Extreme Proximity

"The person who judges on appearance is misled by the form of the expressions used in the Mathnawi, while these expressions guide the seeker of reality to the Truth.
Extreme proximity is a mystifying veil.
You have come nearer to me than the artery in my neck: how long shall I say, "Oh?" "Oh" is a call to one who is far off...
To utter words concerning God is to shut the window through which the Divine reveals Himself: the very act of expression is the concealment of God.
It is marvelous that You are not separate from me, and yet, where I am,and where You are, I know not.
"You have suffered much agony, but you are still in the veil, because dying to the self was the fundamental principle, and you have not fulfilled it.
You cannot reach the roof without competing the ladder.
When the last two rungs out of a hundred are waiting to be climbed, the one who strives will be forbidden to set foot upon the roof.
Be extinguished in the dawn, O candle of beauty.
Know that the sun of the world is hidden until our stars have become hidden.
Shatter egoism to pieces."

Rumi (Vol.6, 655-732)

Commentary: So very close, and yet until we separate from our small selves, and our huge egos, we cannot meet the Beloved.