Be like water; knotless, slip free from the wound of the teeth. As long as I carry a knot, surely You will pound me and grind me.
چون آب باش و بی گره از زخم دندان ها بجه
من تا گره دارم یقین می کوبی و می ساییمÇün âb bâş u bî-gereh ez zahm-ı dendân-hâ biceh
Men tâ gereh dârem yakîn mî-kûbî vü mî-sâyîm
Rumi, Divan-i Kabir, ghazal 1387 (Ganjoor numbering).
In the ghazal a heart melts like snow.
Left alone it froze,
was chewed like ice under the teeth of affliction.
Then the words come:
Be like water.
Snow is crushed, ice is broken.
Water is not crushed.
Because it has no knot.
What grinds us is usually thought to be events.
Rumi looks elsewhere:
As long as the knot stays in you,
the teeth do not stop either.