Love cannot be explained, yet it explains all
The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak explores the soulmate relationship between the poet Rumi and his enigmatic spiritual mentor Shams of Tabriz.
Shams is the person who was responsible for the transformation of Rumi from a local cleric to a world famous poet and mystic. The book revolves around the theme of divine love.
One may treat the book as a historical fiction. But, I feel the book is not meant to be understood intellectually. Just like one can not make any sense of mysticism of Rumi’s poems, until… they can. Spirituality cannot be explained.
Quotes
Earth - The things that are solid, absorbed, and still.
Water - the things that are fluid, changing and unpredictable.
Wind - The things that shift, evolve and challenge.
Fire - The things that damage, devastate, and destroy.
Void - The things that are present through their absence.
Love
Because love is the very essence and purpose of life … it hits everbody, including those who shun love ..
She did love me in her own self-centered and self-destructive way.
In love, boundaries are blurred.
… he shows you the void in your soul … That person can be a lover, a friend, or a spiritual master… Find the one who will be your mirror.
Love had nothing to do with “plans for tomorrow” or “memories of yesterday”.
God
They say there is a thin line between losing yourself in God and losing your mind.
How we see God is a direct reflection of how we see ourselves.
The path of the truth is a labour of the heart, not of the head. … Knowing yourself will lead you to the knowledge of God.
It is easy to love a perfect God … difficult to love fellow human beings with all their imperfections and defects. One can only know what one is capable of loving. There is no wisdom with love.
The whole universe is contained with a single human being - you. … When a person knows himself or herself, he or she knows God.
God created suffering so that joy might appear through its opposite … Things become manifest through opposites. Since God has no opposite, He remains hidden.
Destiny
Your destiny is the level where you will play your tune. You might not change you instrument but how well to play is entirely in your hands.
God is a meticulous clockmaker. So precise is his order that everything on earth happens in its own time… For each there is a time to love and a time to die.
This world is erected upon the principle of reciprocity… Not even a leaf stirs outside God’s knowledge. Simply and fully believe in that.
Fret not where the road will take you. Instead concentrate on the first step. That’s the hardest part and that’s what you are responsible for. Once you take that step let everything do what it naturally does and the rest will follow.
Do not go with the flow. Be the flow.