Just so the pleasures of the world seem sweet till they are tried, and then they are found to be very bitter and repulsive. The Prophet Sallahu Alyhi Wa Sallam has declared that "Patience is the key of joy." in other words, that he who controls and restrains himself from grasping at worldly pleasures will find true happiness. But this precept makes no lasting impression on the bulk of humankind. When bitter experience overtakes them, as the pain of burning afflicts children, or moths sporting with fire, or the pain of amputation [of a] a thief, they curse the delusive temptations which brought this pain upon them. But no sooner is the pain abated, then they run after the same pleasures as eagerly as ever.

This leads the poet again to dwell on his favourite theme of the sole agency of Allah.

Then, to supply the necessary corrective of this doctrine, another anecdote is told concerning Mahmud and Ayaz. The courtiers grumbled because Ayaz received the stipend of thirty courtiers, and Mahmud, by a practical test, convinced them that the talents of Ayaz equalled those of thirty men. The courtiers replied that this was due to Allah's grace, not to any merit on the part of Ayaz. And the king confuted them by pointing out that man's responsibility and merit, or demerit, for his actions are recognized in the Quran. Iblis was condemned for saying to Allah, "Thou hast caused me to err," and Adam was commended or saying, "We have blackened ourselves." And elsewhere it is said, "Whosoever shall have wrought an atom's weight of good shall behold it. And whoso[ever] shall have wrought an atom's weight of evil shall behold it."

~ RUMI ~