drawer of water

 

 .

The reflection cast from good friends is needed

until you become, without the aid of any reflector,

a drawer of water from the Sea.

Know that the reflection is at first just imitation,

but when it continues to recur,

it turns into direct realization of truth.

Until it has become direct realization,

don't part from the friends who guide you—

don't break away from the shell

if the raindrop hasn't yet become a pearl.

—Rumi

Mathnawi II: 566-568

Helminski version

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