Mevlânâ — Mesnevî (tam, İngilizce çeviri)

Though man fell asleep and forgot his previous states, Yet God will not leave him in this self-forgetfulness; And then he will laugh at his own former state Saying, " What mattered my experiences when asleep? When I had forgotten my prosperous condition, And knew not that the grief and ills I experienced Were the effect of sleep and illusion and fancy? In like manner this world, which is only a dream. Seems to the sleeper as a thing enduring for ever But when the morn of the last day shall dawn, The sleeper will escape from the cloud of illusion; Laughter will overpower him at his own fancied grieves When he beholds his abiding home and place. Whatever you see in this sleep, both good and evil, Will all be exposed to view on the resurrection day. Whatever you have done during your sleep in the world Will be displayed to you clearly when you awake. Imagine not that these ill deeds of yours exist not In this sleep of yours, and will not be revealed to you. But your present laughter will turn to weeping and woe On the day of revealing, O you who oppress captives! Your present wailing and sorrow and grieves, On the other hand, will be joy when you awake, O you, who have rent the garments of many Josephs, You will rise from your heavy sleep as a wolf. Your bad qualities will rise in the shape of wolves And rend you limb from limb in vengeance. By the law of retaliation blood sleeps not after death; Say not, "I shall die and obtain pardon." The retaliation of this world is illusive, It is mere sport compared to the retaliation to come. Therefore God calls the world "a pastime and a sport, For punishment in this world is sport compared to that Here punishment is as the repression of quarrels, There it is as castration or circumcision. But this discourse is endless, O Moses, Go and leave these asses to their grazing! Let them fatten themselves with the food they love, For they are very wolves and objects of my wrath. Zu'l Qarnain at Mount Qaf. Zu'l Qarnain journeyed to Mount Qaf; He saw it was formed of a bright emerald, Forming as it were a ring round the world, Whereat all people are filled with wonder. He said, "Thou mighty hill, what are other hills? Before thee they are mere playthings." The Mount replied, "Those hills are my veins, But they are not like me in beauty and importance. A hidden vein from me runs to every city, The quarters of the world are bound to my veins. When God desires an earthquake under any city, He bids me shake one of my veins. Then in anger I shake that vein Which is connected with that particular city. When He says, 'Enough,' my vein remains still, I remain still, and then haste to perform my work. Now still like a plaster, and now operating; Now still like thought, and then speaking my thought. But they who are void of reason imagine That these earthquakes proceed from earth's vapors." Just so an ant who saw a pen writing on paper, Delivered himself to another ant in this way 'That pen is making very wonderful figures, Like hyacinths and lilies and roses.' The other said, 'The finger is the real worker, The pen is only the instrument of its working.' A third ant said, ' No; the action proceeds from the arm, The weak finger writes with the arm's might.'

So it went on upwards, till at last A prince of the ants, who had some wit Said, 'Ye regard only the outward form of this marvel, Which form becomes senseless in sleep and death. Form is only as a dress or a staff in the hand, It is only from reason and mind these figures proceed.' But he knew not that this reason and mind Would be but lifeless things without God's impulsion. The angel Gabriel appears to the Prophet Muhammad. Mustafa said to the angel Gabriel, "O friend, show me thy form as it really is; Show it to me openly and perceptibly, That I may behold thee with my eyes." Gabriel said, "Thou canst not do so, thou art too weak, Thy senses are exceeding weak and frail." Muhammad said, "Show it, that this body of mine may see To what extent its senses are frail and impotent. True, man's bodily senses are frail, But he possesses within him a mighty property. This body resembles flint and steel, But like them it has the power of kindling fire. Flint and steel are able to generate fire, From them springs fire which can destroy its parents." As he continued importuning him, Gabriel displayed His awful form, whereat the mountains were rent asunder. It occupied the sky from east to west. And Mustafa swooned with fear. When Gabriel beheld him swooning with fear, He came and clasped him in his arms. Address to Husamu-'d-Din. O light of God, Husamu-'d-Din, admit This ass's head into that melon-garden! For when this ass is killed in the slaughter-house That kitchen will bestow upon him a new existence. From me proceeds the form, from thee the spirit; Nay, form and spirit both proceed from thee! Thou art as Muhammad in heaven, O brilliant Sun! Be also as Muhammad on earth forever and ever! So that earth and heaven on high may be united With one heart, one worship, one aspiration! And schism and polytheism and duality disappear, And Unity abide in the Real Spiritual Being! When my spirit recognizes thy spirit, We remember our essential union and origin. 2. See the parallel passage in Gulshan i Raz, I. 317, and the note. It is based on the Aristotelian doctrine of the ascend- ing grades of the soul, or vital principle. 4. Zu'l Qarnain, Chaucer's Dulkarn, means "He of the two horns," and here denotes Alexander the Great. 5. See the parallel passage in Gulshan i Raz, I. 431, and the note thereon. This property is the mystic "inner light" or spiritual intuition. THE SPIRITUAL COUPLETS MAULANA JALALU-'D-DIN MUHAMMAD RUMI STORY I. The Prophet and his Infidel Guest.

AFTER the usual address to Husamu-'d-Din follows a comment on the precept addressed to Abraham, "Take four birds and draw them towards thee, and cut them in pieces." The birds are explained to be the duck of gluttony, the cock of concupiscence, the peacock of ambition and ostentation, and the crow of bad desires, and this is made the text of several stories. Beginning with gluttony, the poet tells the following story to illustrate the occasion of the Prophet's uttering the saying, Infidels eat with seven bellies, but the faithful with one." One day some infidels begged food and lodging of the Prophet. The Prophet was moved by their entreaties, and desired each of his disciples to take one of the infidels to his house and feed and lodge him, remarking that it was their duty to show kindness to strangers at his command, as much as to do battle with his foes. So each disciple selected one of the infidels and carried him off to his house; but there was one big and coarse man, a very giant Og, whom no one would receive, and the Prophet took him to his own house. In his house the Prophet had seven she-goats to supply his family with milk, and the hungry infidel devoured all the milk of those seven goats, to say nothing of bread and other viands. He left not a drop for the Prophet's family, who were therefore much annoyed with him, and when he retired to his chamber one of the servant-maids locked him in. During the night the infidel felt very unwell in consequence of having overeaten himself, and tried to get out into the open air, but was unable to do so, owing to the door being locked. Finally, he was very sick, and defiled his bedding. In the morning he was extremely ashamed, and the moment the door was opened he ran away. The Prophet was aware of what had happened, but let the man escape, so as not to put him to shame. After he had gone the servants saw the mess he had made, and informed the Prophet of it; but the Prophet made light of it, and said he would clean it up himself. His friends were shocked at the thought of the Prophet soiling his sacred hands with such filth, and tried to prevent him, but he persisted in doing it, calling to mind the text, "As thou livest, O Muhammad, they were bewildered by drunk- enness," and being, in fact, urged to it by a divine com- mand. While he was engaged in the work the infidel came back to look for a talisman which he had left behind him in his hurry to escape, and seeing the Prophet's occupation he burst into tears, and bewailed his own filthy conduct. The Prophet consoled him, saying that weeping and penitence would purge the offence, for God says, "Little let them laugh, and much let them weep;" and again, "Lend God a liberal loan;" and again, "God only desireth to put away

filthiness from you as His household, and with cleansing to cleanse you." Prophet then urged him to bear witness that God was the Lord, even as was done by the sons of Adam, explained how the outward acts of prayer and fasting bear witness of the spiritual light within. After being nurtured on this spiritual food the infidel confessed the truth of Islam, and renounced his infidelity and gluttony. He returned thanks to the Prophet for bringing him to the knowledge of the true faith and regenerating him, even as 'Isa had regen- erated Lazarus. The Prophet was satisfied of his sincerity, and asked him to sup with him again. At supper he drank only half the portion of milk yielded by one goat, and stead- fastly refused to take more, saying he felt perfectly satisfied with the little he had already taken. The other guests mar- veled much to see his gluttony so soon cured, and were led to reflect on the virtues of the spiritual food administered to him by the Prophet. Outward acts bear witness of the state of the heart within. Prayer and fasting and pilgrimage and holy war Bear witness of the faith of the heart. Giving alms and offerings and quitting avarice Also bear witness of the secret thoughts. So, a table spread for guests serves as a plain sign, Saying, "O guest, I am your sincere well-wisher." So, offerings and presents and oblations Bear witness, saying, "I am well pleased with you." Each of these men lavishes his wealth or pains, What means it but to say, "I have a virtue within me, Yea, a virtue of piety or liberality, Whereof my oblations and fasting bear witness"? Fasting proclaims that he abstains from lawful food, And that therefore he doubtless avoids unlawful food. And his alms say, "He gives away his own goods; It is therefore plain that he does not rob others." If he acts thus from fraud, his two witnesses (Fasting and alms) are rejected in God's court; If the hunter scatters grain Not out of mercy, but to catch game; If the cat keeps fast, and remains still In fasting only to entrap unwary birds; Making hundreds of people suspicious, And giving a bad name to men who fast and are liberal; Yet the grace of God, despite this fraud, May ultimately purge him from all this hypocrisy. Mercy may prevail over vengeance, and give the hypocrite Such light as is not possessed by the full moon. God may purge his dealings from that hypocrisy, And in mercy wash him clean of that defilement. In order that the pardoning grace of God may be seen, God pardons all sins that need pardon. Wherefore God rains down water from the sign Pisces, To purify the impure from their impurities. Thus acts and words are witnesses of the mind within, From these two deduce inferences as to the thoughts. When your vision cannot penetrate within, Inspect the water voided by the sick man. Acts and words resemble the sick man's water, Which serves as evidence to the physician of the body. But the physician of the spirit penetrates the soul, And thence ascertains the man's faith. Such an one needs not the evidence of fair acts and words "Beware of such, they spy out the heart." Require this evidence of act and word only from one Who is not joined to the divine Ocean like a stream. But the light of the traveler arrived at the goal, Verily that light fills deserts and wastes.

That witness of his is exempt from bearing witness, And from all trouble and risk and good works. Since the brilliance of that jewel beams forth, It is exempted from these obligations. Wherefore require not from him act and word evidence, Because both worlds through him bloom like roses. What is this evidence but manifestation of hidden things, Whether it be evidence in word, or deed, or otherwise? Accidents serve only to manifest the secret essence; The essential quality abides, and accidents pass away. This mark of gold endures not the touchstone, But only the gold itself, genuine and undoubted. These prayers and holy war and fasting Will not endure, only the noble soul endures. The soul exhibits acts and words of this sort, Then it rubs its substance on the touchstone of God's command, Saying, "My faith is true, behold my witnesses!" But witnesses are open to suspicion. Know that witnesses must be purified, And their purification is sincerity, on that you may depend. The witness of word consists in speaking the truth, The witness of acts in keeping one's promises. If the witness of word lie, its evidence is rejected, And if the witness of act play false, it is rejected. Your words and acts must be without self-contradiction In order to be accepted without question. "Your aims are different," and you contradict yourselves, You sew by day, and tear to pieces by night. How can God listen to such contradictory witness, Unless He be pleased to decide on it in mercy? Act and word manifest the secret thoughts and mind, Both of them expose to view the veiled secret. When your witnesses are purified they are accepted, Otherwise they are arrested and kept in durance. They enter into conflict with you, O stiff-necked one; "Stand aloof and wait for them, for they too wait." Prayers for spiritual enlightenment. O God, who hast no peer, bestow Thy favor upon me; Since Thou hast with this discourse put a ring in my ear, Take me by the ear, and draw me into that holy assembly Where Thy saints in ecstasy drink of Thy pure wine! Now that Thou hast caused me to smell its perfume, Withhold not from me that musky wine, O Lord of faith Of Thy bounty all partake, both men and women, Thou art ungrudging in bounties, O Hearer of prayer. Prayers are granted by Thee before they are uttered, Thou openest the door to admit hearts every moment! How many letters Thou writest with Thy Almighty pen! Through marveling thereat stones become as wax. Thou writest the Nun of the brow, the Sad of the eye, And the Jim of the ear, to amaze reason and sense. These letters exercise and perplex reason; Write on, O skilful Fair-writer! Imprinting every moment on Not-being the fair forms Of the world of ideals, to confound all thought! Yea, copying thereon the fair letters of the page of ideals, To wit, eye and brow and moustache and mole! For me, I will be a lover of Not-being, not of existence, Because the beloved of Not-being is more blessed. God made reason a reader of all these letters, To suggest to it reflections on that outpouring of grace. Reason, like Gabriel, learns day by day 1 3 Its daily portion from the "Indelible Tablet." Behold the letters written without hands on Not-being! Behold the perplexity of mankind at those letters! Every one is bewildered by these thoughts, And digs for hidden treasure in hope to find it. This bewilderment of mankind as to their true aims is

compared to the bewilderment of men in the dark looking in all directions for the Qibla, and recalls the text, "O the misery that rests Then follow reflections on the sacrifice by Abraham of the peacock of ambition and ostentation. Next comes a dis- course on the thesis that all men can recognize the mercies of God and the wrath of God; but God's mercies are often hidden in His chastisements, and vice versa, and it is only men of deep spiritual discernment who can recognize acts of mercy and acts of wrath concealed in their opposites. The object of this concealment is to try and test men's disposi- tions; according to the text, "To prove which of you will be most righteous in deed." 4. Koran lxxiii. 20. 5. Koran xxxiii. 33. 7. "Islam is the baptism of God" (Koran ii. 132). 9. Koran xxxii. 30. i.e., Wait thou for their punishment, as they wait for thy downfall (Rodwell). 10. Here we have another Platonic doctrine. "Some say the belief of the Sufis is the same as that of the Ishraqin (Platonists)." Dabistan i Muzahib, by Shea and Troyer, iii. 281. 1 1. I.e., I will recognize the nonentity of all this phenomenal being, and court self-annihilation. 12. The Bulaq translator renders An naward thus. 13. The "Indelible Tablet" (of God's decrees) is here applied to the Logos-the channel through whom God renews the "world of creation" day by day. 14. Koran xxxvi. 29. STORY II. The Arab and his Dog. The doctrine of the Mu'tazilites, mentioned, that all men's intellects are alike and equal at birth, is again contro- verted, and the poet dwells on the essential differences which characterize the intellects akin to Universal Reason or the Logos, and those swayed by partial or carnal reason; the former, like the children of Israel, seeking exaltation through self-abasement; and the others, like Pharaoh, run- ning after worldly rank and power, to their own destruc- tion. In order to make probation of men, as already explained, God fills the world with deceptions, making apparent blessings destructive to us, and apparent evils salu- tary. On the other hand, if men try to deceive God, they fail signally. Hypocritical weeping and wailing like that of Josephs brethren is at once detected by God. Thus a certain Arab had a dog to which he was much attached; but one day the dog died of hunger. He at once began to weep and wail, and disturbed the whole neighborhood by his ostentatious grief One of the neighbors came and inquired into the mat- ter, and on hearing that the dog had died of hunger, he asked the Arab why he had not fed him from the wallet of food which he had in his hand. The Arab said that he had collected this food to support himself, and made it a prin- ciple not to part with any of it to any one who could not pay for it; but that, as his tears cost him nothing, he was pouring them forth in token of the sorrow he felt for his dog's death. The neighbor, on hearing this, rebuked him for his hypocrisy, and went his way. Then follows a commen- tary on the text, "Almost would the infidels strike thee down with their very looks when they hear the reading of the Koran." 1. The Mu'tazilites were one of the principal unorthodox sects. See Sale, Prelim. Disc, p. 112. 2. "Of them who devise stratagems, God is beast" (Koran iii. 47). 3. Koran lxviii. 5 1 .

STORY III. The Sage and the Peacock. A sage went out to till his field, and saw a peacock busily engaged in destroying his own plumage with his beak. At seeing this insane self-destruction the sage could not refrain himself, but cried out to the peacock to forbear from muti- lating himself and spoiling his beauty in so wanton a man- ner. The peacock then explained to him that the bright plumage which he admired so much was a fruitful source of danger to its unfortunate owner, as it led to his being con- stantly pursued by hunters, whom he had no strength to contend against; and he had accordingly decided on ridding himself of it with his own beak, and making himself so ugly that no hunter would in future care to molest him. The poet proceeds to point out that worldly cleverness and accom- plishments and wealth endanger man's spiritual life, like the peacock's plumage; but, nevertheless, they are appointed for our probation, and without such trials there can be no virtue. "There is no monkery in Islam. " Tear not thy plumage off it cannot be replaced; Disfigure not thy face in wantonness, O fair one! That face which is bright as the forenoon sun, To disfigure it were a grievous sin. 'Twere paganism to mar such a face as thine! The moon itself would weep to lose sight of it! Knowest thou not the beauty of thine own face? Quit this temper that leads thee to war with thyself] It is the claws of thine own foolish thoughts That in spite wound the face of thy quiet soul. Know such thoughts to be claws fraught with poison, Which score deep wounds on the face of thy soul. Rend not thy plumage off, but avert thy heart from it For hostility between them is the law of this holy war. Were there no hostility, that war would be impossible. Hadst thou no lust, obedience to the law could not be. Hadst thou no concupiscence there could be no absti- nence. Where no antagonist, what need is there of armies? Ah! make not thyself an eunuch, not a monk, Because chastity is mortgaged to lust. Without lust denial of lust is impossible No man can display bravery against the dead. God says, "Expend;" wherefore earn money. Since expenditure is impossible without previous gain? Although the passage contains only the word "Expend," Read "Acquire first, and then expend." In like manner, when the King of kings says "Abstain," It implies an object of desire wherefrom to abstain. Again, "Eat ye," is said recognising the snares of lust, And afterwards, " Exceed not," to enjoin temperance. When there is no subject, The existence of a predicate is not possible. When thou endurest not the pains of abstinence And fulfillest not the terms, thou gainest no reward. How easy those terms! how abundant that reward! A reward that enchants the heart and charms the soul! This is followed by the admonition that the only way to be safe from one's internal enemies is to annihilate self, a,nd to be absorbed in the eternity of God, as the light of the stars

is lost in the light of the noonday sun. Everything but God is at once preyed on by others, and itself preys on others, like the fowl which, when catching a worm, was itself caught by a cat. Men are so intent on their own low objects of pursuit that they see not their foes who are trying to make them their prey. Thus it is said, "Before them have we set a barri- er, and behind them a barrier, so that they shall not see." Persons who lust after the vile pleasures of this world, and desire long life, not to serve God, but to satisfy their own carnal lusts, resemble the crow slain by Abraham, because he only lived for the sake of carrion; or Iblis, who prayed to be respited till the day of judgment, not for the purpose of reforming himself but only to do mischief to mankind. Prayers to God to change our base inclinations and give us higher aspirations. Thou that changest earth into gold, And out of other earth madest the father of mankind, Thy business is changing things and bestowing favors, My business is mistakes and forgetfulness and error. Change my mistakes and forgetfulness to knowledge; 1 am altogether vile, make me temperate and meek. O Thou that convertest salt earth into bread, And bread again into the life of men; Thou who madest the erring soul a guide to men, And him that erred from the way a prophet; Thou makest some earth-born men as heaven, And muitipliest heaven-born saints on earth! But whoso seeks his water of life in worldly joys, To him comes death quicker than to the rest. The eyes of the heart which behold the heavens See that the Almighty Alchemist is ever working here. Mankind are ever being changed, and God's elixir Joins the body's garment without aid of needle. On the day that you entered upon existence, You were first fire, or earth, or air. If you had continued in that, your original state, How could you have arrived at this dignity of humanity? But through change your first existence remained not In lien thereof God gave you a better existence In like manner He will give you thousands of existences, One after another, the succeeding ones better than the former. Regard your original state, not the mean states, For these mean states remove you from your origin. As these mean states increase, union recedes; As they decrease, the unction of union increases. From knowing means and causes holy bewilderment fails; Yea, the bewilderment that leads you to God's presence. You have obtained these existences after annihilations; Wherefore, then, do you shrink from annihilation? What harm have these annihilations done you That you cling so to present existence, O simpleton? Since the latter of your states were better than the former, Seek annihilation and adore change of state. You have already seen hundreds of resurrections Occur every moment from your origin till now; One from the inorganic state to the vegetive state, From the vegetive state to the animal state of trial; Thence again to rationality and good discernment; Again you will rise from this world of sense and form. Ah! O crow, give up this life and live anew! In view of God's changes cast away your life! Choose the new, give up the old, For each single present year is better than three past.

This is followed by a commentary on the saying of the Prophet, "Pity the pious man who falls into sin, and the rich man who falls into poverty, and the wise man who falls into the company of fools." This is illustrated by an anecdote of a young deer who was placed in the asses stable, and jeered at and maltreated by them. This suggests — 2. Cp. Bp. Butler, "On a state of probation as implying trial and danger" (Analogy, Chap. iv. Pt. 1). 3. Probably referring to Origin. 6. Koran vi. 142: "Eat of their fruit, but be not prodigal, and exceed not." 7. Or, "If there be no supporter, there can be nothing support- ed." STORY IV. Muhammad Khwarazm Shah and the Rafizis of Sabzawar. Muhammad Shah was the last prince but one of the Khwarazm dynasty of Balkh, to which family both the poet's mother and grandmother belonged. He was the reigning prince in AD. 1209, the year in which the poet's father fled from Balkh, and was defeated by Chingiz Khan a year or two later. In one of his campaigns Muhammad Shah captured the city of Sabzawar, in Khorasan, which city as inhabited by Rafizis or rank Shi'as, naturally most obnox- ious to a Sunni prince claiming descent from the first Khahif Abu Bakr. After the city was taken the inhabitants came out, and proceeded with all humility to beg their lives, offering to pay any amount of ransom and tribute that he might impose upon them. But the prince replied that he would spare their lives only on one condition, viz., that they produced from Sabzawar a man bearing the name Abu Bakr. They represented to him that it would be impossible to find in the whole city a single man bearing a name so hateful to the Shi'as; but the prince was inexorable, and refused to alter the conditions. So they went and searched all the neighbourhood, and at last found a traveler lying at the roadside at the point of death, who bore the name of Abu Bakr. As he was unable to walk, they placed him on a bier and carried him into the king's presence. The king reproached them for their contempt and neglect of this pious Sunni, the only true heart amongst them, and reminded them of the saying of the Prophet, "God regards not your outward show and your wealth, but your hearts and your deeds." In this parable, says the poet, Sabzawar is the world, the poor Sunni the man of God, despised and rejected of men, and the king is God Almighty, who seeks a true heart amongst evil men. Satan's snares for mankind. Thus spake cursed Iblis to the Almighty, "I want a mighty trap to catch human game withal." God gave him gold and silver and troops of horses Saying, "You can catch my creatures with these." Iblis said, "Bravo!" but at the same time hung his lip, And frowned sourly like a bitter orange. Then God offered gold and jewels from precious mines To that laggard in the faith, Saying, "Take these other traps, O cursed one." But Iblis said, "Give me more, O blessed Defender." God gave him succulent and sweet and costly wines, And also store of silken garments. But Iblis said, " O Lord, I want more aids than these, In order to bind men in my twisted rope So firmly that Thy adorers, who are valiant men May not, man-like, break my bonds asunder."

When at last God showed him the beauty of women, Which bereaves men of reason and self-control, Then Iblis clapped his hands and began to dance, Saying, "Give me these; I shall quickly prevail with these!" This is followed by comments on the text, "Of goodliest fabric we created man, and then brought him down to the lowest of the low, saving those who believe and do the things that are right;" and on the verses, "If thou goest the road, they will show thee the road; If thou becomest naught, they will turn thee to being." STORY V. The Man who claimed to be a Prophet. A man cried out to the people, "I am a prophet; yea, the most excellent of the prophets." The people seized him by the collar, saying, "How are you any more a prophet than we are?" He replied, "Ye came to earth from the spirit-world as sleeping children, seeing nothing of the way; but I came hither with my eyes open, and marked all the stages of the way like a guide." On this they led him before the king, and begged the king to punish him. The king, seeing that he was very infirm, took pity on him, and led him apart and asked him where his home was. The man replied, "O king, my home is in the house of peace (heaven), and I am come thence into this house of reproach." The king then asked him what he had been eating to make him rave as he did, and he said if he lived on mere earthly bread he should not have claimed to be a prophet. His preaching was entirely thrown away on worldly men, who only desire to hear news of gold or women, and are annoyed with all who speak to them of the eternal life to come. They cleave to the present life so fast that they hate those who tell them of another. They say, "Ye are telling us old fables and raving idly;" and when they see pious men prospering they envy them, and, like Satan, become more opposed to them. God said, "What thinkest thou of him who holdeth back a servant of God when he prayeth?" The king then said to him, "What is this inspiration of yours, and what profit do you derive from it?" The man answered, "What profit is there that I do not derive from it? I grant I am not rich in worldly wealth, yet the inspiration God teaches me is surely as precious as that which He taught the bees. God taught them to make wax and honey, and He teaches me nobler things than these. Whoso has his face reddened with celestial wine is a prophet of like dispo- sition with Muhammad, and whoso is unaffected by that spiritual drink is to be accounted an enemy to God and man." The Prophet's prayer for the envious people. O Thou that givest aliment and power and stability, Set free the people from their instability. To the soul that is bent double by envy Give uprightness in the path of duty, Give them self-control, "weigh down their scales," Release them from the arts of deceivers. Redeem them from envying, O gracious One, That through envy they be not stoned like Iblis. Even in their fleeting prosperity, see how the people Burn up wealth and men through envy! See the kings who lead forth their armies To slay their own people from envy! Lovers of sweethearts have conceived jealousy, And attempted one another's lives,

Read " Wais and Ramin" and "Khosrau and Shirin" To see what these fools have done to one another. Lovers and beloved have both perished; And not themselves only, but their love as well. 'Tis God alone who agitates these nonentities Making one nonentity fall in love with another. In the heart that is no heart envy comes to a head, Thus Being troubles nonentity. This is followed by an anecdote of a lover who recounted to his mistress all the services he had done, and all the toils he had undergone for her sake, and inquired if there was anything else he could do to testify the sincerity of his love. His mistress replied, "All these things you have done are but the branches of love; you have not yet attained to the root, which is to give up life itself for the sake of your beloved." The lover accordingly gave up his life, and enjoyed eternal fruition of his love, according to the text, "O thou soul which art at rest, return to thy Lord, pleased, and pleasing Him." 6 This is followed by a statement of the doctrine of the jurist Abu Hanifa, to whose school the poet belonged, that weeping, even aloud, during prayer does not render the prayers void, provided that the weeping be caused by thoughts of the world to come, and not by thoughts of this present world. And, apparently in allusion to the name Abu Hanifa, the poet recalls the text, "They followed the faith of Abraham, the orthodox" (Hanifun). Notes: 5. Koran xv. 17. The sin of Iblis was his envy of Adam. 7. Mishkat ul Masabih, i. p. 209, note. STORY VI. The Disciple who blindly imitated his Shaikh. An ignorant youth entered an assembly of pious persons who were being addressed by a holy Shaikh. He saw the Shaikh weeping copiously, and in mere blind and senseless imitation he copied the Shaikh's behavior, and wept as copi- ously himself, though he understood not a word of the dis- course. In fact, he behaved just like a deaf man who sees those around him laughing, and laughs himself out of com-

pliment to them, though he knows not the subject of their merriment, and is obliged to have it explained to him before he can laugh again with real perception of the joke. After he had wept in this ignorant way for some time he made due obeisance to the Shaikh, and took his departure. But one of the Shaikhs true disciples, being jealous for the honor of his master, followed him, and thus addressed him, "I adjure you by Allah that you go not and say, 'I saw the Shaikh weeping, and I too wept like him.' Your ignorant and mere imitative weeping is totally unlike the weeping of that holy saint. Such weeping as his is only possible to one who has, like him, waged the spiritual war for thirty years. His weep- ing is not caused by worldly grieves, but by the deep con- cerns of the spirit. You cannot perceive by reason or sense the spiritual mysteries that are open and plain to his enlight- ened vision, any more than the darkness can behold the light. His breathings are as those of 'Isa, and not like mere human sighs raised by worldly sorrows. His tears and his smiles and his speeches are not his own, but proceed from Allah. Fools like you are ignorant of the motive and design of saints' actions, and therefore only harm themselves if they try to imitate them, without understanding their meaning." To illustrate this a curious story is told of a foolish lady who copied a trick of her clever slave-girl, without understand- ing the modus operandi, and by so doing caused her own death. In like manner parrots are taught to speak without understanding the words. The method is to place a mirror between the parrot and the trainer. The trainer, hidden by the mirror, utters the words, and the parrot, seeing his own reflection in the mirror, fancies another parrot is speaking, and imitates all that is said by the trainer behind the mirror. So God uses prophets and saints as mirrors whereby to instruct men, being Himself all the time hidden behind these mirrors, viz., the bodies of these saints and prophets; and men, when they hear the words proceeding from these mirrors, are utterly ignorant that they are really being spo- ken by "Universal Reason" or the "Word of God" behind the mirrors of the saints. The worthlessness of mere blind imitation (taqlid) of religious exercises. When a friend tells a joke to his friend, The deaf man who listens laughs twice over; The first time from imitation and foolishness, Because he sees all the party laughing; Yet, though he laughs like the others, He is then ignorant of the subject of their laughter; Then he inquires what the laughter was about, And, on hearing it, proceeds to laugh a second time. Wherefore the blind imitator is like a deaf man, In regard to the joy he feigns to feel. The light is the Shaikh's, the fountain the Shaikh's, And the outpouring of joy is also the Shaikh's, not his. 'Tis like water in a vessel, or light through a glass; If they think they come from themselves, they are wron£ When the vessel leaves the fountain, it sees its error; It sees the water in it comes from the fountain. The glass also learns, when the moon sets, That its light proceeded from the shining of the moon. When his eyes are opened by the command, "Arise!" Then that disciple smiles a second time, like the dawn. He laughs also at his own previous laughter,

Which overtook him out of mere blind imitation. When he returns from his long and distant wanderings He says, "Lo! this was the truth, this the secret! With what blindness and misconception did I pretend. To experience joy in that distant valley? What a delusion I was under! what a mistake! My feeble wit conjured up vain imaginations." How can an infant on the road know the thoughts of men? How far its fancies are removed from true knowledge! The thoughts of infants run on the nurse and milk, Or on raisins or nuts, or on crying and wailing. The blind imitator is like a feeble infant, Even though he possesses fine arguments and proofs. His preoccupation with obscure arguments and proofs Drags him away from insight into truth. His stock of lore, which is the salve of his eyes, Bears him off and plunges him in difficult questions. Ah! man of imitation, come out of Bokhara! And humble yourself in order to be exalted. Then you will, behold another Bokhara within you, Whereof the heroes ignore these questions of law. Though a footman may be swift of foot on land, Yet on the sea he is as one with ruptured tendons. That footman is only "carried by land," But he who is "carried by sea" is the truly learned one. The King of kings showers special favors upon him; Know this, O man pledged to vain illusions! The mere legal theologian is impotent to behold the light of the Spirit. When the day dawns from heaven night flees away; What, then, can its darkness know of the nature of light? The gnat scuds away before the blast of the winds; What, then, knows the gnat of the savor of the winds? When the Eternal appears the transitory is annulled; What, then, knows he transitory of the Eternal? When He sets foot on the transitory He bewilders it; When it is become naught He sheds his light upon it, If you wish, you can adduce hundreds of precedents, But I take no heed of them, O man poor in spirit! The letters Lam, Mim, and Ha, Mim prefixed to some Suras Resemble the staff of Moses, when fully understood. Ordinary letters resemble these 'to outward view, But are far beneath them in signification. If an ordinary man 'take a staff and try it, Will it prove like the staff of Moses in the test? This breath of 'Isa is not like every ordinary breath, Which proceeds from mere human joy or sorrow. These Alif, Mim, Ha and Mim, O father, Proceed from the Lord of mankind. If you have sense, regard not in the same way as these Every ordinary Alif and Lam which resembles these; Although these sacred letters consist of common ones, And resemble common ones in their composition. Muhammad himself was formed of flesh and skin, Although no man is of the same genus as he. He had flesh and skin and bones, Although no man resembles him in composition; Because in his composition were contained divine powers, Whereby all human flesh was confounded. In like manner the composition of the letters Ha, Mim Is far exalted above ordinary compounds of letters; Because from these mysterious compositions comes life, Even as utter confusion follows the last trump. That staff becomes a serpent and divides the Nile, Like the staff of Ha, Mim, by the grace of God. Its outward form resembles the outward forms of others, Yet the disk of a cake differs much from the moon's disk. The saint's weeping and laughter and speech

Are not his own, but proceed from God. Whereas fools look only to outward appearances, These mysteries are totally hidden from them; Of necessity the real meaning is veiled from them, For the mystery is lost in the intervening medium. Then follows an anecdote of a man who heard whelps barking in their mother's womb. A voice came from heaven and explained that these whelps were like the men who have not emerged into the light of truth, but are still veiled in spiritual darkness, and, though they make pretensions to spiritual sight, their discourses are useless, both to procure spiritual food for themselves, and to warn their hearers of spiritual dangers. Next comes an anecdote of a pious man of Zarwan, who made a point of giving to the poor four times the legal amount of alms due from his growing crops. Thus, instead of paying one-tenth on each crop, which is the legal amount enjoined by the Prophet, 6 he was wont to pay one-tenth of the green ears of corn, another tenth of the ripe wheat, a third tenth of the threshed grain, and a fourth of the bread made therefrom, and so on with grapes and other produce of hi garden. In recognition of his piety God blessed his gar- den and made it bear fruit abundantly. But his sons, who were blind to spiritual matters, saw only his lavish expendi- ture upon the poor, and could not see the divine blessing upon the garden, called down by his liberality, and rebuked him for his extravagance. There is no limit to the divine bounty, because God's ability to bestow bounties, unlike human ability, is unbounded and infinite. 1. Koran lxxiv. 2. Dawn smiles first as "false dawn," and the second time as "true dawn." 2. Alluding to Bokhari, the author of the "Sahih Bokhari," the first and most esteemed collection of traditions. 3. Koran xvii. 72. The man of "external knowledge" is "carried only by land," but the mystic is led over sea as well. 4. When reason is annihilated, the "Truth" is reflected in the resulting caput mortuum or Not-being, as in a mirror (Gulshan i Raz, I. 125). 5. These letters were supposed to have mysterious meanings. See Rodwell, Koran, p. 17, note. 6. Miskat ul Masabih, i. 417. STORY VII. How Adam was created out of a handful of earth brought by an Angel.

When the Almighty determined to create mankind to be proved by good and evil, He deputed the angel Gabriel to bring a handful of earth for the purpose of forming Adam's body. Gabriel accordingly girded his loins and proceeded to the Earth to execute the divine commands. But the Earth, being apprehensive that the man so created would rebel against God and draw down God's curse upon her, remon- strated with Gabriel, and besought him to forbear. She rep- resented that Gabriel would at the last day be pre-eminent over all the eight angels who would then support the throne, and that it therefore was only right that he should prefer mercy to judgment. At last Gabriel granted her prayer, and returned to heaven without taking the handful of earth. Then God deputed Michael on the same errand, and the Earth made similar excuses to him, and he also lis- tened to her crying, and returned to heaven without taking a handful. He excused himself to the Almighty by citing the example of the people to whom the prophet Jonah was sent, who were delivered from the threatened penalty in conse- quence of their lamentation for their sins; and the text, "If He please, He will deliver you from that which ye shall cry to Him to avert." Then God sent the angel Israfil on the same errand, and he also was diverted from the execution of it by a divine intimation. At last God sent 'Izrail, the angel of death, who, being of sterner disposition than the others, resolutely shut his ears to the Earth's entreaties, and brought back the required handful of earth. The Earth pressed him with the argument that God's command to bear away a handful of her substance against her will did not override the other divine command to take pity on suppliants; but 'Izrail would not listen to her, remarking that, according to the canons of theological interpretation, it was not allow- able to have recourse to analogical reasoning to evade a plain and categorical injunction. He added, that in execut- ing this injunction, painful though it might be, he was to be regarded only as a spear in the hand of the Almighty. The moral is, that when any of God's creatures do us a harm, we ought to regard them only as instruments of God, who is the Only Real Agent. God the Only Real Agent. Do not, like fools, crave mercy from the spear, But from the King in whose hand the spear is held. Wherefore do you cry to spear and sword, Seeing they are captives in the hand of that Noble One? He is as Azar, maker of idols; I am only the idol; Whatever instrument He makes me, that I am. If He makes of me a cup, a cup am I; If He makes of me a dagger, a dagger am I. If He makes me a fountain, I pour forth water; If He makes me fire, I give forth heat. If He makes me rain, I produce rich crops; If He makes me a dart, I pierce bodies. If He makes me a snake, I dart forth poison; If He makes me a friend, I serve my friends. I am as the pen in the fingers of the writer, I am not in a position to obey or not at will.

On the return of 'Izrail to heaven with the handful of earth, God said he would make him the angel of death. 'Izrail represented that this would make him very hateful to men; but God said 'Izrail would operate by disease and sick- ness, and men would not look for any cause beyond these diseases, according to the text, "He is nearer to you than ye are; yet ye see Him not." Moreover, death is in reality a boon to the spiritual, and it is only fools who cry, "Would that this world might endure for ever, and that there were no such thing as death!" Death is gain, for "God will their evil things into One said, "The world would be a pleasant place If death never set foot within it." Another answered, "If there were no death, The complicated world would be worth not a jot. It would be a crop raised in a desert, Left neglected and never threshed out. Thou fanciest that to be death, which is life, Thou sowest thy seed in salt ground. Carnal reason deceives us; do thou contradict it, For that fool takes what is really death to be life. O God, show us all things in this house of deception, Show them all as they really are!" It is said in the Hadis that on the last day The command, "Arise," will come to every single body. The blast of the last trump will be God's command To every atom to lift its head from the earth. The souls, also, of each will return to their bodies, Even as sense returns to bodies awaking from sleep. On that morn each soul will recognize its own body, And return to its own ruin like hidden treasure. It will recognize its own body and enter it. The soul of the goldsmith will not enter the tailor; The soul of the wise will enter the body of the wise, The soul of the unjust the body of the unjust. In like manner as the souls will fly into their clay, So will the books fly into their right hands and left. God will place in their hands their books of greed and lib- erality, Of sin and piety, and whatever they have practiced. When they shall awake from sleep on that morning, All the evil and good they have done will recur to them. Every thought which has dwelt in them during life Will appear as a form visible to all, Like the thought of an architect realized in a house, Or the perfect plant issuing from the seed in the ground. From onion and saffron and poppy The hand of spring will unfold the secret of winter. This one will be verdant and flourish, saying, "We are the pious;" That other will hang his head like the violet, With tears starting from his eyes through deadly fear; Yea, tens of founts of tears through terrible dread; With eyes wide opened in deadly apprehension Lest his book may be placed in his left hand. Then will the evildoer be sent to the fiery prison, For thorn can in no wise escape the flame. When his guardian angels behind and before, Who before were unseen, shall appear like patrols, They will hurry him off, pricking him with their spears, And saying, "O dog, begone to thy kennel!" Then the prisoner will cry, "O Lord, I am a hundred, Yea, a hundred times as wicked as Thou sayest. But in mercy Thou veilest my sins, Otherwise my vileness were known to Thy all-seeing

eye. But, independently of my own works and warfare, Independently of my faith or unfaith, good or evil, Independently of my poor devotion to Thee, And of my thoughts and the thoughts of hundreds like me, I fix my hopes on Thy mercy alone. Whether Thou adjudge me upright or rebellious, I sue for free pardon from Thy unbought justice. Lord, who art gracious without thought of conse- quence, 1 set my face towards that free grace of Thine; I have no regard to my own acts. I set my face towards this hope, Seeing that Thou gayest me my being first of all; Thou gayest me the garment of being unasked, Wherefore I firmly trust in Thy free grace. When he thus enumerates his sins and faults, God at last will grant him pardon as a free gift, Saying, "O angels, bring him back to me, Since the eyes of his heart were set on hope, Without care for consequences I set him free, And draw the pen through the record of his sins!" 5. Koran xxv. 70. The "final restitution" of all by free grace. 6. Cp. the Hadis: "Inspiration is a light that shines in the heart, and shows the nature of all things as they really are. 7. See Koran lxix. 18. 8. See the parallel passage in Guishan i Raz, 1, 690. STORY VIII. Mahmud and Ayaz. 1 Mahmud, the celebrated king of Ghazni, had a favorite named Ayaz, who was greatly envied by the other courtiers. One day they came to the king and informed him that Ayaz was in the habit of retiring to a secret chamber, and locking himself in, and that they suspected he had there concealed coin stolen from the treasury, or else wine and forbidden drink. The fact was, that Ayaz had placed in that chamber his old shoes and the ragged dress which he used to wear before the king had promoted him to honor, and used to retire there every day and wear them for a time, in order to remind himself of his lowly origin, and to prevent himself

from being puffed up with pride. This he did in accordance with the text, "Let man reflect out of what he was created." The intoxication of the present life puffs up many with false pride, even as Iblis, who refused to worship Adam, saying, "Who is Adam, that he should be lord over me?" This he said because he was one of the Jinn, who are all created of fire. Adam, on the other hand, confessed his own vileness, saying, "Thou hast formed me out of clay." The king was well assured of the fidelity of Ayaz; but in order to confute those who suspected him, he ordered them to go by night and break open that chamber and bring away all the trea- sure and other things hidden in it. It is a characteristic of evildoers to think evil of the saints, because they judge of their conduct by the light of their own evil natures, as the crooked foot makes a crooked footprint, and as the spider sees things distorted through the web he has spun himself The hug's conduct in this did not betoken any diminution of his love for Ayaz, because lover and beloved are always as ono soul, though they may be opposed to outward view. Accordingly the courtiers proceeded to the chamber of Ayaz at night, and broke open the door, and searched the floor and the walls, but found only the old shoes and the ragged dress. They then returned to the king discomfited and shamefaced, even as the wicked who have slandered the saints will be on the day of judgment, according to the text, "On the resurrection day thou shalt see those who have lied of God with their faces black." Then they besought the king to pardon their offence, but he refused, saying that their offence had been committed against Ayaz, and that he would leave it to Ayaz to decide whether they should be punished or pardoned. If Ayaz showed mercy it would be well; and if he punished it would be well also, for "the law of retaliation is the security for life." Only he enjoined him to pronounce his sentence without delay, because "Waiting is punishment." A description of genuine union with God. A loved one said to her lover to try him, Early one morning, "O such an one, son of such an one, I marvel whether you hold me more dear, Or yourself; tell me truly, O ardent suitor!" He answered, "I am so entirely absorbed in you, That I am full of you from head to foot. Of my own existence nothing but the name remains In my being is nothing besides you, O Object of desire! Therefore am I thus lost in you, Just as vinegar is absorbed in honey; Or as a stone, which is changed into a pure ruby, Is filled with the bright light of the sun. In that stone its own properties abide not It is filled with the sun's properties altogether; So that, if afterwards it holds itself dear 'Tis the same as holding the sun dear, O beloved! And if it hold the sun dear in its heart, 'Tis clearly the same as holding itself dear. Whether that pure ruby hold itself dear, Or hold the sun dear, There is no difference between the two preterences; On either hand is naught but the light of dawn. But till that stone becomes a ruby it hates itself For till it becomes one 'I,' it is two separate Ts,' For 'tis then darkened and purblind,

And darkness is the essential enemy of light. If it then hold itself dear, it is an infidel; Because that self is an opponent of the mighty Sun. Wherefore 'tis unlawful for the stone then to say 'I, Because it is entirely in darkness and nothingness." Pharaoh said, "I am the Truth," and was laid low. Mansur Hallaj said, "I am the Truth," and escaped free. Pharaoh's "I" was followed by the curse of God; Mansur's "I" was followed by the mercy of God, O beloved! Because Pharaoh was a stone, Mansur a ruby; Pharaoh an enemy of light, Mansur a friend. O prattler, Mansur's "I am He" was a deep mystic saying, Expressing union with the light, not mere incarnation.' 1. All the latter part of this story is a parable of the last judge- ment. 3. Koran xviii. 48, and lv. 14. 6. See Guishan i Raz, Answer vii. p. 45. Mansur Hallaj (wool- carder), the celebrated Sufi who was put to death at Baghdad in 309 (AH.) 7. See Guishan i Raz, i. 454, and note. The doctrine of the descent of the Deity into man (Halul), or incarnation, is rejected both by Rumi and Shabistari in favor of the doc- trine of intimate union (Ittihad or Wahdat). STORY IX. The sincere repentance ofNasuh. Ayaz, in weighing the pros and cons in regard to pardon- ing the courtiers, remarks that professions of faith and pen- itence when contradicted by acts are worthless, according to the text, "If ye ask them who hath created the heavens and the earth, they will say 'God;' yet they devise lies." And in illustration of this he tells a story of a faithless husband who retired to a secret chamber ostensibly to say his prayers, but really to carry on an intrigue with a slave-girl, and the falsi- ty of whose pretences was demonstrated by ocular proof of his condition. In like manner, on the day of resurrection man's hands and eyes and feet will bear witness against him of the evil actions done by him, thus confuting his pretences to piety. The test of a sincere repentance is abhorrence of past sins and utter abandonment of all pleasure in them, the old love for sin being superseded by the new love for holi- ness. Such a repentance was that of Nasuh. Nasuh in his youth disguised himself in female attire and obtained employment as attendant at the women's baths, where he used to carry on shameful intrigues with some of the women who frequented the bath. At last, however, his eyes were opened to the wickedness of his conduct, and be went to a holy man and besought him to pray for him. The holy man, imitating the long-suffering of the "Veiler of sins" did not so much as name his sin, but prayed, saying, "God give thee repentance of the sin thou knowest!" The prayer of that holy man was accepted, because the prayers of such an one are the same as God's own will, according to the tradition, "My servant draws nigh to me by pious works till I love him; and when I love him I am his ear, his eye, his tongue, his foot, his hand; and by me he hears, sees, talks, walks, and feels. "Nasuh then returned to the bath a truly repen- tant man; but soon afterwards one of the women frequent- ing the bath lost a valuable jewel, and the king gave order that all persons connected with the bath should be stripped

and searched. When the officers came to the bath to execute this order Nasuh was overwhelmed with fear, for he knew that if his sex were discovered he would certainly be put to death. In his fear he called upon God for deliverance, and swooned with fear and became beside himself, so that his natural self was annihilated, and he became a new creature, even as a corpse rising from the grave. When he came to himself he found that the lost jewel had been found, and those who had suspected him came and begged his pardon. Shortly afterwards the king's daughter sent for him to come and wash her head; but, in spite of her imperative com- mands, he refused to place himself again in the way of temptation, lest he might fall again, and God might "make easy to him the path to destruction." Man's members will bear witness against him on the day of judgement, and confute his claims to piety. On the resurrection day all secrets will be disclosed; Yea, every guilty one will be convicted by himself. Hand and foot will bear testimony openly Before the Almighty concerning their owner's sins. Hand will say, "I stole such and such things;" Lip will say, "I asked for such and such things." Foot will say, "I went after my own desires;" Arm will say, "I embraced the harlot." Eye will say, "I looked after forbidden things;" Ear will say, "I listened to evil talk." Thus the man will be shown to be a liar from head to foot, Since his own members will prove him to be a liar. 1 . Koran xxix. 6 1 . STORY X. The Lion, the Fox, and the Ass. As an instance of false and insincere repentance, a story is next told, which is also found in the fifth chapter of the Anwar i Suhaili. A lion had been wounded in fight with a male elephant, and was unable to hunt game for himself. In this strait he called a fox who was wont to attend upon him, and to live on the meat that was left from his repasts, just as disciples attending on a saint subsist on the heavenly food dropping from his lips. He called this fox, and bade him go and entice some animal to come near his lair, so that he might kill it and make a meal of it. The fox went and searched the neighborhood, and at last found a lean and hungry ass who was grazing in a stony place where there was little or no grass. The fox, after making due salutations, con- doled with the ass on his unfortunate condition; but the ass