This Journey of ours

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِي

The seeker said to himself,
"If I'd known the real meaning of this being with God,
how should I have gone searching for Him?
But that knowledge depended on this journeying:
that knowing can't be gained by thinking,
no matter how precise."

Mathnawi VI, Maulana Jallaluddin Rumi, may Allah sanctify his soul & bless his secret

that beautiful rose in bloom; have we ever thought of how it spent time in the dirt before rising majestically? hidden underground covered with soil and trampled on.
are we 'planted' yet?
the rose that is not planted will never unfold to reveal its sublime beauty.

when? will our petals unfold?

smelling dead roses.