Mevlânâ — Mesnevî'den Seçkiler (Nicholson, Tales of Mystic Meaning)

Justice, justice against such a three years’ famine! May the shadow of our lord endure for ever! Either let this buffalo out of prison, or make him a regular allowance of food from a trust- fund. O thou by whom men and women are made happy, do justice! Thy help is invoked and besought.” The courteous agent went to the Cadi and related the complaint to him point by point. The Cadi summoned the Insolvent to his pres- ence, and inquired about him from his own officers. All the complaints which the prisoners had set forth were proved to the Cadi. ‘The Cadi said to him, ‘‘Get up and depart from this prison: go to the house that belongs to you by inheritance.” TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING He replied, “My house and home consist in thy bounty; as in the case of an infidel, thy prison is my Paradise.’ If thou drive me from the prison and turn me out, I shall certainly die of beggary and desti- tution.” He pleaded like the Devil, who said, “O Lord, grant me a respite till the Day of Resur- rection,” For ’tis my pleasure to be in the prison of this World, so that I may slay the children of mine Enemy, And, if anyone have some food of Faith and a single loaf as provision for the journey to the Life hereafter, I may seize it by guile and cunning, and they in sorrow may raise an outcry of lamentation, While sometimes I threaten them with poverty, and sometimes bind their eyes with the spell of tress and mole.” The Cadi said, ‘Prove that you are insolvent.” ““Here are the prisoners,” he replied, “‘as my witnesses.” 1 The Prophet is reported to have said, “This world is the infidel’s Paradise.” ® Qur’an, vii, 13, slightly altered. THE GREEDY INSOLVENT “They,” said the Cadi, ‘‘are suspect, because they are fleeing from you and weeping blood on account of you; They are suing for deliverance from you: by reason of self-interest their testimony is worthless.” All the people of the court said, ‘‘ We bear witness both to his insolvency and his moral degeneracy.” Everyone whom the Cadi questioned about his condition said, “My lord, wash thy hands of this Insolvent.” Then said the Cadi, “March him round the city for all to see, and cry, ‘This man is an in- solvent and a great rogue. Let no one sell to him on credit, let no one lend him a farthing. Whatever charge of fraud may be brought against him, I will not commit him to prison in future.’ His insolvency has been proven to me: he possesses nothing, neither money nor goods.’”’ When the show’ started, they brought along the camel of a Kurd who sold firewood. He made a great row, but all in vain, though he * According to Muslim law, a debtor whose insolvency has been proven is not liable to imprisonment. *4.e. the preparations for parading the Insolvent. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING conciliated the police officer with the gift of a dang.’ Upon the camel was seated that sore famine,’ while the owner ran at its heels. They sped from quarter to quarter and from street to street, till the whole town knew him by sight. Ten loud-voiced criers, Turks and Kurds and Greeks and Arabs, made the following pro- clamation: “This man is insolvent and has nothing: let no one lend him a brass farthing;

He does not possess a single mite, patent or latent; he is a bankrupt, a piece of falsehood, a cunning knave, an oil-bag. Beware! Beware! Have no dealings with him: when he brings the ox to sell, tie up your money ; And if ye bring this decayed wretch for judge- ment, I will not imprison a corpse.” At nightfall, when the Insolvent dismounted, the Kurd said to him, “I live a long way off. You have been riding on my camel since morn- ing. Never mind the barley,’ but at least give me what will pay for the straw.” 1 About a farthing. * The Insolvent. * ze. “I don’t ask you to pay me in full.” THE GREEDY INSOLVENT ‘““Why,” he rejoined, ‘‘what were we doing all day? Where are your wits? Is none of them at home? My insolvency has been drummed up to the Seventh Heaven, but you have not heard the bad news! Your ears were filled with foolish hope. Such hope makes one deaf and blind, my lad.” XV JOSEPH AND HIS GUEST" THE loving friend came from the ends of the earth and became the guest of Joseph the truthful; For they had been friends in childhood, re- clining together on the cushion of acquaint- ance. He spoke of the injustice and envy of Joseph’s brethren. Joseph said, “That was a chain, and I was the lion. The lion is not disgraced by the chain: I do not complain of God’s decree.” After Joseph had told him his story, he said, ‘“Now, O such and such, what traveller’s gift hast thou brought for me? Come, produce it.” At this demand the guest sobbed aloud in confusion. “How many a gift,”’ he said, “did I seek for thee! but no worthy gift came into my sight. How should I bring a grain of gold to the mine? How should I bring a drop of water to the sea? * Book I, v. 3157. 56 JOSEPH AND HIS GUEST I should only bring cumin to Kirman’ if I brought my heart and soul as a gift to thee. There is no grain that is not in this barn except thy incomparable beauty. I deemed it fitting that I should bring to thee a mirror like the inward light of a pure heart, That thou mayst behold thy beauteous face therein, O thou who, like the sun, art the lamp of heaven. I have brought thee a mirror, O light of mine eyes, so that when thou seest thy face thou mayst think of me.” 1To “bring cumin to Kirman” (in Southern Persia) means the same thing as “‘carrying coals to Newcastle.” XVI THE MAN WHO TRUSTED THE BEAR’ A DrRaGon was pulling a Bear into its jaws: a valiant man went and succoured it. When it was delivered from the Dragon, it followed its benefactor like the dog of the Seven Sleepers.’ He, being fatigued, lay down to rest: the Bear, from devotion to him, became his guard. A holy man passed by and said to him, ‘What is the matter? What has this Bear to do with He related his adventure with the Dragon. “Fool!’’ said the other, ‘‘do not set thy heart on a bear.”’ The man thought to himself, “He is envious”; then hesaid aloud, “‘See how fond of me itis!”’ ‘The fondness of fools is deceiving,” he replied ; “‘my envy is better for thee than its affection.

* The Qur’dn, ch. xviii, relates the legend of the seven Christian youths of Ephesus who, in the reign of the Em- peror Decius, fled from persecution and took refuge in a cave, where they slept for three hundred and nine years. The dog which accompanied them (vv. 17 and 21) is said by some to have had the name ar-Ragim (v. 8); but this identi- fication is very doubtful. THE MAN WHO TRUSTED THE BEAR Drive the Bear away and come with me, do not make friends with the Bear, do not forsake one of thy own kind. I am not less than a bear, O noble sir: abandon it in order that I may be thy comrade. My heart is trembling for thee: do not go into a forest with a bear like this. My heart has never trembled in vain; this is the Light of God, not pretence or idle boasting. I am the true believer who sees by the Light of God.’ Beware, beware! Flee from this fire- temple!” He said all this, but it entered not into his ear. Suspicion is a mighty barrier to a man. “Go,” cried he, ‘“‘be not troubled for me, don’t retail so much wisdom, O busybody.”’ He answered, saying, ‘“‘I am not thy enemy: it would be a kindness if thou wouldst come with me.” “I am sleepy,” said he; “let me alone; go!”’ That Muslim left the foolish man and returned to his abode, muttering, “God help us!” The man fell asleep, and the Bear kept driving the flies away from his face, but they soon came hurrying back again. 1 As is declared in a Tradition of the Prophet. * 3.e. the ignis fatuus of carnality and vain desire. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING The Bear went off in a rage and picked up a very big stone from the mountain-side. He fetched the stone, and seeing the flies again settled on the face of his friend, He took it up and struck at them to make them go away. The stone made powder of the sleeping man’s face and published to the whole world this adage— “Surely the love of a Fool is the love of a Bear: his hate is love and his love is hate.” THE THIEF WHO SAID HE WAS A DRUMMER’ Hear this parable—how a wicked Thief was cutting a hole at the bottom of a wall. Someone who was ill and half awake heard the tapping of his pick. And went on the roof and hung his head down and said to him, “What are you about, O father? All is well, I hope. What are you doing here at midnight ? Who are you?” He said, “A drummer, O hon- ourable sir.”’ ‘‘What are you about?” “I am beating the drum.” The sick man said, ‘‘Where is the noise of the drum, O artful one?” He replied, “You will hear it to-morrow, namely, cries of ‘Oh, alas!’ and ‘Oh, woe is me’! ” * Book ITI, v. 2799. 61 THE GOLDSMITH WHO LOOKED AHEAD’ A CERTAIN man came to a Goldsmith, saying, ‘“‘Give me the scales that I may weigh some gold.” He replied, ““Go, I have no sieve.” ““Give me the scales,” said the other, ‘‘and don’t waste time in jesting.”’ “There is no broom in the shop,” said the Goldsmith. “Enough! Enough!” he ex- claimed; “‘leave these jokes. Give me the scales I am asking for. Don’t pre- tend to be deaf; don’t talk at random.”’

He replied, “I heard what you said, I am not deaf; you must not think I am nonsensical. I heard your request, but you are a shaky old man: your hand trembles and your body is bowed; And moreover your gold consists of tiny filings, which will drop from your trembling hand. Then you will say, ‘Sir, fetch a broom, that I may search in the dust for my gold’; * Book III, v. 1624. 62 THE GOLDSMITH WHO LOOKED AHEAD And when you have gathered the sweepings, you will tell me that you want the sieve. I from the beginning discerned the end com- plete. Go from here to some other place, and farewell!” LUQMAN AND HIS MASTER’ LUQMAN was the favourite of his master, who preferred him to his own sons, Because Luqman, though a slave, was master of himself and free from sensual desire. A certain King said to a holy man, “Ask a boon that I may bestow it upon thee.” He answered, ““O King, are not you ashamed to say such a thing to me? Mount higher! I have two slaves, and they are vile, and yet those twain are rulers and lords over you.” Said the King, “Who are those twain? Surely this is an error.’ He replied, “The one is anger and the other is lust.” Luqméan was always the first to partake of any viands that were served to his master, For the master would send them to him, and if Luqman left them untasted his master would throw them away; Or, if he did eat of them, it would be without ? Book II, v. 1462. 64 LUQMAN AND HIS MASTER heart and without appetite: this is the sign of an affinity without end. One day he received the gift of a melon. “Go,” said he, “‘call hither my dear Luqman.” He gave him a slice: Luqman ate it as though it were sugar and honey, And showed such pleasure that his master went on giving him slice after slice, seventeen in all. One slice remained. He said, “I will eat this myself, to see what a sweet melon it is.” No sooner had he tasted it than its sourness blistered his tongue and burnt his throat. For a while he was almost beside himself; then he cried, ““O Luqm§an, my soul and my world, How could you have the patience? What made you endure so long? Or perhaps life is hateful to you.” Luqman said, “From thy bounteous hand I have eaten so many sweets that I am bent double with shame. I was ashamed to refuse one bitter thing from thy hand, O wise master. Since all parts of me have grown from thy bounty and are a prey to thy bait and snare— If I complain of one bitter thing, may the dust of a hundred roads cover every part of me! This melon had reposed in thy sugar-bestow- ing hand: how could it retain any bitterness ?”’ TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING Through Love bitter things become sweet; through Love pieces of copper become golden. Through Love dregs become clear; through Love pains become healing. Through Love the dead is made living; through Love the king is made a slave. THE LION AND THE BEASTS OF CHASE’ THE Beasts of Chase in a pleasant valley were harassed by a Lion, So they made a plan: they came to the Lion, saying, ‘‘We will keep thee full-fed by a fixed allowance. Do not exceed thy allowance, else this pasture will become bitter to us.”

““Yes,”’ said he, “if I find good faith on your part, for I have suffered many a fraud at the hands of Zayd and Bakr." I am done to death by the cunning of man, I am stung by human snake and scorpion. “The believer is not bitten twice’: I have taken this saying of the Prophet to my heart.” The Beasts said, ““O sagacious one, let precaution alone: it is of no avail against the divine Decree. Precaution is but trouble and woe: put thy trust in God, trust in God is better. O fierce Lion, do not grapple with Destiny lest Destiny pick a quarrel with thee.” 1 Book I, v. goo : Equivalent to * “Tom, Dick, and Harry.” TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING “Yes,” he said; “but though trust in God is the true guide, yet we should use precaution according to the Prophet’s rule. The Prophet spoke plainly, saying, “Trust in God, and bind the knee of thy camel.’ He hath also said, ‘God loves the worker.’ Let us trust in God, but not so as to neglect ways and means.” The Beasts answered him, saying, “There is no work better than trust in God: what in- deed is dearer to Him than resignation? Man contrives, and his contrivance is a snare to catch him: that which he thought would save his life sheds his blood. He locks the door whilst his foe is in the house: the plot of Pharaoh was a tale of this kind. We are the family of the Lord; like infants, we God who gives rain from heaven is also able, in His mercy, to give us bread.” “Yes,” said the Lion; “but the Lord hath set a ladder before our feet. Step by step we must climb to the roof: to be a Necessitarian here is to indulge in foolish hopes. You have feet: why do you pretend to be lame? You have hands: why do you hide your fingers? When the master puts a spade in his slave’s THE LION AND THE BEASTS OF CHASE hand, he need not speak in order to make his object known.”’ The Lion gave many proofs in this style, so that those Necessitarians became tired of answer- ing him. Fox and deer and hare and jackal abandoned their doctrine and ceased from disputation. They made a covenant with the Lion, ensuring that he should incur no loss in the bargain, And that he should receive his daily rations without trouble or any further demand. Every day the one on whom the lot fell would run to the Lion as swiftly as a cheetah. When the fatal cup came round to the Hare, ‘‘Why,”’ cried the Hare, “‘how long shall we endure injustice ?”’ His companions said, “All this time we have sacrificed our lives in truth and loyalty. Do not thou give us a bad name, O rebellious one! Quick! Quick! lest the Lion be ag- grieved.” “‘O my friends,” said he, “grant mea respite, that by my cunning ye may escape from this woe And save your lives and leave security as a heritage to your children.” The Beasts replied, ‘“O donkey, listen to us. Keep thyself within the measure of a hare! Eh, what brag is this? Thy betters never thought TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING ‘““My friends,” said he, ‘‘God hath inspired me. Weak as I am, I am wisely counselled. God opens the door of knowledge to the bee, so that it builds a house of honey. God teaches the silkworm a craft beyond the power of the elephant.

When Adam, the earth-born, gained know- ledge of God, his knowledge illumined the Seventh Heaven.” They said, “O nimble Hare, disclose what is in thy mind. The Prophet hath said, “Take counsel with the trustworthy.’ ” “Not every secret may be told,” said he; “‘some- times an even number turns out odd and an odd one even. If you breathe the hidden word on a mirror, the mirror immediately becomes dim. Hold your tongue concerning three things: your departure, your money, and your re- ligion.”’ The Hare tarried long, rehearsing to himself the trick he was about to play. At last he took the road and set forth to whisper a few secrets in the Lion’s ear. The Lion, incensed and wrathful and frantic, saw the Hare coming from afar, Running undismayed and confidently, looking angry and fierce and fell and sour; THE LION AND THE BEASTS OF CHASE For by appearing humble he thought suspicion would be excited, while boldness would re- move every cause of doubt. As soon as he approached, the Lion roared, ‘Ha, villain! I who tear oxen limb from limb, I who bruise the ears of the raging elephant— What! shall a half-witted hare presume to spurn my commands?” “Mercy!” cried the Hare. “I have an excuse, please thy Majesty.” ‘““What excuse?”’ said he. “‘O the shortsighted- ness of fools! Is this the time for them to come into the presence of kings? The fool’s excuse is worse than his crime, ’tis the poison that kills wisdom.” “‘Hark!”’ cried the Hare, “if I am not worthy of thy clemency, I will lay my head before the dragon of thy vengeance. At breakfast-time I set out with another hare which the Beasts of Chase had appointed, for thy sake, to accompany me. On the road a lion attacked thy humble slave, attacked both the companions in travel hasten- ing towards thee. I said to him, ‘We are the slaves of the King of kings, two lowly fellow-servants of that exalted Court.’ He said, “The King of kings! Who is he? Be TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING ashamed! Do not make mention of every base loon in my presence. Both thee and thy King I will tear to pieces if thou and thy friend turn back from my portal.’ I said, ‘Let me behold the face of my King once more and acquaint him with the news of thee.’ ‘Thou must leave thy comrade with me as a pledge,’ said he; ‘otherwise thy life is forfeit according to my law.’ We entreated him much: ’twas no use. He seized my friend and left me to go my way alone. My friend was so big and plump and comely that he would make three of me. Henceforth the road is barred by that lion: the cord of our covenant is broken. Abandon hope of thy rations henceforward! I am telling thee the bitter truth. If thou want the rations, clear the road! Come on, then, and drive away that insolent usur- per!” “Come on in God’s name,” cried the Lion. ‘““Show me where he is! Lead the way, if you are speaking the truth, That I may give him and a hundred like him the punishment they deserve—or do the same to you if you are lying.” THE LION AND THE BEASTS OF CHASE The Hare set off, running ahead in the direc- tion of a deep well which was to be a snare for the Lion; But as they drew nigh to it, the Hare shrunk back. “‘That lion,” said he, ‘‘lives here.

I am consumed with dread of his fury—unless thou wilt take me beside thee, That with thy support, O Mine of generosity, I may open my eyes and look in.”’ The Lion took him to his side; they ran together towards the well and looked in. The Lion saw his own reflection: from the water shone the image of a lion with a plump hare beside him. No sooner did he espy his adversary than he left the Hare and sprang into the well. He fell into the well which he had dug: his iniquity recoiled on his own head. The Lion saw himself in the well: he was so enraged that he could not distinguish him- self from his enemy. O Reader, how many an evil that you see in others is but your own nature reflected in them! In them appears all that you are—your hypocrisy, iniquity, and insolence. You do not see clearly the evil in yourself, else you would hate yourself with all your soul. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING Like the Lion who sprang at his image in the water, you are only hurting yourself, O simpleton ! When you reach the bottom of the well of your own nature, then you will know that the wickedness is in you. THE SOFI AND THE EMPTY WALLET’ ONE day a Siifi espied a food-wallet hanging on a nail; he began to whirl in the dance and rend his garments, Crying, “Lo, the food of the foodless! Lo, the remedy for famine and pangs of hunger!” When his smoke and tumult waxed great, every one that was a Siifi joined him. They all shouted and shrieked and became spiritually intoxicated and beside themselves. An idle busybody said to the Sifi, “What is the matter? Only a food-wallet hung on a nail, and it is empty of bread.” ‘Begone, begone!” he replied. “Thou art a mere form without spirit. Go, seek exist- ence, for thou art no lover.” The lover’s food is love of the bread, without the existence of the bread. No true lover is in thrall to existence. * Book ITI, v. 3014. * ¢.e. self-existence with all its egoistic wants and desires, which is regarded by the lover of God as the greatest sin. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING Lovers have naught to do with existence: lovers have the interest without having the capital. They have no wings, and yet they fly round the world; they have no hands, and yet they carry off the ball from the polo-field. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FEELING AND THINKING* SOMEONE slapped Zayd on the neck; Zayd rushed at him with warlike purpose. The assailant said, “I will ask thee a question. First answer it, and then strike me. I smote the nape of thy neck, and there was the sound of a slap. At this point I have a friendly question to ask thee. Was the sound caused by my hand or by the nape of thy neck, O pride of the noble?” Zayd said, “On account of the pain I have no time to reflect on this problem. Do thou who art without pain reflect on it; he that feels the pain cannot think of such things.”

1 Book III, v. 1380. This is the second of two apologues illustrating the attitude of emotional mysticism towards scholastic theology. The first story concerns an elderly man who was about to be married. He went to a barber and bade him remove the white hairs in his beard, whereupon the barber cut off the whole beard, laid it before his customer, and said to him, ‘‘Pick them out yourself, I have important business to attend to.” XXITI THE GNAT AND THE WIND" THE Gnat came from the garden and the grass and appealed to Solomon, Saying, “O Solomon, thou dealest justice to the devils and the children of men and the genil. Bird and fish are protected by thy justice: where is the wretch whom thy bounty has not sought out? Give justice to us, for we are very miserable: we are deprived of the orchard and rose- garden. The difficulties of every weakling are solved by thee: the Gnat in sooth is a proverb for weakness. O thou who hast reached the limit in Power, while we have reached the limit in failure and aberration, Do justice, relieve us of this sorrow, support us, O thou whose hand is the hand of God.” ‘Then Solomon asked, “Against whom art thou demanding justice and equity, O suitor? ? Book III, v. 4624. THE GNAT AND THE WIND Who is the tyrant that in his insolence has done thee injury and scratched thy face? Oh, wonderful! Where, in Our epoch, is the oppressor that 1s not in Our prison and chains? When We were born, on that day Injustice died: who, then, has committed in Our epoch an act of injustice? The Divine Will uttered in ‘Be, and it was’ hath bestowed the Kingdom on Us, that the people may not cry in lament to Heaven; That burning sighs may not soar upward; that the sky and the stars may not be shaken; That the empyrean may not tremble at the orphan’s wail; that no living soul may be O oppressed one, do not look to Heaven, for thou hast a heavenly King in the temporal world.” “I appeal,” said the Gnat, “against the fury of the Wind, for he hath opened the hands of oppression against us. Through his oppression we are in sore straits: with closed lips we are drinking blood.’’* Said Solomon, ‘‘O thou with the pretty voice, it behoves thee to hearken with all thy soul to the command of God, 14,e. suffering torment. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING God hath said to me, ‘Beware, O Judge! Do not hear one litigant without the other. Until both litigants come into the presence, the truth does not come to light before the judge.’ I dare not avert my face from the Divine command. Go, bring thy adversary before me.” “Thy words,” said the Gnat, “are an argument conclusive and sound, My adversary is the Wind, and he is at thy behest.” The King shouted, ‘O Wind, the Gnat com- plains of thy injustice. Come! Hark, come face to face with thy adversary and reply to him and rebut him.” When the Wind heard the summons, he came rapidly: the Gnat at once took to flight. “O Gnat,” cried Solomon, “where art thou going? Stop, that I may pass judgement upon you both.” The Gnat answered, “O King, his being is my death; verily, my day is made black by his smoke. Since he has come, where shall I find peacer He wrings the vital breath out of my body.”

Even such is the seeker at the Court of God: when God comes, the seeker is naughted. THE GNAT AND THE WIND Although union with God is life on life, yet at first that life consists in dying to self. The shadows that seek the Light are naughted when His Light appears. How should reason remain when He bids it go? Everything is perishing except His Face.’ 1 Our’Gn, xxvii, 88. THE PRINCE WHO WAS BEATEN AT CHESS BY THE COURT-JESTER’ THE Prince of Tirmidh was playing chess with Dalqak. When Dalqak mated him, his anger burst. On hearing the word “Checkmate!” the haughty monarch threw the chessmen, one by one, at Dalqak’s head. ““Here, take your ‘checkmate,’ ” he cried, “‘you scoundrel!’’ Dalqak controlled himself and only said, ‘“‘Mercy!” Then the Prince commanded him to play again. He obeyed, trembling like a naked man in bitter cold. The Prince lost the second game too, but when the moment arrived to say ‘Checkmate!’ Dalqak jumped up, ran into a corner, and hastily flung six rugs over himself. There he lay hidden beneath six rugs and several cushions in order to escape the Prince’s blows. “‘Hey!” said the Prince, “what are you doing? What is this ?”’ “Checkmate ! Checkmate ! Check- mate!’ he replied, “‘O noble Prince.” * Book V, v. 3507. 82 THE INFANT MOHAMMED AND THE IDOLS’ I wi. tell you the story of Halima’s mystic experience, that her tale may clear away your trouble. When she parted Mustafa* from her milk, she took him up on the palm of her hand as though he were sweet basil and roses. Fearing for the safety of her precious charge, she went towards the Ka‘ba and entered the Hatim.* From the air she heard a voice saying, “O Hatim, an exceedingly mighty Sun hath shone upon thee. O Hatim, to-day there marches into thee with pomp a glorious King, whose harbinger is Fortune. O Hatim, to-day thou wilt surely become anew the abode of exalted spirits. * Halima, a Bedouin woman, is said to have been Moham- med’s nurse and foster-mother. *The name Hatim is properly given to a semi-circular wall adjoining the north and west corners of the Ka‘ba. Here it denotes the space between the wall and the Ka‘ba. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING The spirits of the holy will come to thee from every quarter in troops and multitudes, drunken with desire.” Halima was bewildered by that voice, for neither in front nor behind was anyone to be seen. She laid Mustafa on the earth, that she might search after the sweet sound; Then she cast her eyes to and fro, saying, “Where is that kingly crier of mysteries?” Seeing no one, she became distraught and despairing: her body trembled like a willow- She returned towards that righteous Child, but could not see Mustafa where she had left him. Amazement fell upon her heart: a great dark- ness of grief encompassed her. She ran to the dwellings hard by, crying, “Alas, who has carried off my single Pearl?” The Meccans said, “We have no knowledge: we knew not that a child was there.” She shed so many tears and made such a lamen- tation that all began to weep for her. Beating her breast, she sobbed so mightily that the stars were made to sob by her sobbing. An old man with a staff approached her, saying, “Why, what hath befallen thee, O Halima?”’ She replied, “I am Mohammed’s trusted foster- THE INFANT MOHAMMED AND THE IDOLS mother: I was taking him back to his grand- sire.

When I arrived in the Hatim, I heard voices from the air and laid the Child down, To see whence the sounds came that were so melodious and beautiful. I saw no sign of anyone about, yet the voices never ceased for a moment. I was lost in bewilderment. On coming to my- self, I could not see the Child. Oh, the sorrow of my heart!” ““Daughter,”’ said the old man, “do not grieve. I will show unto thee a Queen, Who, if she wish, will tell thee what has hap- pened to the Child: she knows where he went and where he is now.” He brought her to ‘Uzzi,' saying, “This Idol is greatly prized for information concerning the Unseen. Through her we have found thousands who were lost, when we betook ourselves to her in devotion.”’ Then he bowed low before her and said, ““O Sovereign of the Arabs, O Sea of munifi- cence, Thou hast done many favours to us, O ‘Uzza, so that we have been delivered from snares. 1QOne of three goddesses whom the pre-Islamic Arabs worshipped as daughters of Allah. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING In hope of thee this Halima of the tribe Sa‘d hath come under the shadow of thy bounty, For an infant child of hers is lost: the name of the child is Mohammed.” When he pronounced the name “Mohammed” all the Idols at once fell headlong and pros- trate, Saying, “Begone, old man! Why dost thou inquire after this Mohammed by whom we are deposed? By him we are overthrown and reduced to a heap of stones: by him we are made con- temptible and worthless. Avaunt, old man! Do not kindle mischief. Hark, do not burn us in the flame of Moham- med’s jealousy. Avaunt, old man, for God’s sake, lest thou too be burnt in the fire of Fore-ordainment. What squeezing of the dragon’s tail is this? Hast thou any inkling what the news of Mo- At these tidings the heart of sea and mine will surge; at these tidings the Seven Heavens will tremble.” The old man’s staff dropped from his hand; his teeth chattered; like a naked man in winter, he shuddered and cried, ‘‘Woe is me.”’ When Halima saw him in such a state of terror, self-control deserted her. THE INFANT MOHAMMED AND THE IDOLS “‘Once before,” she cried, “they of the Invisible carried off my Child—they of the Invisible, the green-winged ones of Heaven. Of whom shall I complain? Whom shall I tell? I am crazy and in a hundred minds. His jealousy hath closed my lips, so that I can- not declare the mystery: I can only say, ‘My Child is lost.’ If I should say aught else now, the people would bind me with chains as though I were mad.” The old man said to her, “‘O Halima, rejoice; bow down in thanksgiving, and do not rend thy face. Do not grieve: he will not be lost to thee; nay, but the whole world will be lost in him. Always, before and behind, he hath myriads of zealous guardians watching over him. Didst not thou see how the Idols, with all their magic arts, fell headlong at the name of thy Child? This is a marvellous epoch on the earth: I am grown old, but never have I witnessed aught like this.”’ THE SUFIS WHO SOLD THE TRAVELLER’S ASS’ A Sori, after journeying, arrived at a monastery for dervishes; he took his mount and led it to the stable.

With his own hand he gave it a little water and some fodder: he was not such a Siifi as the one we told of before.” He took precautions against neglect and foolish- ness, but when the Divine destiny comes to pass, of what avail is precaution? The Sufis were poor and destitute: poverty almost entails an infidelity that brings the soul to perdition. O thou rich man who art full-fed, beware of mocking at the unrighteousness of the suffer- ing poor. On account of their destitution that Sufi flock adopted the expedient of selling the Ass, Saying, “‘In case of necessity a carcase is law- ful food: many a vicious act is made virtuous by necessity.” ? Book II, v. 514. * See Story IV. 88 THE SOFIS WHO SOLD THE TRAVELLER’S ASS Having sold the little Ass, they fetched dainty viands and lit candles. Jubilation arose in the monastery. ‘‘To-night,” they cried, “there shall be dainties and music and dancing and voracity. No more of this carrying the beggar’s wallet, no more of this abstinence and three-days’ fasting !”” The Traveller, tired by the long journey, re- joiced to see the favour with which they regarded him. One by one they caressed him and played the game of bestowing pleasant attentions on him. When he saw this, he said, “If I don’t make merry to-night, when shall I have such good reasons for it again?” They consumed the viands and began the sama‘ ,* the monastery was filled with smoke and dust up to the roof— The smoke of the kitchen, the dust raised by the dancing feet, the tumult of soul aroused by longing and ecstasy. Now, waving their hands, they would beat the floor with their feet; now, bowing low, they would sweep the dais with their foreheads. Only after long waiting does the Sufi gain his desire from Fortune; hence the Sifi is a great eater ; Except, to be sure, the Sufi who has eaten his ’ The musical dance of Muslim dervishes. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING fill of the Light of God: he is free from the shame of beggary ; But of these there are only a few amongst thou- sands; the rest live under the protection of his (the perfect Sifi’s) spiritual empire. When the sama‘ had run its course from be- ginning to end, the minstrel struck up a deep-sounding strain. He sang “The Ass is gone, the Ass is gone,” and made the whole company sharers in the ditty. Till daybreak they were dancing rapturously, clapping their hands and singing “The Ass is gone, the Ass is gone, my son!”’ By way of imitation, that Sufi began to sing in tones of impassioned feeling the same phrase, ‘The Ass 1s gone.” When the pleasure and excitement and music and dancing were over, day dawned and they all said farewell. The monastery was deserted and the Sufi re- mained alone: he set about shaking the dust from his baggage. He brought out the baggage from his cell to pack it on the Ass, for he desired companions on his journey. He made haste to join his fellow-travellers, but when he went into the stable he did not find the Ass. THE SUFIS WHO SOLD THE TRAVELLER’S ASS “The servant,” he said to himself, ‘‘has taken it to water, because it drank little water last night.” When the servant came the Siifi asked, ‘‘Where is the Ass?” ‘‘Look at your beard,’” he re- plied; and this started a quarrel.

The Siifi said, ‘I entrusted the Ass to you. I put you in charge of the Ass. Discuss the matter reasonably, don’t argue, but deliver back to me what I delivered to you; And if you obstinately refuse, then look here, let us go for judgement to the Cadi!” The servant said, ‘I was overpowered: the Siifis rushed on me, and I was in fear of my life. Do you throw a liver with the parts next it amongst cats and then seek the traces of it? One cake of bread amongst a hundred hungry people, one starved cat before ahundred dogs ?”’ “I grant,” said the Sufi, “that they took the Ass from you by violence, aiming at the life of wretched me; But you never came and said, “They are taking away your Ass, O dervish,’ So that I might have bought it back from the purchaser, or else they might have divided the money’ amongst themselves. 14,e. ‘don’t ask childish questions.” * The money which the Safi would have paid as a ransom for his Ass. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING There were a hundred ways of mending the matter when they were present, but now each one is gone to a different clime. Why didn’t you come and say, “O stranger, a terrible outrage has been committed’? ”’ “By God!” said he, ‘I came several times to inform you of these doings, But you went on singing “The Ass is gone, O son’ with more gusto than all the others; So I was always going away, saying to myself, ‘He is aware of it, he is satisfied with what God has decreed, he is a gnostic.’ ” The Sifi replied, “They all sang it so gleefully, and I too felt delight in singing it. Blind imitation of them has brought me to ruin: a thousand curses on that imitation!” THE FOUR BEGGARS WHO WISHED TO BUY GRAPES’ A CERTAIN man gave a dirhem to four Beggars. One of them, a Persian, said, “I will spend it on angi.” The second, who was an Arab, cried, “Nay, I want ‘inab, not angiir, you rascal!” The third was a Turk: he said, ““The money is mine: I don’t want ‘inab, I want uzum.” The fourth, being a Greek, said, “Stop this talk: I want istafil.’” They began to fight because they were unaware of the meaning of the words. In their folly they smote each other with their fists: they were full of ignorance and empty of knowledge. This difference cannot be removed till a spiritual Solomon, skilled in tongues,” shall intervene. O ye wrangling birds, hearken, like the falcon, to the falcon-drum of the King! * Book II, v. 3681. * According to the Qur’dn, Solomon was acquainted with the speech of birds and animals. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING Come now, from every quarter set out with joy, flying away from diversity towards One- ness. Wheresoever ye be, turn your faces towards it :* this is the thing He hath not forbidden unto you at any time. * Qur'an, II, 145. 94 XXVITI MOSES AND THE SHEPHERD" Moses saw a shepherd on the way, who was saying, “O God who choosest as Thou wilt, Where art Thou, that I may become Thy ser- vant and sew Thy shoes and comb Thy head? That I may wash Thy clothes and kill Thy lice and bring milk to Thee, O worshipful One; That I may kiss Thy little hand and rub Thy little feet and sweep Thy little room at bedtime.”

On hearing these foolish words, Moses said, ‘Man, to whom are you speaking!”’ He answered, ‘““To Him who created us and brought this earth and heaven to sight.” “Hark!” said Moses, “you are a very wicked man: indeed you are no true believer, you have become an infidel. What babble is this? What blasphemy and raving? Stuff some cotton into your mouth! The stench of your blasphemy hath made the whole world stink: your blasphemy hath torn the mantle of Religion to rags. Shoes and socks are fitting for you, but how are such things right for the Lord of glory? 1 Book II, v. 1720. 95 TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING Truly, the friendship of a fool is enmity: the high God is not in want of suchlike service.” The shepherd said, ““O Moses, thou hast closed my mouth and thou hast burned my soul with contrition.” He rent his garment, heaved a sigh, turned in haste towards the desert and went his way. A Revelation came to Moses from God—“Thou hast parted My servant from Me. Wert thou sent as a prophet to unite, or wert thou sent to sever? I have bestowed on everyone a particular mode of worship, I have given everyone a peculiar form of expression. In regard to him these words are praiseworthy, in regard to thee blameworthy: honey for him, poison for thee. The idiom of Hindustan is excellent in the Hindis; the idiom of Sind is excellent in the people of Sind. I look not at tongue and speech, I look at the spirit and the inward feeling. I gaze into the heart to see whether it be lowly, though the words uttered be not lowly. Enough of phrases and conceptions and meta- phors! I want burning, burning: become familiar with that burning! MOSES AND THE SHEPHERD Light up a fire of love in thy soul, burn all thought and expression away ! O Moses, they that know the conventions are of one sort, they whose souls and spirits burn are of another sort.”’ The Religion of Love is apart from all religions. The lovers of God have no religion but God alone. XXIX THE CAT AND THE MEAT" THERE was a man, a householder, who had a very sneering, sluttish, and rapacious wife. She would devour everything he brought home, and the poor man was reduced to silence. One day, having a guest, he brought home some meat which had cost him infinite toil and hardship. His wife ate it up; she consumed all the kabab’ and wine, and when her husband came in she put him off with lies. ““Where is the meat?” he asked. “Our guest has arrived: one must set nice food before a guest.” “The cat has eaten it,’’ said she; “go and buy some more if possible.” He called his servant. “‘Fetch the scales, Aybak: I will weigh the cat.” He found that the cat weighed half a maund.° *“O deceitful woman,” he cried, ? Book V, v. 3409. 2 Roast meat. ® The man (maund) is about two pounds avoirdupois. THE CAT AND THE MEAT “The meat was half a maund and six drachms over, and the cat is just half a maund, my lady! If this is the cat, then where is the meat? or if this is the meat, where is the cat?”’ HOW BAYAZID PERFORMED THE PILGRIMAGE" ON his way to the Ka‘ba, Bayazid sought earn- estly to meet the Khizr of the age.”

He espied an old man whose body was curved like the new moon; in him was the majesty and lofty speech of saints; His eyes sightless, his heart radiant as the sun; like an elephant dreaming of Hindustan, Beholding with closed eyes a hundred delights ; when his eyes open, he sees naught thereof. Many a wonder is made manifest in sleep: in sleep the heart becomes a window. He that is awake and dreams fair dreams 1s the knower of God: smear your eyes with his dust ! Bayazid sat down before him and asked about * Book II, v. 2231. Bayazid of Bistim was a famous Persian Safi of the ninth century. * z.e. the supreme head of the hierarchy of saints. Khizr, sometimes identified with Elijah, is a mysterious personage who gained immortality by drinking of the Water of Life. The Sifis believe that he meets them in their wanderings, or appears in their visions, and imparts to them all sorts of esoteric lore. HOW BAYAZID PERFORMED THE PILGRIMAGE his condition: he found him to be a dervish and also a family man. ““O Bayazid,” said he, “whither art thou faring? To what place wouldst thou take the baggage of travel in a strange land?”’ Bayazid answered, “I start for the Ka‘ba at daybreak.”’ “Eh,” cried the other, “what hast thou as provision for the road?” “Two hundred silver dirhems,”’ said he. ‘“‘Here they are, tied in the corner of my cloak.” He said, “‘Make a circuit seven times round me, and reckon this to be better than the circumambulation of the Ka‘ba; And lay the dirhems before me, O generous man. Know that thou hast made the Greater Pilgrimage’ and won to thy desire, And thou hast performed the Lesser Pilgrim- age’ too and gained the life everlasting, and thou hast run up the Hill of Purity and been purged. By the truth of the Truth which thy soul hath seen, I swear that He hath chosen me above His House. Albeit the Ka‘ba is the House of His worship, my form in which I was created is the House of His inmost mystery. >The Hill Safa, which the pilgrims ascend after having performed the ceremony of circumambulation (tawdf). TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING Never since God made the Ka‘ba hath He entered it, and none but the Living God hath ever entered into this House of mine. When thou hast seen me thou hast seen God: thou hast circled round the true Ka‘ba. To serve me is to obey and glorify God. Be- ware! Deem not that God is separate from me. Open thine eyes well and look on me, that thou mayst behold the Light of God in man.” Bayazid gave heed to these mystic sayings and put them as a golden ring in his ear. THE ARAB OF THE DESERT AND HIS DOG’ THE dog was dying, the Arab was shedding tears and crying, “Woe is me!” A passing beggar asked him the cause of his tears, and for whom he was making such a lament. He replied, “I owned a dog of excellent dis- position; look, he is dying on the road. He hunted for me by day and kept watch at night; he was a sharp-eyed hunter and a driver away of thieves.” “What is the matter with him? Has he been wounded?” “No; the pangs of hunger have brought him to the last gasp.”’ “Show patience in this trouble and affliction: the grace of God bestows a recompense on those who suffer patiently.”

Afterwards the beggar said to him, “O noble chief, what is inside this well-filled wallet in your hand?” “Bread,” said he, ‘‘and the remnants of last night’s meal: I am taking them with me to nourish my body.” ? Book V, wv. 477. 103 TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING ‘‘Why don’t you give them to the dog?” “I have not love and charity to that extent. One cannot get bread on the road without spend- ing money, but tears cost nothing.” “Dust on thy head,” cried the beggar, ‘thou water-skin full of wind! To thee a crust of bread is more precious than tears.” THE TEACHER WHO IMAGINED HE WAS ILL* THE boys in a certain school, who suffered at the hands of their master from weariness and toil, Consulted how they might stop his work and compel him to let them go. One, the cleverest of them all, proposed that he should say, ‘“‘Master, why are you so pale? I hope you are well. You have lost your colour: is it the effect of bad air or of fever?”’ He continued, ‘On hearing this he will begin to fancy that he is ill. Do you too, brother, help me in like manner. When you come in through the school door say to him, ‘Master, is your health good?’ Then that fancy of his will increase a little, for fancy can drive a sensible man mad. After us, let the third boy and the fourth and fifth show the same sympathy and concern, So that, when thirty boys in succession tell this story, it may settle down in his mind.” “Bravo!” cried the boys; “‘may your fortune rest on God’s favour, O sagacious one!”’ 1 Book III, v. 1522. 105 TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING They agreed, in firm covenant, that no fellow should alter the words; And then, lest any tell-tale should reveal the plot, he administered an oath to them all. The counsel of that boy prevailed over his com- panions; his intellect was the leader of the There is the same difference in human minds as in the outward forms of those who are beloved.* From this point of view Mohammed said that a man’s excellence lies hidden in his tongue.’ Next day, thinking of nothing else, the boys came from their homes to the “shop,” And stood outside, waiting for that resolute fellow to go in first, Because he was the source of the plan: the head is always an Imam to the foot. He went in and said to the master, “‘Salaam! I hope you are well: you look pale.” The master said, ‘‘I have no ailment. Go and sit down and don’t talk nonsense, hey!”’ He denied it, but the dust of vain imagination struck a little upon his mind. 1 The poet’s doctrine of the innate difference in human intellects is opposed to that of the Mu'tazilites, who held that men are originally equal in this respect and that all diversities arise from learning and experience. ?7.e. until he speaks, no one can judge of his intelligence. THE TEACHER WHO IMAGINED HE WAS ILL Another boy came in and said the like, which strengthened that imagination a little more; And so on and so on, till at last he was exceed- ingly alarmed as to his state of health. The master became unnerved; he sprang up and slowly made his way home, Angry with his wife and saying, “Her love is weak: I am so ill, and she never asked or inquired ; |

She did not even inform me about my colour: she is ashamed of me and wishes to be free.” He came home and fiercely opened the door, the boys following at his heels. His wife said, “‘Is it well with thee? How hast thou come so soon? May no evil happen to thy goodly person!” He said, “Are you blind? Look at my colour and appearance; even strangers are lament- ing my affliction, While you, within my house, from hatred and hypocrisy, do not see what anguish I am suffering.” “O Sir,”’ said his wife, “there is nothing wrong with thee: ’tis only thy vain fancyand opinion.” He replied, ‘‘Will you still be wrangling, O harlot? Don’t you see the change in my looks and how I tremble? If you are blind and deaf, what fault of mine 1s it? I am in pain and grief and woe.” TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING She said, “Sir, I will bring the mirror in order that thou mayst know I am innocent.”’ ““Begone,” said he; “a plague on you and your mirror! You are always engaged in hatred and malice and sin. Lay my bed at once, that I may lie down, for my head is sore.”’ The wife lingered; he bawled at her, “‘Be quick, odious creature! This is just like you!” The old woman brought the bed-clothes and spread them. She said to herself, “I can do no more, though my heart is burning. If I speak, he will suspect me; and if I say nothing, the affair will become serious. If I tell him he is not ill, he will imagine that I have an evil design and am making arrange- ments to be alone. ‘She is getting me out of the house,’ he will say; “she is plotting some wickedness.’ ”’ As soon as the bed was made the master threw himself down, sighing and moaning con- tinually, While the boys sat round, reciting their lesson with a hundred sorrows in secret, Thinking, ‘‘We have done all this, and still we are detained: it was a badly built plan and we are bad builders.” THE TEACHER WHO IMAGINED HE WAS ILL The clever boy said, ‘‘O good fellows, recite the lesson and make your voices loud.” When they raised their voices he said, ‘‘Boys, the noise we are making will do the master harm. His headache will increase: is it worth his while to suffer such pain for the sake of a few pence?” The master said, “He is right. Go away! My headache is worse. Get out!” They bowed and said, “‘O honoured Sir, may illness and danger be far from you!” Thén they bounded off to their homes, like birds in quest of grain. Their mothers were angry with them and said, ““A school-day and you at play!”’ Fach boy offered excuses, saying, “Stop, mother! This sin does not proceed from us and is not caused by our fault. By the destiny of Heaven our master has be- come ill and sick and afflicted.” The mothers said, “It is a trick and a lie: ye invent a hundred lies in your greed for amuse- ment. To-morrow we will visit the master, that we may see what is at the bottom of this trick of yours.” ““Go in God’s name,” said the boys, ‘‘and find out whether we are lying or telling the truth.’”” TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING

Next morning the mothers came and found the master in bed, like one who is gravely ill, Perspiring under a great many coverlets, his head bandaged and his face enveloped in the He was moaning softly. They all began to cry, “La hawl.’”” They said, ‘Master, may all be well! This headache—by thy soul, we were not aware of it.” ‘Neither was I,” said he, ‘“‘till these rascals called my attention to it. I was teaching and too busy to take notice, though such a grave malady lurked within me.” 1 See p. 17, note 2. IIO XXXII THE UNSEEN ELEPHANT" THE Elephant was in a dark house: some Hindiis had brought it for exhibition. As seeing it with the eye was impossible, every- one felt it in the dark with the palm of his hand. The hand of one fell on its trunk: he said, ‘“This creature is like a water-pipe.”’ Another touched its ear: to him it appeared like a fan. Another handled its leg: he said, ‘I found the Elephant’s shape to be like a pillar.”’ Another laid his hand on its back: he said, “Truly this Elephant resembles a throne.” Had there been a candle in each one’s hand, the difference would have gone out of their words. 1 Book III, v. 1259. Religions are many, but God is One. The intellect, groping in the dark, cannot form any true conception of His nature. Only the clairvoyant eye of the mystic sees Him as he really is. XXXIV PHARAOH AND HIS MAGICIANS’ WHEN Moses had returned home, Pharaoh called his advisers and counsellors to his presence. They deemed it right that the King and Ruler of Egypt should assemble the magicians from all parts of Egypt. Thereupon he sent many men in every direction to collect the sorcerers. In whatsoever region there was a renowned magician, he sent flying towards him ten active couriers. There were two youths, famous magicians: their magic penetrated into the heart of the moon. They milked the moon publicly and openly; in their journeys they went mounted on a wine- jar. They caused the moonshine to seem like a piece of linen; they measured and sold it speedily And took the silver away: the purchaser, on becoming aware of the fraud, would smite his hand upon his cheeks in grief. 1 Book IIT, v. 1157. 112 PHARAOH AND HIS MAGICIANS They invented a hundred thousand such tricks of sorcery and did not follow behind, like the rhyme-letter.* When the King’s message reached them, to this effect: ‘“The King desires your aid, Because two dervishes’ have come and marched against the King and his palace. They have naught with them except a rod, which becomes a dragon at his command. The King and the whole army are helpless: all have been brought to lamentation by these A remedy must be sought in magic, that maybe ye will save their lives from these enchan- ters’’— When the King’s courier gave the message to the two young magicians, a great fear and love descended on the hearts of them both. The vein of spiritual affinity began to throb,” and in amazement they laid their heads upon their knees. Inasmuch as the knee is the Sifi’s school,* the two knees are sorcerers for solving a diffi- culty. 1 4,.e. they did not imitate others. ® Because God had predestined them to have faith in Moses and become his followers. “ Referring to the attitude of Safis when engaged in holy meditation. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING

How those two magicians summoned their father from the grave and questioned their father’s spirit concerning the real nature of Moses, on whom be peace. Afterwards they said, ““Come, O mother, where is our father’s grave? Do thou show us the way.” She led them to his grave: there they kept a three-days’ fast for the sake of the King. Then they said, “O father, the King in con- sternation hath sent us a message That two men have brought him to sore straits and destroyed his prestige with the army. There is not with them any weapons or soldiers; nothing but a rod, and in the rod is a calamity and bane. Thou art gone into the world of the righteous, though to outward seeming thou liest in a tomb. If that be magic, inform us; and if it be divine, O spirit of our father, In that case too inform us, so that we may bow down before them and bring ourselves in touch with an elixir.’ We are despairing, and a hope has come; we are banished, and Mercy has drawn us back.”’ The prophets and saints are often compared to the Philosophers’ Stone which transmutes base metal into pure gold. PHARAOH AND HIS MAGICIANS How the dead Magician answered his sons. He cried, ‘‘O my dearest sons, it rests with God to declare this matter plainly. It is not permitted to me to speak openly and freely, though the mystery is not far from mine eye; But I will show unto you a sign, that this hidden thing may be made manifest to you. O light of mine eyes, when ye go thither be- come acquainted with the place where he sleeps, And at the time when that Sage is asleep make for the rod, abandon fear. If thou art able to steal it, he is a magician: the means of dealing with a magician are present with thee; But if thou canst not steal it, beware, beware! That man is of God, he is the messenger of the Almighty and is divinely guided. Let Pharaoh occupy the world from east to west, he will fall headlong. God and then war !* I give thee this true sign, O soul of thy father, inscribe it in thy heart: God best knoweth the truth. O soul of thy father, when a magician sleeps, there is none to direct his magic and craft. * t.e. the idea of opposing God is absurd. 115 TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING When the shepherd has gone to sleep, the wolf becomes unafraid; when he falls asleep, his work is done; But what hope or way hath the wolf to reach the animal whose shepherd is God? O soul of thy father, this is the decisive sign: even if a prophet die, God exalteth him.” Comparison of the sublime Qur’dn to the rod of Moses, and the death of Mohammed, on whom be peace, to the sleep of Moses, and those who would alter the Qur’an to the two young Magi- cians who atiempted to carry off therod of Moses when they found him asleep. The lovingkindness of God made a promise to Mohammed, saying, “If thou shalt die, yet this Lesson’ shall not die. I will exalt thy Book and Miracle, I will defend the Qur’an from those who would make it more or less. I will exalt thee in both worlds, I will drive away the scoffers from thy Tidings. None shall be able to add or omit therein. Do not thou seek a guardian better than Me.

1 The conclusion of the Story may be summarised in a few words. When the two Magicians approach Moses, the Rod turns into a Dragon. They flee in panic, are stricken with fever, and at the point of death entreat Moses to pardon eu presumption, acknowledging him to be the prophet of PHARAOH AND HIS MAGICIANS Day by day I will increase thy splendour; I will strike thy name on gold and silver. For thy sake I will prepare pulpit and prayer- niche: in My love for thee thy vengeance hath become My vengeance. Thy followers, from fear, utter thy name covertly and hide when they perform their prayers; From terror and dread of the accursed infidels thy Religion is hidden underground; But I will fill the world from end to end with minarets; I will blind the eyes of the recalci- trant. Thy servants will occupy cities and seize power: thy Religion will extend from the Fish to the Moon.’ I will keep it living until the Resurrection: be not thou afraid of the annulment of thy Religion, O Mustafa! O My Prophet, thou art not a sorcerer: thou art truthful, thou wearest the mantle of Moses. To thee the Qur’an is even as the rod of Moses: it swallows up infidelities like a dragon. Tf thou sleepest beneath a sod, yet deem as his rod My Word which thou hast spoken. Assailants have no power over his rod. Sleep, then, O King, a blessed sleep! The Earth was supposed by Muslim cosmogonists to rest on the back of a Fish floating in a great Ocean. TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING Whilst thy body is asleep in the tomb, thy Light in Heaven" hath strung a bow for thy war against the infidels. The philosopher and that which his mouth doeth—the bow of thy Light is piercing them with arrows.” Thus He did, and even more than He said. The Prophet slept, but his fortune and pros- perity slumbered not. 1 The pre-existent form of Mohammed, which is the first thing that God created, was conceived as a celestial Light: this Light (Nur Muhammadi) became incarnate in Adam and in the whole series of prophets after him from generation to generation until its final appearance in the historical Mohammed himself. According to the Shi‘ites, however, it passed from Mohammed to ‘Ali and the Imams of his House, while the Stfi saints also claim to be its torch- bearers. XXXV THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY’ A LOVED one said to her lover, “O youth, thou hast seen many cities abroad. Which of them, then, is the fairest?” He re- plied, ‘The city where my sweetheart dwells.” Wherever the carpet is spread for our King ’tis a spacious plain though it be narrow as the eye of a needle. Wherever there is a Joseph beautiful as the moon, ’tis Paradise, even if it be the bottom of a well. 1 Book III, v. 3808. 119 XXXVI THE PATIENCE OF LUQMAN’ LuQmMaN went to David, the pure of heart, and observed that he was making rings of iron, And that the exalted King was casting the rings He had not seen the armourer’s handicraft be- fore: he was astonished, and his curiosity increased— ‘What can this be? I will ask him what he is making with the interwoven rings.” Again he said to himself, “Patience is better: patience is the quickest guide to the object of one’s search.” When you ask no questions, the sooner will the secret be disclosed to you: the bird, patience, flies faster than all others;

And if you ask, the more slowly will your object be gained: what is easy will be made difficult by your impatience. When Luqman kept silence, straightway the ring-making was finished by David’s crafts- manship. 1 Book III, v. 1842. * God taught David the art of making coats of mail (Our’an, xxi, 80). THE PATIENCE OF LUQMAN Then he fashioned a coat of mail and put it on in the presence of the noble and patient Luq- man. ““This,” he said, “is an excellent garment, O young man, for warding off blows on the battlefield.” Luqmian said, “‘Patience too is of good effect, for it is the protection and defence against pain everywhere.” XXXVIT HOW JESUS FLED FROM THE FOOLS’ Jesus, son of Mary, was fleeing to a mountain: you would say that a lion wished to shed his blood. A certain man ran after him and said, “Is it well? There is none pursuing thee: why art thou fleeing like a bird?” But Jesus still ran on so quickly that on account of his haste he did not answer him. The man went in pursuit of Jesus for the dis- tance of one or two fields; then he invoked Jesus with the utmost earnestness, Saying, “For God’s sake, stop one moment! I have a difficulty concerning thy flight. From whom art thou fleeing, O noble one? No lion is chasing thee, no enemy, and there ts no fear or danger.” He said, “I am fleeing from the fool. Be- gone! I am saving myself. Do not hinder me!’ “Why,” said he, “art not thou the Messiah by whom the blind and deaf are restored to sight and hearing?”’ 7 Book III, v. 2570. 122 HOW JESUS FLED FROM THE FOOLS He said, “‘Yea.” Said the other, ‘‘Art not thou the King in whom the spells of the Unseen World have their abode, So that, when thou chantest them over a dead man, he springs up like a lion that has caught his prey?” He said, “‘Yea, I am he.”’ Said the other, ‘‘Dost not thou make living birds out of clay," O beauteous one?”’ He said, “‘Yea.”’ Said the other, “Then, O pure Spirit, thou doest whatsoever thou wilt: of whom hast thou fear? With such miraculous evidence, who in the world would not be a slave devoted to thee ?”’ Jesus said, “By the holy Essence of God, the Maker of the body and the Creator of the soul in eternity ; By the sanctity of the pure Essence and Attri- butes of Him for whose sake the collar of Heaven is rent, I swear that the spells and the Most Great Name which I pronounced over the deaf and blind were good in their effects. I pronounced them over the stony mountain: it was cloven and tore upon itself its mantle down to the navel. I pronounced them over the corpse: it came to Qur'an, III, 43. | TALES OF MYSTIC MEANING life. I pronounced them over nonentity: it became entity. I pronounced them lovingly over the heart of the fool hundreds of thousands of times, and twas no cure for his folly.” THE MAN WHO THOUGHT HE HAD PRAYED TO GOD IN VAIN’ ONE night a certain man was crying “Allah!” till his lips grew sweet with praise of Him. The Devil said, “Prithee, O garrulous one, where is the response ‘Here am I’ to all this Not a single response is coming from the Throne: how long will you cry ‘Allah’ with grim face?”