
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from [livejournal.com profile] sasha_khan's daily' rumi

The fire that iron or gold needs-
would it be good for fresh quinces and apples?
The apple and quince are just slightly raw;
unlike iron, they need only a gentle heat.
But gentle flames are not enough for iron;
it eagerly draws to itself the fiery dragon's breath.
That iron is the dervish who bears hardship:
under the hammer and fire, he happily glows red.

-- Mathnawi II: 827-830
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski

This is lovely, and speaks to a lot of different areas of my life at the moment. I think part of my emotional experiences lately have rooted from the fact that in some areas and at some times I'm quince, even when I want to convince myself I'm iron.