Awake From Plight

When you fall ill you grieve and feel so low,

You're then awake to what you need to know,

When starting to feel sick your prayers begin,

You beg forgiveness for a life of sin,

Its ugliness the Lord to you displays

So you'll resolve to follow righteous ways:

You swear to God that you'll at last take heed,

And make your every act a pious deed,

That being sick can heal you thus make sense,

It wakes you with increased intelligence!

So heed this principle and never doubt,

Whoever's suffering pain has worked this out:

The more awake they are the worse their plight,

Their suffering turns their tortured faces white!

Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi

The Masnavi, Book One : 627-633

*translation by Jawid Mojaddedi