‘Shadeed-az-kwa nee ast munazin
Ya rafeer ul-qist amnazeer
Choon ke ast shadaaz raftam ke azdaan
Wahen ul-khirama, za dizt’un bu’azir’?
I have existence and I value it so much
So have all the beings on earth and they too, try to preserve it
Then, how can I kill even the tiniest creature
Just to satiate my palate?
Taa’shif nifaak b’astz sang
Even a seemingly lifeless stone has a degree of consciousness; respect it.
Sheer mun-haraam nuzt:
To me, even milk is forbidden.
Rumi says in Turkish, ‘Ye’k dez charinda-ul-insaan rish’h’aaz’
Look at all animals as you look at humans.
‘Kahin nish shudam el-fazeer-un-nisaar.’
The sanctity of every life is to be saved and preserved
Rumi writes that what we eat, directly influences our thinking.
If we consume an animal, its blood and gore will make us act like a slaughterer:
‘Un qasaab, gosht-e-zakaaf’.
“We began as mineral.
We emerged into plant life,
and into the animal state,
and then into being human,
and always we have forgotten our former states,
except in early Spring when we slightly recall being green again”
–Rumi, Selected poems, Penguin UK.