by T.L. James of MarsBlog. Part of our weekly Sufi Wisdom series. As terrorist Islam does its best to discredit the religion, it is important to remember that there are other voices within the faith. One such is the Sufis, a branch of Islamic mystics with roots in many religious traditions. The lessons of Sufism are often communicated through humorous stories and mystical or romantic poetry.

This week's Sufi Wisdom comes from Rumi, and concerns -- among other things -- imperfections:

Water doesn't lose purity because of a bit of weed.
The weeds float on the surface;
the pure water flows on undisturbed.

JK: See also Winds reader lurker's Rumi poetry as a comment re: Tarek Heggy's Friday Guest Blog "The Arab Mind."