"Chinese Art and Romano Art"

 

By Rumi, from Masnawi, Book I

The Chinese and the Romanos were arguing as to who were the better artists.

The King said, "We'll settle this matter with a debate."

The Chinese began talking,
but the Greeks wouldn't say anything.

They left.

The Chinese suggested then that they each be given a room to work on with their artistry, two rooms facing each other and divided by a curtain.

The Chinese asked the King for a hundred colors, all the variations,

and each morning they came to where the dyes were kept and took them all.

The Romanos took no colors. "They're not part of our work,"

They went to their room and began cleaning and polishing the walls. All day every day they made those walls as pure and clear as an open sky.

There is a way that leads from all-colors to colorlessness.

Know that the magnificent variety of the clouds and the weather comes from the total simplicity of the sun and the moon.

The Chinese finished, and they were so happy.

They beat the drums in the joy of completion.

The King entered their room, astonished by the gorgeous color and detail.

The Romanos then pulled the curtain dividing the rooms.

The Chinese figures and images shimmeringly reflected on the clear Romano walls.

They lived there, even more beautifully,

and always changing in the light.

The Romano art is the Sufi way.

They don't study books of philosophical thought.

They make their loving clearer and clearer.

No wantings, no anger.

In that purity, they receive and reflect the images of every moment,

from here, from the stars, from the void.

They take them in as though they were seeing with the Lighted Clarity that sees them.