Five Day Friends

"From the pure souls and intelligences there is coming to the spirit a letter, saying, "O Faithless one,
You have found some miserable five day friends and have turned your face away from your friends of old."
Although the children are happy in their play, yet at nightfall they are dragged off and taken Home.
Half of your life has been lost to the ones who capture your heart, the other half of life is lost in anxieties caused by foes...
The road to God is self-sacrifice, and in every thicket is a tribulation to drive back any one whose soul is as brittle as a glass bottle.
The road of religion is full of trouble and suffering for the reason that it is not the road for any one whose nature is cowardly."

Rumi (Vol.6, 456-508)

Commentary: Rumi recognizes and acknowledges the pleasures of this material world. He just reminds us that all our worldly happiness is short lived. And then he invites us to travel a spiritual path that he promises will be painful and constantly challenging. Truth in advertising...