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A beautiful book.  Wherever the page falls open, you find wisdom.

Discourse One

The Prophet (peace bet with him) said, "The worst scholar is one who visits
princes, but the best prince is one who
visits scholars.  Happy is the prince at a poor man's door; wretched the poor
man at a prince's gate."

[This hadith, shirAru 'l-'ulamA) is given in GhazAli, ihyA'ulum al-dIn, I,
116.  A similar hadith is given in Suyuti, jAmi al-saghir, I,85.

[Rumi's interpretation] ITs true meaning is that the worst scholar is one who
receives support from princes, whom he must fear in order to gain his
livelihood.  Such a man's primary aim in the pursuit of learning is for
princes to bestow gifts upon him, to hold him in high esteem, and to grant
him official positions.  Therefore it is on their account that he betters
himself and exchanges his ignorance for learning.  When he becomes a scholar,
he learns the proper etiquette out of fear of them and their power to
punish.  So willy-nilly, he conducts himself as they would have him do.
Therefore whether outwardly it be the prince who visits the scholar or the
scholar who visits the prince, such a scholar must conduct himself as a guest
while the prince acts as a host.

On the other hand, when a scholar dons the robe lf learning, not for the sake
of princes but rather first and foremost for God's sake, and when his conduct
and comportment are along the path of rectitude, as his natural inclination
should be, and for no other reason -- like a fish, which can live only in
water -- then such a scholar is so ruled by reason that during his time all
men stand in awe of his presence and are illuminated by his reflected
radiance, whether they are aware of it or not.  If such a scholar goes to a
prince, it is he who acts as the host and the prince the guest, because the
prince will be receiving assistance and will be dependent upon the scholar.
The scholar is quite independent of the prince; he will shed light like the
sun, whose only property is to give and bestow.  The sun turns ordinary
stones into rubies and carnelians and earthen mountains into mines of copper,
gold, silver, and lead, the sun makes the earth green and fresh and produces
various fruits on the trees.  Its only function is to give and bestow, it
does not take anything.  Such scholars are therefore hosts in any situation,
and princes are their guests.

[According to physical theories of antiquity adopted by Islamic science,
precious stones were thought to be produced by the effect of sunlight on
ordinary rocks, which after exposure to the sun, sink into the mountains,
where they are incubated into gems.]

blurb:
This translation of Rumi's "Fihi ma Fihi" should easily become the standard
English edition of this important collection of his discourses,
conversations, and commentaries on various and sundry topics. In many cases
the discussions preserved in this book provide the most sustained exposition
available of Rumi's thought on a given topic.