When your heart is dark as iron,
steadily polish yourself
that the heart may become a mirror,
a beautiful shine relecting from within.
Although iron is dark and dismal,
polishing clears the darkness away.

-Rumi, "Mathnawi"

From "The Bounty of Allah," translated by Aneela Khalid Arshed. From the Croosroad Publishing Company, New York. Retrieved July 4, 2006 from http://www.beliefnet.com