A young man had heard of Rumi's mystical power and walked from Constantinople to Konya (about three hundred miles) to meet him. Coming into Konya, he saw an old man walking toward him whom he immediately recognized as the Great One. Immediately he prostrated himself before Rumi in the dust. When he got up, he saw that Rumi too, had prostrated himself before him. This went on thirty-two times until the young man cried out, "What on Earth are you doing? I am no one and you are the king of Mystics. How can you prostrate yourself before me?"

Rumi answered, "Why shouldn't I prostrate myself before a servant of my Beloved? Didn't the Prophet say, 'Blessed is who is chaste in his beauty and humble in his honor'?"

Then, Rumi added softly, "And if I had not shown you my nothingness, what would I be useful for?"

— Andrew Harvey, One Heart by Bonnie Louise Kuchler