The Masnavi I Ma'navi of Rumi E-Book

Maulana Jalalu-'d-din Muhammad Rumi

• Herausgeber: Alicia Editions
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

The Masnavi I Ma'navi of Rumi is one of the most influential works of Sufism, commonly called "the Quran in Persian". It has been viewed by many commentators as the greatest mystical poem in world literature. Its diversity, complexity and profoundness , the timeless themes of power, God, love and fidelity, together make the MASNAVI one of the most compelling and memorable spiritual works of world literature. Its author, the Persian poet and Sufi mystic, Maulana Jalalu-'d-din Muhammad Rumi (1207-1273), found his own religious order, the Whirling Dervishes. To many modern Westerners, this series of six books of poetry, translated by E. H. Whinfield, is one of the best introductions to the philosophy and practice of Sufism. These poems are plenty of very profound thought, and you will not leave this fantastic work without spiritual growth.
Easy to read layout, complete dynamic footnotes.

Leseprobe

The Masnavi I Ma'navi of Rumi

Complete 6 Books

Maulana Jalalu-'d-din Muhammad Rumi

Translated byE. H. Whinfield

Alicia Editions

Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.

Contents

Book I.

PROLOGUE.

STORY I. The Prince and the Handmaid.

STORY II. The Oilman and his Parrot.

STORY III. A Tyrannical Jewish King, his Minister (Vazir), and the Christians

STORY IV. Another Tyrannical Jewish King.

STORY V. The Lion and the Beasts.

STORY VI. Omar and the Ambassador.

STORY VII. The Merchant and his Clever Parrot.

STORY VIII. The Harper.

STORY IX. The Arab and his Wife.

STORY X. The Man who was Tattooed.

STORY XI. The Lion who Hunted with the Wolf and the Fox.

STORY XII. Joseph and the Mirror.

STORY XIII. The Prophet's Scribe.

STORY XIV. The Chinese and the Greek Artists.

STORY XV. Counsels of Reserve given by the Prophet to his Freedman Zaid.

STORY XVI. 'Ali's Forbearance.

Epilogue to Book I.

Book II.

PROLOGUE.

STORY I. The Sufi's Beast.

STORY II. The Pauper and the Prisoners.

STORY III. The King and his Two Slaves.

STORY IV. The Falcon and the Owls.

STORY V. The Thirsty Man who threw Bricks into the Water.

STORY VI. Luqman's Master examines him and discovers his Acuteness.

STORY VII. Moses and the Shepherd.

STORY VIII. The Man who made a Pet of a Bear.

STORY IX. The Gardener and the Three Friends.

STORY X. Bayazid and the Saint.

STORY XI. Mo'avia and Iblis.

STORY XII. The Four Hindustanis who censured one another.

STORY XIII. The Old Man and the Physician.

STORY XIV. The Arab Carrier and the Scholar.

STORY XV. The Man who boasted that God did not punish him for his sins, and Jethro's answer to him.

STORY XVI. The Gluttonous Sufi.

STORY XVII. The Tree of Life.

STORY XVIII. The Young Ducks who were brought up under a Hen.

Book III.

STORY I. The Travelers who ate the Young Elephant.

STORY II. The Villager who invited the Townsman to visit him.

STORY III. The Jackal who pretended to be a Peacock.

STORY IV. Moses and Pharaoh.

STORY V. The Elephant in a Dark Room.

STORY VI. The Lover who read Sonnets to his Mistress.

STORY VII. The Man who prayed earnestly to be fed without work.

STORY VIII. The Boys and their Teacher.

STORY IX. The Darvesh who Broke his Vow.

STORY X. The Old Man who made no Lamentation at the Death of his Sons.

STORY XI. Bahlol and the Darvesh.

STORY XII. The Visions seen by the Saint Daquqi.

STORY XIII. The People of Saba.

STORY XIV. Miracles performed by the Prophet Muhammad.

STORY XV. The Man who asked Moses to teach him the language of animals.

STORY XVI. The Woman who lost all her infants.

STORY XVII. The Vakil of the Prince of Bokhara.

STORY XVIII. The Deadly Mosque.

Book IV.

STORY I. The Lover and his Mistress.

STORY II. The Building of the "Most Remote Temple" at Jerusalem.

STORY III. The Youth who wrote a letter of complaint about his rations to the King.

STORY IV. Bayazid and his impious sayings when beside himself.

STORY V. The Three Fishes.

STORY VI. Moses and Pharaoh.

STORY VII. The Courtier who quarreled with his Friend for saving his Life.

STORY VIII. The Prince who, after having been beguiled by a Courtesan, returned to his True Love.

STORY IX. The Mule and the Camel.

Book V.

STORY I. The Prophet and his Infidel Guest.

STORY II. The Arab and his Dog.

STORY III. The Sage and the Peacock.

STORY IV. Muhammad Khwarazm Shah and the Rafizis of Sabzawar.

STORY V. The Man who claimed to be a Prophet.

STORY VI. The Disciple who blindly imitated his Shaikh.

STORY VII. How Adam was created out of a handful of earth brought by an Angel.

STORY VIII. Mahmud and Ayaz.

STORY IX. The sincere repentance of Nasuh.

STORY X. The Lion, the Fox, and the Ass.

STORY XI. The Mosalman who tried to convert a Magian.

STORY XII. The Devotee who broke the noble's wine-jar.

STORY VIII. (continued). Mahmud and Ayaz.

Book VI.

PROLOGUE.

STORY I. The Hindu Slave who loved his Master's Daughter.

STORY II. The Fowler and the Bird.

STORY III. The Drunken Turkish Amir and the Minstrel.

STORY IV. The Purchase of Bilal.

STORY V. The Sufi and the Qazi.

STORY VI. The Faqir and the Hidden Treasure.

STORY VII. The Three Travelers.

STORY VIII. The Man who received a Pension from the Prefect of Tabriz.

STORY IX. The King and his Three Sons.

Note on Apocryphal Supplements to the Masnavi.

Also available

Book I.

PROLOGUE.

HEARKEN to the reed-flute, how it complains,

Lamenting its banishment from its home:

"Ever since they tore me from my osier bed,

My plaintive notes have moved men and women to tears.

I burst my breast, striving to give vent to sighs,

And to express the pangs of my yearning for my home.

He who abides far away from his home

Is ever longing for the day he shall return.

My wailing is heard in every throng,

In concert with them that rejoice and them that weep.

Each interprets my notes in harmony with his own feelings,

But not one fathoms the secrets of my heart.

My secrets are not alien from my plaintive notes,

Yet they are not manifest to the sensual eye and ear.

Body is not veiled from soul, neither soul from body,

Yet no man hath ever seen a soul."

This plaint of the flute is fire, not mere air.

Let him who lacks this fire be accounted dead!

'Tis the fire of love that inspires the flute,1

'Tis the ferment of love that possesses the wine.

The flute is the confidant of all unhappy lovers;

Yea, its strains lay bare my inmost secrets.

Who hath seen a poison and an antidote like the flute?

Who hath seen a sympathetic consoler like the flute?

The flute tells the tale of love's bloodstained path,

It recounts the story of Majnun's love toils.

None is privy to these feelings save one distracted,

As ear inclines to the whispers of the tongue.

Through grief my days are as labor and sorrow,

My days move on, hand in hand with anguish.

Yet, though my days vanish thus, 'tis no matter,

Do thou abide, O Incomparable Pure One! 2

But all who are not fishes are soon tired of water;

And they who lack daily bread find the day very long;

So the "Raw" comprehend not the state of the "Ripe;" 3

Therefore it behooves me to shorten my discourse.

Arise, O son! burst thy bonds and be free!

How long wilt thou be captive to silver and gold?

Though thou pour the ocean into thy pitcher,

It can hold no more than one day's store.

The pitcher of the desire of the covetous never fills,

The oyster-shell fills not with pearls till it is content;

Only he whose garment is rent by the violence of love

Is wholly pure from covetousness and sin.

Hail to thee, then, O LOVE, sweet madness!

Thou who healest all our infirmities!

Who art the physician of our pride and self-conceit!

Who art our Plato and our Galen!

Love exalts our earthly bodies to heaven,

And makes the very hills to dance with joy!

O Lover, 'twas love that gave life to Mount Sinai, 4

When "it quaked, and Moses fell down in a swoon."

Did my Beloved only touch me with his lips,

I too, like the flute, would burst out in melody.

But he who is parted from them that speak his tongue,

Though he possesses a hundred voices, is perforce dumb.

When the rose has faded and the garden is withered,

The song of the nightingale is no longer to be heard.

The BELOVED is all in all, the lover only veils Him; 5

The BELOVED is all that lives, the lover a dead thing.

When the lover feels no longer LOVE's quickening,

He becomes like a bird who has lost its wings. Alas!

How can I retain my senses about me,

When the BELOVED shows not the light of His countenance?

LOVE desires that this secret should be revealed,

For if a mirror reflects not, of what use is it?

Knowest thou why thy mirror reflects not?

Because the rust has not been scoured from its face.

If it were purified from all rust and defilement,

It would reflect the shining of the SUN Of GOD.6

O friends, ye have now heard this tale,

Which sets forth the very essence of my case.

1Love signifies the strong attraction that draws all creatures back to reunion with their Creator.

2Self-annihilation leads to eternal life in God the universal Noumenon, by whom all phenomena subsist. See Gulshan i Raz, I. 400.

3"Raw" and "Ripe" are terms for "Men of externals" and "Men of heart" or Mystics.

4Alluding to the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. Koran vii. 139.

5All phenomenal existences (man included) are but "veils" obscuring the face of the Divine Noumenon, the only real existence, and the moment His sustaining presence is withdrawn they at once relapse into their original nothingness. See Gulshan i Raz, I. 165.

6So Bernard of Clairvaux. See Gulshan i Raz, I. 435.

STORY I. The Prince and the Handmaid.

A prince, while engaged on a hunting excursion, espied a fair maiden, and by promises of gold induced her to accompany him. After a time she fell sick, and the prince had her tended by divers physicians. As, however, they all omitted to say, "God willing,1 we will cure her," their treatment was of no avail. So the prince offered prayer, and in answer thereto a physician was sent from heaven. He at once condemned his predecessors' view of the case, and by a very skilful diagnosis, discovered that the real cause of the maiden's illness was her love for a certain goldsmith of Samarcand. In accordance with the physician's advice, the prince sent to Samarcand and fetched the goldsmith, and married him to the lovesick maiden, and for six months the pair lived together in the utmost harmony and happiness. At the end of that period the physician, by divine command, gave the goldsmith a poisonous draught, which caused his strength and beauty to decay, and he then lost favour with the maiden, and she was reunited to the king. This Divine command was precisely similar to God's command to Abraham to slay his son Ishmael, and to the act of the angel in slaying the servant of Moses,2 and is therefore beyond human criticism.

Description of Love.

A true lover is proved such by his pain of heart;

No sickness is there like sickness of heart.

The lover's ailment is different from all ailments;

Love is the astrolabe of God's mysteries.

A lover may hanker after this love or that love,

But at the last he is drawn to the KING of love.

However much we describe and explain love,

When we fall in love we are ashamed of our words.

Explanation by the tongue makes most things clear,

But love unexplained is clearer.

When pen hasted to write,

On reaching the subject of love it split in twain.

When the discourse touched on the matter of love,

Pen was broken and paper torn.

In explaining it Reason sticks fast, as an ass in mire;

Naught but Love itself can explain love and lovers!

None but the sun can display the sun,

If you would see it displayed, turn not away from it.

Shadows, indeed, may indicate the sun's presence,

But only the sun displays the light of life.

Shadows induce slumber, like evening talks,

But when the sun arises the "moon is split asunder."3

In the world there is naught so wondrous as the sun,

But the Sun of the soul sets not and has no yesterday.

Though the material sun is unique and single,

We can conceive similar suns like to it.

But the Sun of the soul, beyond this firmament,

No like thereof is seen in concrete or abstract.4

Where is there room in conception for His essence,

So that similitudes of HIM should be conceivable?

Shamsu-'d-Din of Tabriz importunes Jalalu-'d-Din to compose the Masnavi.

The sun (Shams) of Tabriz is a perfect light,

A sun, yea, one of the beams of God!

When the praise was heard of the "Sun of Tabriz,"

The sun of the fourth heaven bowed its head.

Now that I have mentioned his name, it is but right

To set forth some indications of his beneficence.

That precious Soul caught my skirt,

Smelling the perfume of the garment of Yusuf;

And said, "For the sake of our ancient friendship,

Tell forth a hint of those sweet states of ecstasy,

That earth and heaven may be rejoiced,

And also Reason and Spirit, a hundredfold."

I said, "O thou who art far from 'The Friend,'

Like a sick man who has strayed from his physician,

Importune me not, for I am beside myself;

My understanding is gone, I cannot sing praises.

Whatsoever one says, whose reason is thus astray,

Let him not boast; his efforts are useless.

Whatever he says is not to the point,

And is clearly inapt and wide of the mark.

What can I say when not a nerve of mine is sensible?

Can I explain 'The Friend' to one to whom He is no Friend?

Verily my singing His praise were dispraise,

For 'twould prove me existent, and existence is error.5

Can I describe my separation and my bleeding heart?

Nay, put off this matter till another season."

He said, "Feed me, for I am an hungered,

And at once, for 'the time is a sharp sword.'

O comrade, the Sufi is 'the son of time present.' 6

It is not the rule of his canon to say, 'To-morrow.'

Can it be that thou art not a true Sufi?

Ready money is lost by giving credit."

I said, "'Tis best to veil the secrets of 'The Friend.'

So give good heed to the morals of these stories.

That is better than that the secrets of 'The Friend'

Should be noised abroad in the talk of strangers."

He said, "Without veil or covering or deception,

Speak out, and vex me not, O man of many words!

Strip off the veil and speak out, for do not I

Enter under the same coverlet as the Beloved?"

I said, "If the Beloved were exposed to outward view,

Neither wouldst thou endure, nor embrace, nor form.

Press thy suit, yet with moderation;

A blade of grass cannot, pierce a mountain.

If the sun that illumines the world

Where to draw higher, the world would be consumed.7

Close thy mouth and shut the eyes of this matter,

That, the world's life be not made a bleeding heart.

No longer seek this peril, this bloodshed;

Hereafter impose silence on the 'Sun of Tabriz.'"

He said, "Thy words are endless. Now tell forth

All thy story from its beginning."

1As enjoined in Koran xviii. 23. One cannot converse with a strict Mosalman for five minutes without hearing the formula, "In sha Allah Ta'alla," or D. V.

2Koran xviii. 73.

3Koran liv. I.

4There is a tradition, "I know my Lord by my Lord."

5See Gulshan i Raz, I. 400. In the state of union self remains not.

6The Sufi is the "son of the time present," because he is an Energumen, or passive instrument moved by the divine impulse of the moment. "The time present is a sharp sword," because the divine impulse of the moment dominates the Energumen, and executes its decrees sharply. See Sohravardi quoted in Notices et Extraits des MSS., xii. 371 note.

7"When its Lord appears in glory to the Mount of existence, Existence is laid low, like the dust of the road." Gulshan i Raz, I. 195.

STORY II. The Oilman and his Parrot.

An oilman possessed a parrot which used to amuse him with its agreeable prattle, and to watch his shop when he went out. One day, when the parrot was alone in the shop, a cat upset one of the oil-jars. When the oilman returned home he thought that the parrot had done this mischief, and in his anger he smote the parrot such a blow on the head as made all its feathers drop off, and so stunned it that it lost the power of speech for several days. But one day the parrot saw a bald-headed man passing the shop, and recovering its speech, it cried out, "Pray, whose oil-jar did you upset?" The passers-by smiled at the parrot's mistake in confounding baldness caused by age with the loss of its own feathers due to a blow.

Confusion of saints with hypocrites.

Worldly senses are the ladder of earth,

Spiritual senses are the ladder of heaven.

The health of the former is sought of the leech,

The health of the latter from "The Friend."

The health of the former arises from tending the body,

That of the latter from mortifying the flesh.

The kingly soul lays waste the body,

And after its destruction he builds it anew.

Happy the soul who for love of God

Has lavished family, wealth, and goods!

Has destroyed its house to find the hidden treasure,

And with that treasure has rebuilt it in fairer sort;

Has dammed up the stream and cleansed the channel,

And then turned a fresh stream into. the channel;

Has cut its flesh to extract a spear-head,1

Causing a fresh skin to grow again over the wound;

Has razed the fort to oust, the infidel in possession,

And then rebuilt it with a hundred towers and bulwarks.

Who can describe the unique work of Grace?

I have been forced to illustrate it by these similes.

Sometimes it presents one appearance, sometimes another.

Yea, the affair of religion is only bewilderment.

Not, such as occurs when one turns one's back on God,

But such as when one is drowned and absorbed in Him.

The latter has his face ever turned to God,

The former's face shows his undisciplined self-will.

Watch the face of each one, regard it well,

It may be by serving thou wilt recognize Truth's face.

As there are many demons with men's faces,

It is wrong to join hand with every one.

When the fowler sounds his decoy whistle,

That the birds may be beguiled by that snare,

The birds hear that call simulating a bird's call,

And, descending from the air, find net and knife.

So vile hypocrites steal the language of Darveshes,

In order to beguile the simple with their trickery.

The works of the righteous are light and heat,

The works of the evil treachery and shamelessness.

They make stuffed lions to scare the simple,

They give the title of Muhammad to false Musailima.

But Musailma retained the name of "Liar,"

And Muhammad that of "Sublimest of beings."

That wine of God (the righteous) yields a perfume of musk;

Other wine (the evil) is reserved for penalties and pains.

1These are all figures and types of self-annihilation in order to the acquisition of eternal life in God.

STORY IV. Another Tyrannical Jewish King.

A certain Jewish king, the same who is referred to in the Sura "Signs of the Zodiac," I made up his mind to utterly exterminate the Christian faith, and with that view he set up a huge idol, and issued commands that all who refused to worship it should be cast into the fire. Thereupon his officers seized a Christian woman with her babe, and as she refused to worship it, they cast the babe into the fire. But the babe cried out to its mother, "Be not afraid, the fire has no power to burn me; it is as cool as water!" Hearing this, the rest of the Christians leapt into the fire, and found that it did not burn them. The king reproached the fire for failing to do its office, but the fire replied that it was God's servant, and that its consuming properties were not to be used for evil purposes. It then blazed up and consumed the king, and all his Jews with him.

Second causes only operate in subordination to, and form the impulsion of, the First Cause.

Air, earth, water, and fire are God's servants.

To us they seem lifeless, but to God living.

In God's presence fire ever waits to do its service,

Like a submissive lover with no will of its own.

When you strike steel on flint fire leaps forth;

But 'tis by God's command it thus steps forth.

Strike not together the flint and steel of wrong,

For the pair will generate more, like man and woman.

The flint and steel are themselves causes, yet

Look higher for the First Cause, O righteous man!

For that Cause precedes this second cause.

How can a cause exist of itself without precedent cause?

That Cause makes this cause operative,

And again helpless and inoperative.

That Cause, which is a guiding light to the prophets,

That, I say, is higher than these second causes.

Men's minds recognize these second causes,

But only prophets perceive the action of the First Cause.

Praise compared to vapour drawn upwards, and then descending in rain.

Though water be enclosed in a reservoir,

Yet air will absorb it, for 'tis its supporter;

It sets it free and bears it to its source,

Little by little, so that you see not the process.

In like manner this breath of ours by degrees

Steals away our souls from the prison-house of earth.

" The good word riseth up to Him,"1

Rising from us whither He knoweth.

Our breathings are lifted up in fear of God,

Offerings from us to the throne of Eternity.

Then come down to us rewards for our praises,

The double thereof, yea, mercies from the King of Glory.

Therefore are we constrained to utter these praises

That slaves may attain the height of God's gifts.

And so this rising and descent go on evermore,

And cease not forever and aye.

To speak in plain Persian, this attraction

Comes from the same quarter whence comes this sweet savour.2

1Koran, xxxv. II.

2Sweet savour, i.e., the joy of heart experienced by the offerer of prayer when his prayer is accepted of God. See Book II. Story XVII.

STORY V. The Lion and the Beasts.

In the book of Kalila and Damna a story is told of a lion who held all the beasts of the neighborhood in subjection, and was in the habit of making constant raids upon them, to take and kill such of them as he required for his daily food. At last the beasts took counsel together, and agreed to deliver up one of their company every day, to satisfy the lion's hunger, if he, on his part, would cease to annoy them by his continual forays. The lion was at first unwilling to trust to their promise, remarking that he always preferred to rely on his own exertions; but the beasts succeeded in persuading him that he would do well to trust Providence and their word. To illustrate the thesis that human exertions are vain, they related a story of a man who got Solomon to transport him to Hindustan to escape the angel of death, but was smitten by the angel the moment he got there. Having carried their point, the beasts continued for some time to perform their engagement. One day it came to the turn of the hare to be delivered up as a victim to the lion; but he requested the others to let him practice a stratagem. They scoffed at him, asking how such silly beast as he could pretend to outwit the lion. The hare assured them that wisdom was of God, and God might choose weak things to confound the strong. At last, they consented to let him try his luck. He took his way slowly to the lion, and found him sorely enraged. In excuse for his tardy arrival he represented that he and another hare had set out together to appear before the lion, but a strange lion had seized the second hare, and carried it off in spite of his remonstrances. On hearing this, the lion was exceeding wroth, and commanded the hare to show him the foe who had trespassed on his preserves. Pretending to be afraid, the hare got the lion to take him upon his back, and directed him to a well. On looking down the well, the lion saw in the water the reflection of himself and of the hare on his back; and thinking that he saw his foe with the stolen hare, he plunged in to attack him, and was drowned, while the hare sprang off his back and escaped. This folly on the part, of the lion was predestined to punish him for denying God's ruling providence. So Adam, though he knew the names of all things, in accordance with God's predestination, neglected to obey a single prohibition, and his disobedience cost him dearly.

Trust in God, as opposed to human exertions.

The beasts said, "O enlightened sage,

Lay aside caution; it cannot help thee against destiny;

To worry with precaution is toil and moil;

Go, trust in Providence, trust is the better part.

War not with the divine decree, O hot-headed one,

Lest that decree enter into conflict with thee.

Man should be as dead before the commands of God

Lest a blow befall him from the Lord of all creatures."

He said, "True; but though trust be our mainstay,

Yet the Prophet teaches us to have regard to means.

The Prophet cried with a loud voice,

'Trust in God, yet tie the camel's leg.' 1

Hear the adage, 'The worker is the friend of God;'2

Through trust in Providence neglect not to use means.

Go, O Quietists, practice trust with self-exertion,

Exert yourself to attain your objects, bit by bit.

In order to succeed, strive and exert yourselves;

If ye strive not for your objects, ye are fools."

They said, "What is gained from the poor by exertions

Is a fraudulent morsel that will bring ill luck.

Again, know that self-exertion springs from weakness;

Relying on other means is a blot upon perfect trust.

Self-exertion is not more noble than trust in God.

What is more lovely than committing oneself to God?

Many there are who flee from one danger to a worse;

Many flee from a snake and meet a dragon.

Man plans a stratagem, and thereby snares himself;

What he takes for life turns out, to be destruction.

He shuts the door after his foe is in the house.

After this sort were the schemes of Pharaoh.

That jealous king slew a myriad babes,

While Moses, whom he sought, was in his house.

Our eyes are subject to many infirmities;

Go! annihilate your sight in God's sight.

For our foresight His foresight is a fair exchange;

In His sight is all that ye can desire.

So long as a babe cannot grasp or run,

It takes its father's back for its carriage.

But when it becomes independent and uses its hands,

It falls into grievous troubles and disgrace.

The souls of our first parents, even before their hands,

Flew away from fidelity after vain pleasure.

Being made captives by the command, 'Get down hence,' 3

They became bond-slaves of enmity, lust, and vanity.

We are the family of the Lord and His sucking babes.

The Prophet said, 'The people are God's family;'

He who sends forth the rain from heaven,

Can He not also provide us our daily bread?"

The lion said, "True; yet the Lord of creatures

Sets a ladder before our feet.

Step by step must we mount up to the roof!

The notion of fatalism is groundless in this place.

Ye have feet why then pretend ye are lame?

Ye have hands why then conceal your claws?

When a master places a spade in the hand of a slave,

The slave knows his meaning without being told.

Like this spade, our hands are our Master's hints to us;

Yea, if ye consider, they are His directions to us.

When ye have taken to heart His hints,

Ye will shape your life in reliance on their direction;

Wherefore these hints disclose His intent,

Take the burden from you, and appoint your work.

He that bears it makes it bearable by you,

He that is able makes it within your ability.

Accept His command, and you will be able to execute it;

Seek union with Him, and you will find yourselves united.

Exertion is giving thanks for God's blessings;

Think ye that your fatalism gives such thanks?

Giving thanks for blessings increases blessings,

But fatalism snatches those blessings from your hands.

Your fatalism is to sleep on the road; sleep not

Till ye behold the gates of the King's palace.

Ah! sleep not, O unreflecting fatalists,

Till ye have reached that fruit-laden Tree of Life

Whose branches are ever shaken by the wind,

And whose fruit is showered on the sleepers' heads.

Fatalism means sleeping amidst highwaymen.

Can a cock who crows too soon expect peace?

If ye cavil at and accept not God's hints,

Though ye count yourselves men, see, ye are women.

The quantum of reason ye possessed is lost,

And the head whose reason has fled is a tail.

Inasmuch as the unthankful are despicable,

They are at last cast into the fiery pit.

If ye really have trust in God, exert yourselves,

And strive, in constant reliance on the Almighty."

Wisdom is granted often times to the weak.

He said, "O friends, God has given me inspiration.

Often times strong counsel is suggested to the weak.

The wit taught by God to the bee

Is withheld from the lion and the wild ass.

It fills its cells with liquid sweets,

For God opens the door of this knowledge to it.

The skill taught by God to the silkworm

Is a learning beyond the reach of the elephant.

The earthly Adam was taught of God names, 4

So that his glory reached the seventh heaven.

He laid low the name and fame of the angels, 5

Yet blind indeed are they whom God dooms to doubt!

The devotee of seven hundred thousand years (Satan)

Was made a muzzle for that yearling calf (Adam), 6

Lest he should suck milk of the knowledge of faith,

And soar on high even to the towers of heaven.

The knowledge of men of external sense is a muzzle

To stop them sucking milk of that sublime knowledge.

But God drops into the heart a single pearl-drop

Which is not bestowed on oceans or skies!"

"How long regard ye mere form, O form-worshippers?

Your souls, void of substance, rest still in forms.

If the form of man were all that made man,

Ahmad and Abu Jahl would be upon a par.

A painting on a wall resembles a man,

But see what it is lacking in that empty form.

'Tis life that is lacking to that mere semblance of man.

Go! seek for that pearl it never will find.

The heads of earth's lions were bowed down

When God gave might to the Seven Sleepers' dog. 7

What mattered its despised form

When its soul was drowned in the sea of light?"

Human wisdom, the manifestation of divine.

On his way to the lion the hare lingered,

Devising a stratagem with himself.

He proceeded on his way after delaying long,

In order to have a secret or two for the lion.

What worlds the principle of Reason embraces!

How broad is this ocean of Reason!

Yea, the Reason of man is a boundless ocean.

O son, that ocean requires, as it were, a diver. 8

On this fair ocean our human forms

Float about, like bowls on the surface of water;

Yea like cups on the surface, till they are. filled;

And when filled, these cups sink into the water.

The ocean of Reason is not seen ; reasoning men are seen;

But our forms (minds) are only as waves or spray thereof.

Whatever form that ocean uses as its instrument,

Therewith it casts its spray far and wide. 9

Till the heart sees the Giver of the secret,

Till it espies that Bowman shooting from afar,

It fancies its own steed lost, while in bewilderment

It is urging that steed hither and thither; 10

It fancies its own steed lost, when all the while

That swift steed is bearing it on like the wind.

In deep distress that blunder head

Runs from door to door, searching and inquiring,

"Who and where is he that hath stolen my steed?"

They say, "What is this thou ridest on, O master?"

He says, "True, 'tis a steed; but where is mine?"

They say, "Look to thyself, O rider; thy steed is there."

The real Soul is lost to view, and seems far off; 11

Thou art like a pitcher with full belly but dry lip;

How canst thou ever see red, green, and scarlet

Unless thou seest the light first of all?

When thy sight is dazzled by colors,

These colors veil the light from thee.

But when night veils those colors from thee,

Thou seest that colors are seen only through light.

As there is no seeing outward colors without light,

So it is with the mental colors within.

Outward colors arise from the light of sun and stars,

And inward colors from the Light on high.

The light that lights the eye is also the heart's Light;

The eye's light proceeds from the Light of the heart.

But the light that lights the heart is the Light of God,

Which is distinct from the light of reason and sense.

At night there is no light, and colors are not seen;

Hence we know what light is by its opposite, darkness.

At night no colors are visible, for light is lacking.

How can color be the attribute of dark blackness?

Looking on light is the same as looking on colors;

Opposite shows up opposite, as a Frank a Negro.

The opposite of light shows what is light,

Hence colors too are known by their opposite.

God created pain and grief for this purpose,

To wit, to manifest happiness by its opposites. 12

Hidden things are manifested by their opposites;

But, as God has no opposite. He remains hidden.

God's light has no opposite in the range of creation

Whereby it may be manifested to view.

Perforce "Our eyes see not Him, though He sees us." 13

Behold this in the case of Moses and Mount Sinai. 14

Discern form from substance, as lion from desert,

Or as sound and speech from the thought they convey.

The sound and speech arise from the thought;

Thou knowest not where is the Ocean of thought;

Yet when thou seest fair waves of speech,

Thou knowest there is a glorious Ocean beneath them.

When waves of thought arise from the Ocean of Wisdom,

They assume the forms of sound and speech.

These forms of speech are born and die again,

These waves cast themselves back into the Ocean.

Form is born of That which is without form,

And goes again, for, "Verily to Him do we return." 15

Wherefore to thee every moment come death and "return."

Mustafa saith, "The world endureth only a moment."

So, thought is an arrow shot by God into the air.

How can it stay in the air? It returns to God.

Every moment the world and we are renewed, 16

Yet we are ignorant of this renewing forever and aye.

Life, like a stream of water, is renewed and renewed,

Though it wears the appearance of continuity in form.

That seeming continuity arises from its swift renewal,

As when a single spark of fire is whirled round swiftly. 17

If a single spark be whirled round swiftly,

It seems to the eye a continuous line of fire.

This apparent extension, owing to the quick motion,

Demonstrates the rapidity with which it is moved.

If ye seek the deepest student of this mystery,

Lo! 'tis Husamu-'d-Din, the most exalted of creatures!

1"Trust in God and keep your powder dry."

2"Laborare est orare."

3Koran ii. 341.

4"And He taught Adam the names of all things" (Koran ii. 29).

5The angels said, "We have no knowledge but what thou hast given us to know" (Koran ii. 30).

6See Gulshan i Raz, I. 543.

7Koran xviii. 17.

8See Gulshan i Raz, I. 575: The ocean of Reason is the same as what is elsewhere called the ocean of Being, viz., the Noumenon, or Divine substratum of all phenomenal being and thought.

9"Those arrows were God's, not vours" (Koran viii. 17); i.e., Man's reason proceeds from God, the "Only Real Agent."

10Alluding to the "Believer's lost camel " (Book II. Story XII., infra.). Men seek wisdom, and do not know that in themselves is the reflected wisdom of God (Gulshan i Raz, I. 435).

11The real Soul, i.e., the spirit which God "breathed into man" (Koran xv. 29). "In yourselves are signs; will ye not behold them?" (Koran li, 21).

12See Gulshan i Raz, I. 92. Mr. Mansel (Bampton Lectures, p. 49) says: "A thing can be known as that which it is only by being distinguished from that which it is not." But the Infinite Deity ex hypothesi includes all things; so there is nothing to contrast Him with.

13Koran vi. 103.

14Koran vii. 139: "He said, 'Thou shalt not see me.'"

15Koran ii. 151.

16See Gulshan i Raz, I. 645: All phenomena are every moment renewed by fresh effluxes of being from the Divine Noumenon.

17See Gulshan i Raz, I. 710.

STORY VI. Omar and the Ambassador.

The hare, having delivered his companions from the tyranny of the lion, in the manner just described, proceeds to improve the occasion by exhorting them to engage in a greater and more arduous warfare, viz., the struggle against their inward enemy, the lusts of the flesh. He illustrates his meaning by the story of an ambassador who was sent by the Emperor of Rum to the Khalifa 'Omar. On approaching Medina this ambassador inquired for 'Omar's palace, and learned that 'Omar dwelt in no material palace, but in a spiritual tabernacle, only visible to purified hearts. At last he discerned 'Omar lying under a palm-tree, and drew near to him in fear and awe. 'Omar received him kindly, and instructed him in the doctrine of the mystical union with God. The ambassador heard him gladly, and asked him two questions, first, How can souls descend from heaven to earth? and secondly, With what object are souls imprisoned in the bonds of flesh and blood? 'Omar responded, and the ambassador accepted his teaching, and became a pure-hearted Sufi. The hare urged his companions to abjure lust and pride, and to go and do likewise.

God's agency reconciled with man's freewill.

The ambassador said, "O Commander of the faithful,

How comes the soul down from above to earth?

How can so noble a bird be confined in a cage?"

He said, "God speaks words of power to souls,

To things of naught, without eyes or ears,

And at these words they all spring into motion;

At His words of power these nothings arise quickly,

And strong impulse urges them into existence.

Again, He speaks other spells to these creatures,

And swiftly drives them back again into Not-being.

He speaks to the rose's ear, and causes it to bloom;

He speaks to the tulip, and makes it blossom.

He speaks a spell to body, and it becomes soul;

He speaks to the sun, and it becomes a fount of light.

Again, in its ear He whispers a word of power,

And its face is darkened as by a hundred eclipses.

What is it that God says to the ear of earth,

That it attends thereto and rests steadfast?

What is it that Speaker says to the cloud,

That it pours forth rain-water like a water-skin?

Whosoever is bewildered by wavering will, 1

In his ear hath God whispered His riddle,

That He may bind him on the horns of a dilemma;

For he says, 'Shall I do this or its reverse?'

Also, from God comes the preference of one alternative;

'Tis from God's impulsion that man chooses one of the two.

If you desire sanity in this embarrassment,

Stuff not the ear of your mind with cotton.

Take the cotton of evil suggestions from the mind's ear, 2

That the heavenly voice from above may enter it,

That you may understand that riddle of His,

That you may be cognizant of that open secret.

Then the mind's ear becomes the sensorium of inspiration;

For what is this Divine voice but the inward voice? 3

The spirit's eye and ear possess this sense,

The eye and ear of reason and sense lack it.

The word 'compulsion' makes me impatient for love's sake;

'Tis he who loves not who is fettered by compulsion.

This is close communion with God, not compulsion,

The shining of the sun, and not a dark cloud.

Or, if it be compulsion, 'tis not common compulsion,

It is not the domination of wanton willfulness.

O son, they understand this compulsion

For whom God opens the eyes of the inner man.

Things hidden and things future are plain to them;

To speak of the past seems to them despicable.

They possess freewill and compulsion besides, 4

As in oyster-shells raindrops are pearls.

Outside the shell they are raindrops, great and small;

Inside they are precious pearls, big and little.

These men also resemble the musk deer's bag;

Outside it is blood, but inside pure musk;

Yet, say not that outside 'twas mere blood,

Which on entering the bag becomes musk.

Nor say that outside the alembic 'twas mere copper,

And becomes gold inside, when mixed with elixir.

In you, freewill and compulsion are vain fancies,

But in them, they are the light of Almighty power.

On the table bread is a mere lifeless thing,

When taken into the body it is a life-giving spirit.

This transmutation occurs not in the table's heart,

'Tis soul effects this transmutation with water of life.

Such is the power of the soul, O man of right views!

Then what is the power of the Soul of souls? (God).

Bread is the food of the body, yet consider,

How can it be the food of the soul, O son?

Flesh-born man by force of soul

Cleaves mountains with tunnels and mines.

The might of Ferhad's soul cleft a hill;

The might of the Soul's soul cleaves the moon; 5

If the heart opens the mouth of mystery's store,

The soul springs up swiftly to highest heaven.

If tongue discourses of hidden mysteries,

It kindles a fire that consumes the world.

Behold, then, God's action and man's action;

Know, action does belong to us ; this is evident.

If no actions proceeded from men,

How could you say, 'Why act ye thus?'

The agency of God is the cause of our action,

Our actions are the signs of God's agency;

Nevertheless, our actions are freely willed by us,

Whence our recompense is either hell or 'The Friend.'"

1The poet's insistence on the doctrine of God being the Fa'il i Hakiki, or Only Real Agent, without whose word no being and no action can be, leads him to the question of freewill and compulsion of man's will (see Gulshan i Raz, I. 555).

2So Gulshan i Raz, I. 442.

3The leading principle of all mysticism is that, independently of sense and reason, man possesses an inward sense, or intuition, which conveys to him a knowledge of God by direct apprehension (see Gulshan i Raz. I. 431).

4Their wills are identified with God's will, as in the case of the saint Daquqi (infra, Book III. Story XII.)

5As a sign of the last day (Koran liv. 1).

STORY VII. The Merchant and his Clever Parrot.

There was a certain merchant who kept a parrot in a cage. Being about to travel to Hindustan on business, he asked the parrot if he had any message to send to his kinsmen in that country, and the parrot desired him to tell them that he was kept confined in a cage. The merchant promised to deliver this message, and on reaching Hindustan, duly delivered it to the first flock of parrots he saw. On hearing it one of them at once fell down dead. The merchant was annoyed with his own parrot for having sent such a fatal message, and on his return home sharply rebuked his parrot for doing so. But the parrot no sooner heard the merchant's tale than he too fell down dead in his cage. The merchant, after lamenting his death, took his corpse out of the cage and threw it away; but, to his surprise, the corpse immediately recovered life, and flew away, explaining that the Hindustani parrot had only feigned death to suggest this way of escaping from confinement in a cage.

Saints are preserved from all harm1.

As to a "man of heart," he takes no hurt,

Even though he should eat deadly poison.

He who gains health from practicing abstinence is safe;

The poor disciple is safe in the midst of fever.

The prophet said, "O disciple, though you be bold,

Yet enter not into conflict with every foe."

Within you is a Nimrod; enter not his fire;

But if you must do so, first become an Abraham. 2

If you are neither swimmer nor seaman,

Cast not yourself into the sea out of self-conceit.

A swimmer brings pearls from the deep sea;

Yea, he plucks gain from the midst of perils.

If the saint handles earth, it becomes gold;

If a sinner handles gold, it turns to dust.

Whereas the saint is well-pleasing to God,

In his actions his hand is the hand of God.

But the sinner's hand is the hand of Satan and demons,

Because he is ensnared in falsity and fraud.

If folly meets him, he takes it for wisdom;

Yea, the learning gained by the wicked is folly.

Whatever a sick man eats is a source of sickness,

But if a saint imbibe infidelity it becomes faith.

Ah! footman who contendest with horsemen,

Thou wilt not succeed in carrying the day!

The jealousy of God3.

The whole world is jealous for this cause,

That God surpasseth the world in jealousy.

God is as a soul and the world as a body,

And bodies derive their good and evil from souls.

He to whom the sanctuary of true prayer is revealed

Deems it shameful to turn back to mere formal religion.

He who is master of the robes of a king

Brings shame on his lord by petty huckstering.

He who is admitted to the king's presence-chamber

Would show disrespect by tarrying at the doorway.

If the king grants him license to kiss his hand,

He would err were he to kiss merely the king's foot.

Though to lay head at the king's feet is due obeisance,

In the case supposed it would be wrong to kiss the feet.