Nargis Blossoms Once In a Lifetime and When It Blooms, It Blooms Alone......Maulana Rumi

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 23 December 2022 Rumi Says, ' Nargis Blossoms Once In A Lifetime And When It Blooms, It Blooms Alone.' Be Like a Nargis (A Mythical Flower). ----- Whenever I see rank stupidity and juvenile behaviour of even grown up and 'educated' people, I seek the company of books, esp. Sheikh Saadi's ' Gulistan ' and ' Bostan' written in Persian. A couple of days ago when I was flipping through the pages of 'Bostan', I came across a startling statement: Don't consider yourself to be great as you've many admirers. Remember ' Shizahat ' (mediocrity in Pahalvi) attracts a legion of equally ' Shihaz ' (mediocre) people. It's worthwhile to note that you don't come across the words 'Shizahat' and 'Shihaz' conveying these meanings in modern colloquial Persian of the 20th century. Saadi's quote is really very pithy. Fools always get followers because mediocrity is always in circulation. Just tell people, not just Muslims, that there's a heaven up there. Lakhs and crores of people will consider it to be a Gospel truth and you'll have swarms of followers ready to die for you. This actually happened. Circa 1890, there used to be a religious fraud (from Methodist denomination of Christianity) in the US who said that there'd be eternal life in heaven where the believers would get to play golf with the god! Many people became his followers for, who doesn't want to play golf with god? When some clerics and Mullas on TV say that Allah himself will fill your empty goblets, many people believe this to be true and the drunkards and dipsomaniacs mistake the paradise for an alehouse. Such bogus people have battalions of followers because most of us are drawn to mediocrity. But try telling people to be a good human without bothering about Hereafter, Afterlife or even god, you'll be alone because, sense is often not bestowed upon those whose craniums are perpetually filled with cow dung. Remember, history in the making is always persecuted by people. Truth is forever on the scaffold. We dare not tread on the path that leads to truth but follow the beaten track as the latter is always comfortable, safe and secure. Rumi says, ' Nargis blossoms once in a lifetime and when it blooms, it blooms alone.' Be like a Nargis (a mythical flower). Let Nargis be a metaphor for absolute rarity. To be rare is to be alone and solitary. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/nargis-blossoms-lifetime-maulana-rumi/d/128692 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism