The Goal Is One

Lesson 45: The Goal Is One

There are a myriad different ways to search, but the object of the search is always the same. Don't you see that the roads to Mecca are all different? One comes from Byzantium, another from Syria, still others wind through land or across the sea. The roads are different; the goal is one.

When people reach the goal, all quarrels or disputes that flared along the road are resolved. Those who yelled at each other along the road, "You are wrong!" or "You are a blasphemer!" forget all possible differences when they reach the goal. There all hearts sing in unison.

- Jalal-ud-Din Rumi

(Translated by Andrew Harvey from A Year of Rumi)