We have honored Adam.

Excerpt

Adam's clay was kneaded in the limits of a trough, Yet was he exalted above heaven and stars. "We have honored Adam" was not addressed to the sky, But to Adam himself full of defects as he was. Did one ever propose to earth or heaven to receive Beauty, reason, speech and aspiration? Would you ever offer to the heavens Beauty of face and acuteness of thought?

Source Masnavi, Book VI, Prologue, §5 · 📖 Read the full passage

✨ To meditate on today

According to Rumi, who quotes the Quran here (“We have honoured the children of Adam”), the human being, kneaded from a little clay and full of defects, has nevertheless received from God a dignity higher than the sky and the stars: beauty, reason, speech and aspiration. Today, before each person you meet — and before yourself in the mirror —, remember this honour and treat them with the respect it deserves.

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