<£*>% \.%%"\ CORNELL ltntversity LIBRARY Cornell University Library PK 6481.M8E58 1887 Masnavi I Manavi the spiritual couplets 3 1924 026 910 251 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924026910251 TROBNER'S oriental series. " A knowledge of the commonplace, at least, of Oriental literature, philo- sophy, and religion is as necessary to the general reader of the present day as an acquaintance with the Latin and Greek classics was a generation or so ago. 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METRICAL TRANSLATIONS FROM SANSKRIT WRITERS. With an Introduction, many Prose Versions, and Parallel Passages from Classical Authors. By J. MUIR, CLE., D.C.L., LL.D., Ph.D. "... An agreeable introduction to Hindu poetry."— Times. " . . . A volume which may be taken as a fair illustration alike of the religious and moral sentiments and of the legendary lore of the best Sanskrit writers '* Edinburgh Daily Review, TRUBNER'S ORIENTAL SERIES. Second Edition, post 8vo, pp. xxvi.— 244, cloth, price 10s. 6d. THE GULISTAN; Ob, EOSE GARDEN OF SHEKH MUSHLIU'D-DIN SADI OF SHIRAZ. Translated for the First Time into Prose and Verse, with an Introductory Preface, and a Life of the Author, from the Atish Kadah, Br EDWARD B. EASTWIOK, C.B., M.A., F.R.S., M.R.A.S. " It is a very fair rendering of the original."— Times. " The new edition has long been desired, and will he welcomed by all who take any interest in Oriental poetry. The Gulistan is a typical Persian verse-book of the Highest order. 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Grammatical Analysis of the Vayu Language. The Vayu Grammar. —IV. Analysis of the Bahing Dialect of the Kiranti Language. The Baling Gram- mar.— V. On the Vayu or Hayu Tribe of the Central Himalaya.— VI. On the Kiranti Tribe of the Central Himalaya. CONTENTS OF VOL. II. Section III. — On the Aborigines of North-Eastern India. Comparative Vocabulary of the Tibetan, Bddo, and Gar6 Tongues. Section IV. — Aborigines of the North-Eastern Frontier. Section V. — Aborigines of the Eastern Frontier. Section VI. — The Indo-Chinese Borderers, and their connection with the Hima- Iayans and Tibetans. Comparative Vocabulary of Indo-Chinese Borderers in Arakan. Comparative Vocabulary of Indo-Chinese Borderers in Tenasserim. Section VII. — The Mongolian Affinities of the Caucasians. — Comparison and Ana- lysis of Caucasian and Mongolian Words. Section VIII. — Physical Type of Tibetans. 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' ' For the study of the less-known races of India Mr. Brian Hodgson's ' Miscellane- ous Essays' will be found very valuable both to the philologist and the ethnologist." — Times. TR USNER'S ORIENTAL SERIES. Third Edition, Two Vols., post 8vo, pp. viii. — 268 and viii. — 326, cloth, price 21 s. THE LIFE OR LEGEND OF GAUDAMA, THE BUDDHA OF THE BURMESE. With Annotations. The Ways to Neibban, and Notice on the Phongyies or Burmese Monks. By the Bight Eev. P. BIGANDET, Bishop of Bamatha, Vicar-Apostolic of Ava and Pegu. "The work is furnished with copious notes, which not only illustrate the subject- matter, but form a perfect encyclopaedia of Buddhist lore." — Times. ' ' A work which will furnish European students of Buddhism with a most valuable help in the prosecution of their investigations." — Edinburgh Daily Review. 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It is to the classical poetry of Old Japan that we must turn for indigenous Japanese thought, and in the volume before us we have a selection from that poetry rendered into graceful English verse." — Tablet. "It is undoubtedly one of the best translations of lyric literature which has appeared during the close of the last year." — Celestial Empire. " Mr. Chamberlain set himself a difficult task when he undertook to reproduce Japanese poetry in an English form. But he has evidently laboured con amore, and his efforts are successful to a degree." — London and, China Express. Post 8vo, pp. xii. — 164, cloth, price 10s. 6d. THE HISTORY OF ESARHADDON (Son of Sennacherib), KING OF ASSYRIA, B.C. 681-668. Translated from the Cuneiform Inscriptions upon Cylinders and Tablets in the British Museum Collection; together with a Grammatical Analysis of each Word, Explanations of the Ideographs by Extracts from the Bi-Lingual Syllabaries, and List of Eponyms, &c. Br ERNEST A. BUDGE, B.A., M.R.A.S., Assyrian Exhibitioner, Christ's College, Cambridge. "Students of sci-iptural archaeology will also appreciate the 'History of Esar- haddon.' " — Times. " There is much to attract the scholar in this volume. It does not pretend to popularise studies which are yet in their infancy. Its primary object is to translate, but it does not assume to be more than tentative, and it offers both to the professed Assyriologist and to the ordinary non-Assyriological Semitic scholar the means of controlling its results.'' — Academy. "Mr. Budge's book is, of course, mainly addressed to Assyrian scholars and students. They are not, it is to be feared, a very numerous class. But the more thanks are due to him on that account for the way in which he has acquitted himself in his laborious task." — Tablet. Post 8vo, pp. 448, cloth, price 21s. THE MESNEVI (Usually known as The Mesneviyi Sherif, or Holy Mesnevi) of MEVLANA (OUR LORD) JELALU 'D-DIN MUHAMMED ER-RUMI. Book the First. Together with some Account of the Life and Acts of the Author, of his Ancestors, and of his Descendants. Illustrated by a Selection of Characteristic Anecdotes, as Collected by their Historian, Mevlana Shemsu-'D-Din Ahmed, el Eflaki, el 'Aeipi. Translated, and the Poetry Versified, in English, BY JAMES W. REDHOUSE, M.R.A.S., &c. " A complete treasury of occult Oriental lore." — Saturday Review. "This book will be a very valuable help to the reader ignorant of Persia, who is desirous of obtaining an insight into a very important department of the literature extant in that language." — Tablet, TRUBNER'S ORIENTAL SERIES. Post 8vo, pp. xvi.— 280, cloth, price 6s. EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS Illustrating Old Truths. By Rev. J. LONG, Member of the Bengal Asiatic Society, F.R.G.S. " We regard the book as valuable, and wish for it a wide circulation and attentive reading. "—Record. " Altogether, it is quite a feast of good things."— Globe. " It is full of interesting matter." — Antiquary. Post 8vo, pp. viii. — 270, cloth, price 7s. 6d. INDIAN POETRY; Containing a New Edition of the " Indian Song of Songs," from the Sanscrit of the "Gita Govinda" of Jayadeva ; Two Books from "The Iliad of India" (Mahabharata), "Proverbial Wisdom " from the Shlokas of the Hitopadesa, and other Oriental Poems. By EDWIN ARNOLD, C.S.I., Author of "The Light of Asia." " In this new volume of Messrs. TrUbner's Oriental Series, Mr. Edwin Arnold does good service by illustrating, through the medium of his musical English melodies, the power of Indian poetry to stir European emotions. The ' Indian Song of Songs ' is not unknown to scholars. Mr. Arnold will have introduced it among popular English poems. Nothing could be more graceful and delicate than the shades by which Krishna is portrayed in the gradual process of being weaned by the love of ' Beautiful Radha, jasmine-bosomed Radha,' from the allurements of the forest nymphs, in whom the five senses are typified." — Times. " No other English poet has ever thrown his genius and his art so thoroughly into the work of translating Eastern ideas as Mr. Arnold has done in his splendid para- phrases of language contained in these mighty epics."— Daily Telegraph. " The poem abounds with imagery of Eastern luxuriousness and sensuousni ss ; the air seems laden with the Bpicy odours of the tropics t and the verse has a richness and a melody sufficient to captivate the senses of the dullest." — Standard. ** The translator, while producing a very enjoyable poem, has adhered with toler- able fidelity to the original text."— Overland Mail. " We certainly wish Mr. Arnold success in his attempt ' to popularise Indian classics,' that being, as his preface tells us, the goal towards which he bends his efforts^'— A lien's Indian Mail. Post 8vo, pp. xvi. — 296, cloth, price 10s. 6d. THE MIND OF MENCIUS ; Ok, POLITICAL ECONOMY FOUNDED UPON MORAL PHILOSOPHY. A Systematic Digest op the Doctrines op the Chinese Philosopher Mencius. Translated from the Original Text and Classified, with Comments and Explanations, By the Rev. ERNST FABER, Rhenish Mission Society. Translated from the German, with Additional Notes, By the Rav. A. B. HUTCHINSON, C.M.S., Church Mission, Hong Kong. "Mr. Faber is already well known in the field of Chinese studies by Ms digest of the doctrines of Confucius. The value of this work will be perceived when it is remembered that at no time since relations commenced between China and the West has the former been so powerful — we had almost said aggressive — as now. For those who will give it careful study, Mr. Faber's work is one of the most valuable of the excellent series to which it belongs." — Nature. A 2 TRUBNER'S ORIENTAL SERIES. Post 8vo, pp. 336, cloth, price 16s. THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA. By A. BARTH. Translated from the French with the authority and assistance of the Author. The author has, at the request of the publishers, considerably enlarged • the work for the translator, and has added the literature of the subject to date ; the translation mny, therefore, be looked upon as an equivalent of a new and improved edition of the original. " Is not only a valuable manual of the religions of India, which marks a distinct step in the treatment of the subject, but also a useful work of reference." — Academy. " This volume is a reproduction, with corrections and additions, of an article contributed by the learned author two years ago to the ' Encyclopedic des Sciences' Religieuses. ' It attracted much notice when it first appeared, and is generally admitted to present the best summary extant of the vast subject with which it deals." — Tablet. " This is not only on the whole the best but the only manual of the religions of India, apart from Buddhism, which we have in English. 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The system of Kapila contains nearly all that India has produced in the department of pure philosophy. " The non- Orientalist . . . finds in Mr. Davies a patient and learned guide who leads him into the intricacies of the philosophy of India, and supplies him with a clue, that he may not be lost in them. In the preface he states that the system of Kapila is the ' earliest attempt on record to give an answer, from reason alone, to the mysterious questions which arise in every thoughtful mind about the origin of the world, the nature and relations of man and his future destiny,' and in his learned and able notes he exhibits 'the connection of the Sankhya system with the philo- sophy of Spinoza,' and ' the connection of the system of Kapila with that of Schopen- hauer and Von Hartmann.' " — Foreign Church Chronicle. " Mr. Davies's volume on Hindu Philosophy is an undoubted gain to all students of the development of thought. 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Post 8vo, pp. Ixv. — 368, cloth, price 14s 1 . TIBETAN TALES DERIVED FROM INDIAN SOURCES. Translated from the Tibetan of the Kah-Gyub. By F. ANTON VON SCHIEFNER. Done into English from the German, with an Introduction, By. W. R. S. RALSTON, M.A. ' ' Mr. Ralston, whose name is so familiar to all lovers of Russian folk-lore, has supplied some interesting Western analogies and parallels, drawn, for the most part, -from Slavonic sources, to the Eastern folk-tales, culled from the Kabgyur, one of the divisions of the Tibetan sacred books." — Academy. " The translation . . . could scarcely have fallen into better hands. An Introduc- tion ... gives the leading facts in the lives of those scholars who have given their attention to gaining a knowledge of the Tibetan literature and language." — Calcutta Jleview. " Ought to interest all who care for the East, for amusing stories, or for comparative folk-lore." — Pall Mall Gazette. TRUBNER'S ORIENTAL SERIES. Post 8vo, pp. xvi. — 224, cloth, price 93. UDANAVARGA. A COLLECTION OF VERSES FROM THE BUDDHIST CANON. Compiled by DHARMATRATA Being the NORTHERN BUDDHIST VERSION of DHAMMAPADA. Translated from the Tibetan of Bkah-hgyur, with Notes, and Extracts from the Commentary of Pradjnavarman, By W. 'WOODVILLE ROCKHILL. " Mr. Rockhill's present work is the first from which assistance will be gained for a more accurate understanding of the Pali text ; it is, in fact, as yet the only term of comparison available to us. The ' Udanavarga,' the Thibetan version, was originally discovered by tlie late M. Schiefner, who published the Tibetan text, and had intended adding a translation, an intention frustrated by his death, but which has been carried out by Mr. Rockhill. . . . Mr. Bockhill may be congratulated for having well accomplished a difficult task." — Saturday/ Review. In Two Volumes, post 8vo, pp. xxiv. — 566, cloth, accompanied by a Language Map, price 25s. 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Estlin Carpenter, M.A. " Pew books of its size contain the result of so much wide thinking, able and labo- rious study, or enable the reader to gain a better bird's-eye view of the latest results of investigations into the religious history of nations. As Professor Tiele modestly says, ' In this little book are outlines — pencil sketches, I might say — nothing more.' " But there are some men whose sketches from a thumb-nail are of far more worth than an enormous canvas covered with the crude painting of others, and it is easy to see that these pages, full of information, these sentences, cut and perhaps also dry, short and clear, condense the fruits of long and thorough research."— Scotsman. " TRUBNER"S ORIENTAL SERIES. Post 8vo, pp. xii. — 312, with Maps and Plan, cloth, price 14s. A HISTORY OF BURMA. Including Burma Proper, Pegu, Taungu, Tenasserim, and Arakan. From the Earliest Time to the End of the First "War with British India. By Lieut.-Gen. Sib ARTHUR P. PHAYBE, G.C.M.G., K.O.S.I., and C.B., Membre Correspondant de la Soctete Academique Indo-Chinoise de France. "Sir Arthur Phayre's contribution to Trtibner's Oriental Series supplies a recog- nised want, and its appearance has been looked forward to for many years General Phayre deserves great creditfortbe patience and industry which has resulted in this History of Burma. "—Saturday Review. Third Edition. Post 8vo, pp. 276, cloth, price 7s.~-6d. RELIGION. IN CHINA. By JOSEPH EDKINS, D.D., Peking. Containing a Brief Account of the Three Religions of the Chinese, with Observations on the Prospects of Christian Conversion amongst that People. 11 Dr. Edkins has been most careful in noting the varied and often complex phases of opinion, so as to give an account of considerable value of the subject." — Scotsman. " As a missionary, it has been part of Dr. Edkins' duty to study the existing religions in China, and his long residence in the country has enabled him to acquire an intimate knowledge of them as they at present exist." — Saturday Review. " Dr. Edkins' valuable work, of which this is a second and revised edition, has, from the time that it was published, been the standard authority upon the subject of which it treats. "—Nonconformist. * ' Dr. l r ,d kins . . . may now be fairly regarded as among the first authorities on Chinese religion and language." — British Quarterly Review. Post 8vo, pp. X.-274, cloth, price 9s. THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA AND THE EARLY HISTORY OF HIS ORDER. Derived from Tibetan Works in the Bkah-hgyur and Bstan-hgyur. Followed by notices on the Early History of Tibet and Khoten. Translated by W. "W. ROCKHILL, Second Secretary U.S. Legation in China. " The volume bears testimony to the diligence and fulness with which the author has consulted and tested the ancient documents bearing upon his remarkable sub- ject." — Times. " Will be appreciated by those who devote themselves to those Buddhist studies which have of late years taken in these Western regions so remarkable a develop- ment. Its matter possesses a special interest as being derived from ancient Tibetan works, some portions of which, here analysed and translated, have not yet attracted the attention of scholars. The volume is rich in ancient stories bearing upon the world's renovation and the origin of castes, as recorded in these venerable autho- rities." — Daily News. Third Edition. Post 8vo, pp. viii.-464, cloth, price 16s. THE SANKHYA APHORISMS OF KAPILA, "With Illustrative Extracts from the Commentaries. Translated by J. R. BALLANTYNE, LL.D., late Principal of the Benares College.. Edited by FITZEDWARD HALL. "The work displays a vast expenditure of labour and scholarship, for which students of Hindoo philosophy have every reason to be grateful to Dr. Hall and the publishers." — Calcutta Review. TRUBNER'S ORIENTAL SERIES. In Two Volumes, post 8vo, pp. cviii.-242, and viii.-370, cloth, price 24s. Dedicated by permission to H.K.H. the Prince of Wales. BUDDHIST RECORDS OF THE WESTERN WORLD, Translated from the Chinese of Hiuen Tsiang (A.D. 629). By SAMUEL EEAL, B.A., (Trin, Coll. , Camb. ) ; R. N. (Retired Chaplain and N. I. ) ; Professor of Chinese, University College, London ; Hector of Wark, Northumberland, &c. An eminent Indian authority writes respecting this work: — "Nothing more can be done in elucidating the History of India until Mr. Beal's trans- lation of the 'Si-yu-ki' appears." " It is a strange freak of historical preservation tnat the best account of the con- dition of India at that ancient period has come down to us in the books of travel written by the Chinese pilgrims, of whom H wen Thsang is the best known." — Times. Post 8vo, pp. xlviii.-398, cloth, price 12s. THE ORDINANCES OF MANU. Translated from the Sanskrit, with an Introduction. , By the late A. C. BURNELL, Ph.D., CLE. Completed and Edited by E. W. HOPKINS, Ph.D., of Columbia College, N.Y. " This work is full of interest ; while for the student of sociology and the science of religion it is full of importance. It is a great boon to get so notable a work in so accessible a form, admirably edited, and competently translated." — Scotsman. " Few men were more competent than Burnell to give us a really good translation ^•of this well-known law book, first rendered into English by Sir William Jones. Burnell was not only an independent Sanskrit scholar, but an experienced lawyer, and he joined to these two important qualifications the rare faculty of being able to express his thoughts in clear and trenchant English. . . . We ought to feel very , grateful to Dr. Hopkins for having given us all that could be published of the trans- lation left by Burnell." — P. Max Muller in the Academy. Post 8vo, pp. XU.-234, cloth, price 9s. THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ALEXANDER CSOMA DE KOROS, Between 1819 and 1842. With a Short Notice of all his Published and Un- published Works and Essays. From Original and for most part Un- published Documents. By THEODORE DUKA, M.D., F.R.C.S. (Eng.), Surgeon-Major H.M.'s Bengal Medical Service, Retired, &c. 1 " Not too soon have Messrs. Trubner added to their valuable Oriental Series a history of' the life and works of one of the most gifted and devoted of Oriental students, Alexander Csoma de Eoros. 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VII.— On the Traces of the Hindu Language and Literature extant amongst the Malays. By William Marsden. VIII.— Some Account of the Elastic Gum Vine of Prince- Wales Island. By James Howison. IX.— A Botanical Description of Urceola Elastica, or Caoutchouc Vine of Sumatra and Pulo-Pinang. By William Roxburgh, M.D. X. — An Account of the Inhabitants of the Poggy, or Nassau Islands, lying off Sumatra. By John Crisp. XL'— Remarks on the Species of Pepper which are found on Prince-Wales Island By William Hunter, M.D. XII.— On the Languages and Literature of the Indo-Chinese Nations. BV J Leyden, M.D. XIIL— Some Account of an Orang-Outang of remarkable height found on the Island of Sumatra. By Clarke Abel, M.D, XIV. — Observations on the Geological Appearances and General Features of Por- tions of the Malayan Peninsula. By Captain James Low. XV.— Short Sketch of the Geology of Pulo-Pinang and the Neighbouring Islands. By T. Ware. XVI.— Climate of Singapore. XVII. —Inscription on the Jetty at Singapore. XVIII. — Extract of a Letter from Colonel J. Low. XIX. — Inscription at Singapore. XX. — An Account of Several Inscriptions found in Province Well esley. By Lieut. - Col. James Low. XXI.— Note on the Inscriptions from Singapore and Province Wellesley. By J. W. Laidlay. XXII. — On an Inscription from Keddah. By Lieut. -Col. Low. XXIII. — A Notice of the Alphabets of the Philippine Islands. XXIV. — Succinct Review of the Observations of the Tides in the Indian Archipelago. XXV.— Report on the Tin of the Province of Mergui. By Capt. G. B. Tremenheere. XXVI.— Report on the Manganese of Mergui Province. By Capt. G. B. Tremenheere. XXVII.— Paragraphs to be added to Capt. G. B. Tremenheere's Report. XXVIII. — Second Report on the Tin of Mergui. By Capt. G. B. Tremenheere. XXIX.— Analysis of Iron Ores from Tavoy and Mergui, and of Limestone from Mergui. By Dr. A. Ure. XXX. — Report of a Visit to the Pakchan River, and of some Tin Localities in the Southern Portion of the Tenasserim Provinces. By Capt. G. B. Tremenheere. XXXI. — Report on a Route from the Mouth of the Pakchan to Krau, and thence across the Isthmus of Krau to the Gulf of Siam. By Capt. Al. Fraser and Capt. J. G. Forlong. XXXII. — Report, Ac, from Capt. G. B. Tremenheere on the Price of Mergui Tin Ore. XXXIIL— Remarks on the Different Species of Orang-utan. By E. Blyth. XXXIV.— Further Remarks. By E. Blyth. TRUBNER'S ORIENTAL SERIES. MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS RELATING TO INDO-CHINA- continued. CONTENTS OF VOL. II. XXXV.— Catalogue of Mammalia inhabiting the Malayan Peninsula and Islands. By Theodore Cantor, M.D. XXXVL— On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore. By J. B. Logan. XXX VII.— Catalogue of Reptiles inhabiting the Malayan Peninsula and Islands. By Theodore Cantor, M.D. XXXVIII.— Some Account of the Botanical Collection brought from the Eastward, in 1841, by Dr. Cantor. By the late W. Griffith. XXXIX.— On the Plat- Horned Taurine Cattle of S.E. Asia. By E. Blyth. XL. — Note, by Major-General G. B. Tremenheere. General Index. Index of Vernacular Terms. Index of Zoological Genera and Sub-Genera occurring in Vol. II. " The papers treat of almost every aspect of Indo-China— its philology, economy, geography, geology — and constitute a very material and important contribution to oar accessible information regarding that country and its people." — Contemporary Review. Post 8vo, pp. XU.-72, cloth, price 53. THE SATAKAS OF BHAETEIHARI. Translated from the Sanskrit By the Rev. B. HALE WORTHAM, M.R.A.S., Rector of Eggesford, North Devon. " A very interesting addition to Triibner's Oriental Series."— Saturday Review. " Many of the Maxims in the book have a Biblical ring and beauty of expression." -S(. James' Gazette. Post 8vo, pp. xii.-i8o, cloth, price 6s. ANCIENT PBOVEEBS AND MAXIMS FEOM BUEMESE SOUECES ; Ok, THE NITI LITERATURE OF BURMA. By JAMES GRAY, Author of "Elements of Pali Grammar," "Translation of the Dhammapada," &c. , The Sanscrit-Pali word Niti is equivalent to "conduct" in its abstract and "guide" in its concrete signification. As applied to books it is a general term for a treatise which includes maxims, pithy sayings and didactic stories, intended as a guide to such matters of every-day° lif e as form the character of an individual and influence him in his relations to his fellow-men. Treatises of this kind have been popular in all ages and have served as a most effective medium of instruction. TRUBNER'S ORIENTAL SERIES. TEE FOLLOWING WORKS ARE IN PREPARATION :— One Vol. , post 8vo. MANAVA-DHARMA-CASTRA: THE CODE OP MANU. Original Sanskrit Text, with Critical Notes. Bt J. JOLLY, Ph.D., Professor of Sanskrit in the University of Wurzburg ; late Tagore Professor of Law in the University of Calcutta. The date assigned by Sir 'William Jones to this Code — the well-known Great Law Book of the Hindus — is 1250-500 B.C., although the rules and precepts contained in it had probably existed as tradition for countless ages before. There has been no reliable edition of the Text for Students for many years past, and it is believed, therefore, that Prof. Jolly's work will supply a want long felt. In Two Vols. , post 8vo. ALBERUNI'S INDIA: AN ACCOUNT OF JTS RELIGION; PHILOSOPHY, LITERATURE, GEOGRAPHY, CHRONOLOGY, ASTRONOMY, CUSTOMS, LAW, AND ASTROLOGY (about a.d. 1031). Translated into English. With Notes and Indices by Prof. EDWARD SACHAU, University of Berlin. *»* The Arabic Original, with an Index of the Sanskrit Words, Edited by Professor SACHAU, is in the press. In Two Volumes, post 8vo. MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS RELATING TO INDOCHINA. Edited by R. ROST, Ph.D., &c. &c, Librarian to the India Office. Second Series. Reprinted for the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society from the Malayan "Miscellanies," the "Transactions and Journal "of the Batavian Society," and the "Journals" of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and the Royal Geographical and Royal Asiatic Societies. Post 8vo. MASNAVI I MA' NAVI: THE SPIRITUAL COUPLETS OF MAULANA JALALU-D-DIN MUHAMMAD I RUMI. Translated and Abridged by E. H. WHINFIELD, M.A., Late of H.M. BeDgal Civil Service. TRUBNER'S ORIENTAL SERIES. Post 8vo. LEAVES FROM MY CHINESE SCRAP-BOOK. By FREDERIC HENRY BALFOUR. Author of " Waifs and Strays from the Far East," " Taoist Texts," "Idiomatic Phrases in the Peking Colloquial," &e. &c. Post 8to. THE LIFE OF HIUEN TSIANG. By the SHAMANS HWUI LI and YEN-TSUNG. With a Preface containing an account of the Works of I-Tsing. By SAMUEL BEAL, B.A. (Trin. Coll., Camb.); Professor of Chinese, University College, London; Rector of Wark, Northumberland, &c. Author of " Buddhist Records of the Western World," " The Romantic Legend of Sakya Budda," &c. When the Pilgrim Hiuen Tsiang returned from his travels in India, he took up his abode in the Temple of ' ' Great Benevolence ; " this convent had been constructed by the Emperor in honour of the Empress, Wen-te-hau. After Hiuen Tsiang's death, his disciple, Hwui Li, composed a work which gave an account of his illustrious Master's travels ; this work when he com- pleted he buried, and refused to discover its place of concealment. But previous to his death he revealed its whereabouts to Yen-tsung, by whom it was finally revised and published. This is " The Life of Hiuen Tsiang." It is a valuable sequel to the Si-yu-ki, correcting and illustrating it in many particulars. Post 8vo. A SKETCH OF THE MODERN LANGUAGES OF OCEANIA. By R. N. OUST, LL.D. Author of "Modern Languages of the East," "Modern Languages of Africa," &c. Post 8vo. ESSAYS ON THE INTERCOURSE OF THE CHINESE WITH WESTERN COUNTRIES IN THE MIDDLE AGES AND ON KINDRED SUBJECTS. By E. BRETSCHNEIDER, M.D., Formerly Physician of the Russian Legation at Pekin. LONDON : TRUBNER & CO., 57 and 59 LUDGATE HILL. 500—29/3/87. T.RUBNER'S ORIENTAL SERIES. MASNAVI I MA'NAVI THE SPIRITUAL COUPLETS MAULANA JALALU-'D-DIN MUHAMMAD I EUMI. TRANSLATED AND ABRIDGED E. H. WHINFIELD, M.A. LATE OF H.M. BENGAL CIVIL SERVICE. LONDON: r l t /■ TRUBNER & CO., LUDGATE HILL. 1887. [All rights reserved.] Mantle 3?r#r* BAIXANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. EDINBURGH AND LONDON CONTENTS. Introduction . PAGE xiii BOOK I. Prologue Story I. — The Prince and the Handmaid Description of love .... Importunity of Shamsu-'d-Din of Tabriz Story II. — The Oilman and his Parrot . Confusion of saints with hypocrites . Story III.— The Jewish King and the Vazir The vazir's teaching .... Sleep of the body the soul's awaking Laila and the Khalifa The twelve volumes of theology Story IV. — Another Tyrannical Jewish King Second causes subordinate to the Pirst Cause Praises compared to vapour Story V. — The Lion and the Beasts Trust in God opposed to human exertions. Wisdom granted to the weak . Human wisdom the manifestation of Divine Story VI. — 'Omar and the Ambassador . God's agency reconciled with man's free will Story VII. — The Merchant and his Parrot Saints preserved from all harm The jealousy of God .... Complaints of God's harsh dealings . 9 10 ii 12 13 *i •5 16 17 18 20 21 24 25 28 28 29 30 CONTENTS. Story VIII.— The Harper .... Apology for applying the term " Bride " to God 'Omar's rebuke to the harper . Story IX. — The Arab and his Wife Men subdued by women's wiles Moses and Pharaoh both doers of God's will Man and wife types of the spirit and the flesh Adam made superior to the angels . Partial evil universal good Story X. — The Man who was Tattooed . Submission to the Spiritual Director Story XI. — The Lion who hunted in Company Man must destroy "self" . Story XII. — Joseph and the Mirror " Not-being " the mirror of Being Story XIII— The Prophet's Scribe How philosophers deceive themselves . Story XIV. — The Chinese and the Greek Artists Knowledge of the heart and of the schools Story XV.— The Prophet and Zaid Counsels of " reserve " .... Story XVI. — 'Ali's Forbearance The Prophet's whisper to 'Ali's stirrup-bearer Adam rebuked for scorning Mis Epilogue to Book I BOOK II. Prologue Story I.— The Sufi's Beast . The poet's doctrines veiled in fables Why the prophets were sent . Mystical meaning of " Daylight'' Expressions of religious feeling . On blind imitation . Evil influence of covetousness . Story II. — The Pauper and The Prisoners Satan's oflB.ce in the world The " Beloved " the cause of all earthly beatity CONTENTS. Story III.— The King and his two Slaves The apostolical succession Story IV.— The Falcon and the Owls . The right use of forms Story V.— The Thirsty Man . " It was not ye who shot " Story VI. — Luqman and his Master Love endures hardships from the* Beloved Story VII. — Moses and the Shepherd . Religious forms indifferent Why the wicked flourish . - Story VIII.— The Man and his Pet Be,ar He who needs mercy finds it . The worshippers of the golden calf . Story IX. — The Gardener and the Three Friends Story X. — Bayazid and the Saint . The sweet uses of adversity God the Author of good and evil Evil turned into good for the good Story XI. — Mo'avia and Iblis The value of sighs . Wisdom the " believer's lost camel " False doctrines contain some truth Story XII. — The Four Hindustanis Story XIII.— The Old Man and the Physician Bad principles produce bad actions . Story XIV. — The Carrier and the Scholar Story XV. — The Man who Boasted Story XVI.— The Gluttonous Sufi . The " mean " is relative . ~^The ecstatic state above law The " inner voice " its own evidence Story XVII.— The Tree of Life . Story XVIII. —The Young Ducks . CONTENTS. BOOK III. Story I. — The Travellers who ate the Elephant God's care for His children Evil deeds make prayers stink . The man who cried " Allah ! " . Story II. — The Villager and the Townsman Jesus healing the sick God's claims to our gratitude . Tests of hypocrisy .... Story III. — The Jackal who aped a Peacock Story IV. — Moses and Pharaoh . . , Lust compared to the snake Story V. — The Elephant in a dark Room Outward sense compared to the palm of a hand Noah and his son Canaan Ueconciliation of two traditions The bewilderment of love annuls thought Story VI. — The Love? and his Mistress True lovers seek " union " Story VII.— The Man in the Time of David Knowledge opposed to opinion Story VIII. — The Boys and their Teacher Story IX. — The Darvesh who broke his Vow All things dependent on God's will . Divine decrees apparent in their eiFects Story X. — The Old Man and his Sons . Story XI. — Bahlol and the Darvesh Story XII. — The Visions of Daqiiqi Identification of the will with God's will All religions in substance one . Story VII. {continued) — The Man in the Time of David Criminals betray themselves Lust compared to the murderer Story XIII.— The Men of Saba . ■ Not all can use parables rightly The arguments of the Fatalists Mercy inclines the good to devotion The despair of the prophets Probability the guide of life CONTENTS.- Stobt XIV.— The Miracles of the Prophet The way of escape in difficulties Story XV. — The Language of Animals . Why free will is good for man . Story XVI. — The Woman who lost her Infants Knowing through similitudes and at first hand Story XVII.— The Vakil of the Prince of Bokhara The lover's reply .... The Vakil's answer .... Love generates love . ■ . The Vakil's praises of the Prince Story XVIIL— The Deadly Mosque The " eye of certainty " . Affliction compared to the boiling of herbs Objections of fools to the Masnavi . Solomon and the gnat BOOK IV. Story I. — The Lover and his Mistress . Evil only relative Why God is named " Seeing " . The world compared to a bath stove Story II.— The " Most Bemote " Temple The microcosm. and the macrocosm . Solomon's message to Bilqis .... Ibrahim bin Adham's love for music Ibrahim bin Adham abdicates his throne The art of preaching Solomon's admonitions to Bilqis How men and demons helped to build the temple All creatures cry to God for sustenance . On cleansing the heart from self-conceit . Story III.— The Youth who complained of hk Food. Moses and the magicians . Story IV.— The Ecstatic States of Bayazid . Bdyazid's impious sayings . Why the Hudhaili youth was promoted . CONTENTS. Story V.— The Three Fishes .... The wise, the half wise, and the fool The bird's counsels . Stoky VI.— Moses and Pharaoh The tradition, " I was a hidden treasure " Pious men ask not where heaven and hell are Arguments of a Sunni and a Dahri . Story VII. — The ungrateful Courtier "Why some are made for destruction . Story VIII. — The Prince beguiled by a Courtesan He who grieves the Logos must expect tribulation Story IX. — The Mule and the Camel The evolution of man Zu'l Qarnain visits Mount Qaf . Gabriel appears to Muhammad . Address to Husamu'-d-Din BOOK V. Story I. — The Prophet and his Guest Outward acts bear witness of the thoughts Prayers for spiritual enlightenment . Story II. — The Arab and his Dog . Story III. — The Sage and the Peacock . " There is no monkery in Islam " Prayers for higher aspirations . Story IV. — The Raiizis of Sabzawar Satan's snares for men .... Story V. — The Man who claimed to be a Prophet The Prophet's prayer .... Story VI. — The Youth who imitated a Shaikh Worthlessness of blind imitation Theologians blind to things of the Spirit . Story VII. — The Creation of Adam God the " Only Real Agent "... Death is gain Story VIII. — Mahmiid and Ayiz . Description of him who is made one with God CONTENTS. Story IX. — The Kepentance of Nasiih . Men's members will bear witness against Mm Story X. — The Lion, the Fox, and the Ass . Blind imitators exposed by their actions . Worldly illusions to be shaken off . The monk's search for a man . Story XI. — The Musulman and the Magian . Love puts reason to silence Story VIII. (continued) — Mahmud and AyAz Love and faith a mighty spell . God's dealings manifest to the spiritual . Story XII. — The Devotee who broke the Wine-Jar Description of one who trusts to the light of nature Story VIII. (continued) — Mahmud and Ayaz Iyazi's rebuke to his passions . Hearing leads on to seeing Those who deny the life to come "_We allot to some lusts, to others virtues " BOOK VI. Prologue Man's worth depends on the objects of his aspiration Fear of men hinders acceptance of truth . Prayers for guidance Story I. — The Slave who loved his Master's Daughter Story II. — The Fowler and the Bird The bird's cries for succour .... Story III. — The Turkish Amir and the Minstrel . Intoxication a figure of spiritual ecstasy . Seasons for knocking at the empty house Story IV. — The Purchase of Bilal .... Growth in grace gradual Story V.— The Sufi and the Qazi .... The dead regret not dying, but lost opportunities Virtue implies trials overcome .... Men's members bear witness of God's bounty . Story VI.— The Faqir and the Hidden Treasure . God rules men by hope and fear . . > . " I am about to place on earth a Khalifa " God is "nearer to us than our neck-vein." CONTENTS. Story VII.^The Three Travellers .... Lofty speculation diverts us from God The uses of chastisement The mouse and the frog ..... He -who discerns God in the world is safe Story VIII. — The Pensioner of the Prefect of Tabriz Folly of trusting to man ..... Joseph in the prison Story IX. — The King and his Three Sons . The significance of " forms " " The Truth " hidden in our phenomenal being The figurative language of the Princes Why the answer to prayer is delayed The joys of " Fruitio Dei " inexpressible . The death of the Second Prince PAGE 304 3°5 3°7 309 310. 3" 312 3'4 314 315 317 319 323 325 328 Note on Apocryphal Supplements to the Masnavi . 329 INTRODUCTION. The Masnavi is described by the Author in his Arabic • Preface as follows : — " Thus saith the feeble servant, in need of the mercy of God, whose name be extolled, Muhammad, son of Muhammad, son of Husain, of Balkh, of whom may God accept it, — { I have exerted myself to enlarge this book of poetry in rhymed couplets, which contains strange and rare narratives, beautiful sayings, and recondite indica- tions ; a path for the devout, and a garden for the pious ; short in its expressions, numerous in its applications. . . . It contains the roots of the roots of the roots of the Faith, and treats of the mysteries of "Union and sure Knowledge.'" 1 In modern language the Masnavi may be called the " Divina Oommedia," or the " Paradise Lost " of Islam — a summary of religious thought, a " Thdodicte," justifying the way of Allah to man, and a standard of religious feeling. In India it is regarded as a very weighty document of the Faith, second only to the Koran and the Traditions ; in Turkey, according to Khaja 'Ami, one of the ' Ulama, it is esteemed " the amulet of the soul ; " and Sir J. Malcolm and Mr. Hughes, in spite of its Sunni bias, call it the Bible of Persia. The central idea of the poem is that the only true basis of spiritual religion is love, and that all seeming faith and piety which do not grow from love profit nothing. And this is illustrated by" what Cardinal 1 I avail myself of Mr. Redhouse's translation. _ xiv INTRODUCTION. Newman calls the "Mystical or Sacramental" view of the Universe, i.e., the religious insight which sees in the visible Universe only outward signs of the spiritual reali-' ties within it, and especially in human beauty a type of the Divine perfections. 1 The poet's data were the Koran and the Traditions, the speculations of the Scholastic Theologians, and lastly, the Mysticism of the Sufis. To begin with the Koran : — AUah is the Jehovah of the Pentateuch — The One God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the Eternal, the Most High, who sitteth above the heavens QarsK), a Great King above all gods. Of all the Divine attributes that which Muhammad realised most strongly was Power. He pictures Allah as a mighty Oriental Sultan, who at his arbitrary will exalts some to honour, and abases others to disgrace 2 — a God of mercy and of vengeance ; of goodness and of severity ; very gracious to his faithful servants, but a terrible chastiser of all who offend him. Muhammad had not attained to that sense of the intimate relation between God and the soul, — that recognition of the Fatherhood of God, — r which inspires some of the Psalms. His dominant thought is, " How irresistible is the power of God ! — how terrible a thing it is to fall into His hands !^and how absolute the need for " fear of God, and for complete resig- nation to His will." Muhammad said of himself, "A messenger has only to deliver his message," and his message related to prac- tice, not speculation. He accepted without question the old Judaic view of the Divine Nature and the simple morality of the Patriarchs and'- of King Solomon. As 1 " While men of externals believe seen through a near approach to that there is nothing in existence God and a close communion with but what is visible to sight, interior His omnipresent Spirit." FasHsu'l men hold that much is veiled from Hikam. outward sight, which can only be 2 Koran iii. 25. INTRODUCTION. xv time went on, men found in the Koran dogmas as to the Divine Nature, as to Predestination, as to the Origin of evil, and so on, but in reality these were only the " afterthoughts of theology." The language of the Koran is popular, and not meant to bear the strain of analysis. Some of its expressions, for instance, seem to make for Predestination, while others are equally strong for Free Will. 1 Two sayings are ascribed to Muhammad which, whether genuine or not, certainly express his general attitude towards speculative questions : — " Think on the mercies of God, not on the Essence of God ; " and, " Tarry not with them that discuss Predestination." He had, however, some presentiment of what would come to pass after his death, for he said, " My people shall be divided into three-and-seventy sects, of which all save one shall have their portion in the fire." It was inevitable that knowledge should widen, and that widened knowledge should breed speculation, for " knowledge is a goad to them that have it." Neither the sinister prediction of the Prophet, nor the trenchant sentence of 'Omar, nor the anathema of the Canonist Ash-Shafi'i could hinder the faithful from philosophis- ing. In the first century of the Flight they were brought into contact with the speculations of the Christian sects, with the theosopby of the Neoplatonists and Gnostics, and with the old Persian learning of Balkh and Khorasan, and by the end of the third century portions of Plato, of Aristotle, " the parent of heresies," and of the Alexan- drian commentators had been translated into Arabic. The Mu'tazilites and Mutakallamin at once carried philo- sophy into divinity, and, in the light of this new learning, debated all the trite topics of theology. Parallel to this stream of scholasticism there ran another stream of mystical theosophy, — derived in part from Plato, " the Attic Moses," but mainly from Chris- tianity, as presented in the " spiritual Gospel " of St. 1 Renan, Averroes, p. 160; Cp. Deutsoh, Remains, p. 129. xvi , INTRODUCTION. John, and as expounded by the Christian Platonists and Gnostics. This second stream was Sufiism. The Dabistan records an opinion that the creed of the Sufis is the same as that of the Platonists (Ishrdqin), 1 and in the Sufi writings we are constantly confronted by the " fair humanities of old philosophy," — the two worlds of " ideas " and of sensible objects, the One and the Many, the figment of " Not-being," the generation of opposites from opposites, the Alexandrian gnosis of the Logos, of Ecstasy and of Intuition, and the doctrine of the Phasdrus that human beauty is the bridge of communication between the world of sense and the world of ideas, leading man by the stimulus of love to the "Great Ocean of the Beautiful.'' The influence of Christianity on Sufiism is more marked still. M. Garcin de Tassy calls Islam "une grande aberration Chretienne," but he would have been nearer the mark if he had limited this description to Sufiism. In the Masnavi, for instance, we not only find notices of the chief events in the Gospel history, but also sentences and phrases which are obviously only free renderings of Gospel texts. 2 The cardinal Sufi terms, " The Truth," " The Way," " Universal Eeason " {Logos), " Universal Soul " (Pnmma)/' Grace " (Faiz), and " Love," are almost certainly of Christian extraction, and the main Sufi doctrine of eternal life after annihilation (Baqa, odd ul Fana) is a reflection, though only a blurred reflection, of the Christian death to sin and life to righteousness. II. Such, in brief outline, were the poet's data, and he fused them into a system by the cardinal principle of " Love," which is, in fact, no other than the " Love," the " Charity," the " New commandment," the " more excel- lent way," of St. John and St. Paul. 1 Dabistan, by Shea and Troyer, iii. p. 281. 2 E.g., Some of the " Hadis." INTRODUCTION. xvii The substantial identity of the Love (Ishq or Eros) of the Masnavi with the Love {Agape*) of the New Testa- ment is obscured by the figurative language of the poem. Now-a-days we have lost the key to all this sym- bolism, though it would have been quite intelligible to St. Bernard, St. Theresa, or St. Thomas a Kempis. This sensuous imagery was first used by that fervid Copt Origen, in his commentary on the Song of Songs, — a . book which, by the way, the Eabbis were half inclined to exclude from the Canon, — and even Origen himself, in his cooler moments, felt misgivings as to its propriety. 1 Hence we can hardly be surprised at finding modern divines, like Hughes and Tholuck, 2 stoutly denying that Christian " Love of God " has anything in common with the mystical love of the ! Sufis. , But no unbiassed person can read the Masnavi without being forced to admit the intended identity of the two. And, what is more, we cannot pronounce its sensuous symbolism, however objec- tionable, to be an unpardonable sin without at the same time condemning our own "Mystical Theology" and uncanonizing not a few of our own saints. The poet repeats again and again,, in language that would almost satisfy Dean Mansel or Mr. Herbert Spencer, that man is utterly unable to form adequate conceptions of the Absolute, and that all symbols derived from the world of sense are more or less misleading ; 3 but he justi- fies their use by the necessities of human thought and by the example of the Koran. And, casting about among sensible objects to find a type of heavenly love, he finds nothing better than earthly love. Beauty " stands upon the threshold of the mystical world," and the phenomena of earthly love, excited by the thrill of human beauty, — the frenzy of Majnun, disclosing to him a beauty in Laila 1 Bigg's "Christian Platbnists of 2 Hughes' "frotes on Muhammad- Alexandria, "p. 188. Bishop Light- anism," p. 233 ; Tholuck, "Bluthen- foot* too, is sometimes staggered by sammlung, " p. 26. But see " Ssufis- the Patristic use of Er6s for Agapi. mus," p. 304. lb., p. ix. . 3 See pp. 5, 31, 263. b xviii INTRODUCTION. which was hidden from strangers, — the passion of Zulaikha for Yusuf, making her reckless of disgrace, — sublime self- devotion, like that of Heloise to the worthless Abelard, — lifelong reverence, like that paid by Dante to Beatrice, — phenomena such as these seemed to him the most appropriate types of love to God attainable by human faculties. According to him love is the " astrolabe of heavenly mysteries," the " eye-salve which opens the eyes to spiritual beauty," the touch of emotion which changes the service of slaves into the devotion of children, the key to spiritual knowledge (ma'rifat or gnosis), and the only true basis of genuine practical religion. First as to knowledge : — The poet, like St. Paul, condemns the " oppositions of knowledge (gnosis) falsely so called," * but at the same time he has ^ very defi- nite grwsis of his own. His main purpose is to display the merciful attributes, — to bring out the Fatherhood of God, — and to explain away the terrible attributes and the mystery of eviL Hence he approaches all speculative questions, not on their metaphysical, but on their ethical side, i.e., through his principle of love. The more a man loves, the deeper he penetrates the purposes of God. Pious Muslims are dominated by the same vivid sense of the presence and action of God that inspires the Psalms. God, they say, is all in all, the " Only Eeal Agent," who is " working every day." We might say in modern lan- guage that God is conceived by them as ever renewing all the matter and all the force in the universe. If He withdrew His sustaining presence, the whole would relapse into its original nothingness. Not a leaf sprouts on a tree, not a sparrow falls to the ground, not a thought occurs to the mind, without God's impulsion. And this impulsion is exercised, not in accordance with uniform " laws of nature," but by an arbitrary fiat pronounced in each individual case. It is plain that this view of God's 1 i Tim. vi. 20. INTRODUCTION. xis action on the world must bring Muslims face to face with the problem of evil in a vivid way that we Euro- peans, with our " laws of nature," can hardly realise. On this view it is hard to see how any actions can be done except those which are done, and how therefore man can be justly held responsible for actions so utterly beyond his control. 1 Dean Mansel seems to think it a mark of special heretical pravity to dwell on the problem of evil, 2 but when pious minds are thus brought face to face with it, and realise the awful nature of the question, it is, surely, impossible for them to shirk it. To this question " knowledge " (ma'rifat or gnosis) is the poet's answer. And the key to this gnosis is love, — such love as guides a lover to divine the cause of his mistress's cruelty, or an affectionate child the reasons of its father's severity. The child of God, reading with the commentary of love the twin Books of Eevelation and Reason, — its Father's word and its own feeble sense, — becomes clairvoyant through love, and attains to knowledge or "gnosis" of God. This gnosis, which bears some like- ness to that given in the first chapter of St. John, may be summarised as follows : — God said, "I desired to manifest forth my glory, and I created the worlds in order to manifest it." " The first thing created was Reason" ('Aql or Logos), 3 first unspoken Thought, then the spoken Word. From the Logos proceeded or emanated the " Universal Soul " {Jan i kull or Pneuma), which, like the Logos, contained the fulness of the Godhead, — the sum of all the divine " names," attributes, or " ideas " ('Aydn i Sabita).* The light of these divine " ideas " then shone upon the darkness of " Not-being," and each atom of Not-being re- flected one of them, 5 — heaven and the angels, for instance, 1 Cp. Omar Khayyam, passim, of Pneuma with fan i kull [lb; p- 2 "Gnostic Heresies," p. II. 233). 3 Renan, "Averroes," p. 118. 4 Jorjani in Notices et Ext. des, Tholuck admits the identity of the MSS., x. 65. Logos with'^jZ i hull, (" Ssufismus," 6 " As the spirit of man becomes pp. 274, 286), but apparently not that voice and voice words, so the Divine xx INTRODUCTION. reflecting the attributes of mercy, and hell and the devils the terrible attributes. 1 And so on with all the creatures of the visible universe. Last of all came forth the soul of man, which reflected all the attributes, merciful as well as terrible. Man is thus a " Microcosm " or recapitulation of the whole universe. On one side he is luminous with the light of the merciful attributes,, but on the other he is black with the darkness of the terrible attributes, also re- flected in his essential " Not-being." He is thus " created half to rise and half to fall ; " but he, of his own accord, accepted the " deposit " of this double nature, involving power to refuse the evil and choose the good. All the phenomena of the universe, man included, have no reaL existence of their own, but are every moment renewed by the constant outpouring, through the channel of the Logos, of reflections from the One Noumman, and, when the divine purposes are accomplished,, the whole phantasr magoria of phenomenal existence will vanish away, and " God will be heir of all." Thus the " Knower" or Gnostic (Arif) penetrates the divine scheme, and is able to admit the divine Power without impugning the divine Goodness. A skilful painter is of necessity able to paint ugly pictures as well as fair ones. Hence the " Knower " does not, like the Magians, set up over against the good Ormuzd an evil Ahriman to account for the origin of evil, but recognises that God created all things, even including what seems to us evil. 2 But what we call evil has in reality no real existence of its own, being merely, as St. Augustine said, a " negation," — a departure from the Only Self-existent Being. Here the poet first takes " Not-being " in its literal sense of " Nothing," and then, misled by the old notion that all words must have things answering to. Spirit becomes substance, and sub- 2 Here the poet deserts his usual stance spirits and bodies." — "Dabis- guides. Neither Plato ("Resp.,"ii. tan " (Calcutta ed.), p. 479. p. 380) nor Christians would admit 1 See De Sacy, quoted in note to that God is the Author of Evil. The Shea and Trover's "Dabistan," iii. "Evil One" was created originally. 256. good. INTRODUCTION. xxi them, 1 as Something, — as Nothing in relation to God, but as a very pernicious Something in relation to man. In the next place the poet points out that much of what we call evil is only relative, — what is evil for one being good for another, — nay more, that evil itself is often turned into good for the good. Further, he insists on the probationary design of much so-called evil. As Bishop Butler says, life is a state of probation, and probation involves the existence of evil lusts and pains to prove us. How, the poet asks, could there be self-control without evil passions to be controlled, or patienbe without the pressure of afflictions to be borne ? Much evil, again, is medicinal, — the jail serves as the mosque of the criminal, because it makes him cry to God, just as fasting and discipline are the school of the ill-regulated passions. Lastly, much evil has a punitive purpose. " He who grieves the Logos must look for tribulation in the world." So, again, with the question of " compulsion " or pre- destination : — God is the " Only Beal Agent," and, in His inscrutable wisdom He undoubtedly fashions some to be vessels of wrath,' such as were Iblis, Cain, Nimrod, • Pharaoh, 2 and Abu Jahl ; but, as we can see only a small part of the divine scheme, we must be wary of judging in these cases. Adam was rebuked for scorning Iblis, and it may be that Iblis will one day be turned again into an angel of light. So it is said that Pharaoh was a doer of God's will equally with Moses, and was wont at night to bewail the " compulsion " which made him oppose that faithful servant' of God. But the " Knower," while refusing to judge others, will not be backward in judging himself. He will admit the ability to choose good and refuse evil, which his own consciousness testifies to as existing in himself. He will not, like Iblis, throw the responsibility for his sins upon the Creator, but rather he will cry with Adam, " Lord, we have blackened our own faces ! " Finally, when man's will is altogether 1 See p. 52. 2 See "Dabistan," by Shea and Troyer, iii. 272, note. xxii INTRODUCTION. identified with God's will, and he finds his chief pleasure in doing God's will, the whole opposition and distinction between " compulsion " and free will is annihilated, just as raindrops falling into oyster-shells become pearls. Much of the phraseology used by the poet to express, his doctrine of the indwelling and inworking of Allah in the universe approaches that used by the Pantheists; and it has become a commonplace of European criticism to say that this Sufi doctrine is mere Pantheism. M. Garcin de Tassy, for instance, has the usual tirade against " ces funestes doctrines." But in reality the two doctrines are entirely distinct. 1 Pantheism " makes everything God except God Himself," — i.e., explains away a Personal God by identifying Him with the universe. The Sufi poet, on the other hand, makes everything naught except God, and gives life to this dead " Not-being," the universe, by representing it as instinct with the " deeply inter- fused " presence of the Personal God. And, as we ^ ave seen, he is directly at issue with the Pantheists in in- sisting on the free will of man and his responsibility for his actions. The key to all this gnosis, as already stated, is Love. " The eye sees only what it brings with it to see," and till the inner eye is made clairvoyant by love of God, it is blind to the deep things of the Spirit, even- as cold- hearted strangers were blind to the charms of Laila. Then comes the question, Does this grace of love come from the lover or the Beloved, — from man or from God? The poet's theory requires the latter ; but, like St. Augus- tine, he is forced to attribute something to the " opus operantis." God's grace, he seems to say, is the sole efficient cause of love, and the resultant " inner sense which sees all things as they really are;" 2 but yet a certain pious aspiration is required on man's part to attract the grace. He says man must strive to obtain' this grace of love and intuition. He must not rest 1 Op. Deutsch, Remains, p. 160. 2 See p. 324. INTRODUCTION. xxiii content with the " hearing of the eai;," 1 or with merely " naming the names of God," but must press on till he gains the "eye of certainty," — the actual intuition of spiritual realities. With the " mighty spell " of love the poet conjures away all difficulties. Thus, take the question of the evidences of religion : — There are some minds, illuminated by the " dry light " of reason, which are irresistibly im- pelled to prove all things. Such a sober and candid mind, for instance, as that of Bishop Butler cannot rest in what seems to it mere " enthusiasm." Bishop Butler, like his master Locke, cannot help proportioning his beliefs to the evidence for them. Even for the glory of God he cannot exaggerate the evidence, and, where he finds only probable evidence, he will not pretend to demonstrable certitude. And it may be noted by the way, that our poet himself does not disdain to use the argument from probability in addressing the worldly, though he insists that his own faith rests on far deeper foundations. In addressing the worldly, however, he says, " Even in your trade you act on probability. You despatch goods by sea at the risk of shipwreck, for if you decline the risk you can gain no livelihood. And so you ought to act with the great venture of faith." But for himself the poet cannot rest on mere probability. He must have " indefectible certitude," — a firm convic- tion independent of varying moods and shifting proba- bilities, — a very " passion of belief." A true lover, he says, is ashamed to demand proofs of his mistress, and prides himself on trusting her in spite of appearances telling against her. 2 He has an evidence in his heart which makes him turn away from all external evidences with disgust. This was just the feeling with which the Evangelical School regarded the " Probabilities " of Butler and the "Evidences" of Paley. And so we read in 1 Cp» Job xlii. 5 : "I heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee.'' 2 Credo quia impossibile. xxiv INTRODUCTION. Cardinal Newman's "Apologia" * that Mr. Keble " ascribed the firmness of assent which we give to religious doc- trines, not to the probabilities which introduced it, but to the living power of faith and love which accepted it." Just so the Masnavi teaches that it is love which generates intuition and belief. 2 Love absorbs a man's whole being and makes him indifferent to the cavils of cold reason ; just as Zaid, smarting with the pain of the blow, was unable to attend to the hair-splitting dis- tinctions of his assailant. Not only is faith generated by love, but, what is more, faith generated by any other motive is worthless. Faith, like that of respectable conformists, growing from mere blind imitation and the contagion of custom, or like that of scholastic theologians, consisting in mere intel- lectual apprehension and repetition of orthodox dogmas (Jamd'ai), to say nothing of the faith professed by conscious hypocrites, and by the devils " who believe and tremble," — all these kinds of faith, summed up by the poet in the general term of "the yoke of custom" (Taqlid), profit nothing. To be of any value faith must be rooted and grounded in love, " the bond of perfect- ness." 3 The mere external righteousness generated by " Taqlid," — the mere matter-of-course adoption of the virtues of the age, the class, the sect, — is compared to a " veil of light" (virtue) which hides the Truth more entirely than the " veil of darkness " (vice). For " self-deluding goodness is of necessity unrepentant," while the avowed sinner is already self-condemned, and so advanced one step on the road to repentance. Since there are so many kinds of spurious faith current in the world, the pious man must walk warily, and before copying the words and actions of those who seem to be religious, he must test and prove them. Sometimes he 1 "Apologia," p. 19. 2 " Praastat Amor supplementum Sensuum defectui." 8 Col. iii. 14. INTRODUCTION. xxv will find their professions contradicted by their practice ; sometimes, especially in moments of unguarded anger, their " speech will betray them," and show their motive to be odium theologicum and not religious love. He must apply a sort of Socratic elenchus to their Shibboleths, and see if the root of the matter is in them. Even when he has found a genuine saint he must not run away with the notion that all he has to do is to copy his outward con- duct, but he must try to divine his inward motives and ruling principles, and strive earnestly to attain the dis- ciplined affections, the concentrated will, the all-absorbing love of God, which are the characteristics of His true children. God judges not as men judge, from outward conduct, but looks at the heart, the secret motives, and the " aspi- ration." 1 Hence the poet holds outward forms and rites to be matters of very minor importance. Islam is the " religion of Abraham " 2 (minus the priesthood) — a religion of new moons and fasts, of circumcision, of purifications, of holy war, 3 of precise postures in prayer, which, as Dr. Liddon recently pointed out, are the very postures described in the Psalms. 4 Naturally Muslims get to rely on these forms too entirely, — to lose the sense of proportion in religious matters, — to fancy that a painful and scrupulous observance of forms will atone for the neglect of the weightier matters of the law,— the essential religious graces summed up by St. Paul under the name of Charity. Hence the poet was led to regard forms, generally speak- ing, as indifferent. In the parable of Moses and the Shepherd he points out that so long as a worshipper is inspired by love of God the words in which he expresses his devotion are quite immaterial. He says, " Fools exalt the Mosque, and ignore the true temple in the heart." He has even a good word for idolaters who act up to 1 See Book VI.— Prologue. 2 See Koran iii. 89, and Deutsch, Remains, p. 1 29. 3 See Deuteronomy, chap. xx. 4 Psalm xov. 6. xxvi INTRODUCTION. their lights. The old satire of Xenophanes, that if lions had a god they would represent him as a lion, would affect him not at all. He says it is not from any perverse preference that men buy counterfeit gold, but only because it seems to them genuine. Man is not saved by " naming the divine names " with orthodox accuracy, 1 or by worshipping with " fair rites," but by heartfelt love and earnest endeavour to please God. In every nation he who loves God and does His will according to his lights is accepted of Him. As regards religious practice, it must be borne in mind that the Masnavi is addressed to Sufis, and contains what may be called " counsels of perfection." Those who aimed at the more perfect way, as opposed to the moderate prac- tice of average Muslims, were first named "Companions," then " Followers " (Tabd'iun), and, in the third generation, " Ascetics " or " Devotees " (Zdkid or J AMd). 2 The name " Sufi " was first adopted by one Abu Hashim, a Syrian Ascetic, who died in 150 A.H., and the first convent (Kh&naqdli) was built in his time at Ramla, in Syria. 3 After that the Tradition " There is no monkery in Islam " was entirely explained away, and there was no limit to the ascetic practices of the Sufis. The austere precepts of the Gospel as to forsaking family and position and wealth for religion's sake took firm hold of these fervid spirits, and were carried out with the same uncompro- mising ardour as that shown by the early Christian monks. Voluntary poverty, mortification, obedience, and renunciation of the world became the very essence of Sufi practice. They described the state they sought to attain by these ascetic practices as " self-annihilation " (faiia), — the death of passions and self-will and self-consciousness, which 1 Jalalu-'d-Din once said that he 3 Nafahatu-'l Uns (Lees' ed.), p. agreed with all the seventy-three 34. Jami says this convent was sects. Nafahatu-'l Uns, p. 532. built for the Sufis by a Christian 2 Qushairi, quoted in "Haji nobleman who marve'lled at their Khalfa," ii. 30S. love for one another. INTRODUCTION. xxvii produces the spiritual resurrection to eternal life (baqa). 1 This "ecstasy" (Hal), and the raptures (Zauq and Muwdjid) which attended it, were condemned as heresy (Bid'at), 2 but continued to be held by the Sufis notwith- standing. The poet says these ecstatic states must be experienced to be understood. The accounts given of them naturally vary. As Jeremy Taylor says, "When they suffer transportation beyond the burden and support of reason, they feel they know not what, and call it what they please." 3 Some describe /and as a sort of " thinking away self." Thus Lahiji says it is to " emerge from the limitations of self which veil man's real essence (God)." 4 Imam Ghazzali describes /and as a " prayer of rapture." " In that state man is effaced from self, so that he is con- scious neither of his body nor of outward things, nor of inward feelings. He is ' rapt ' from all these, journeying first to his Lord, and then in his Lord ; and if the thought that he is effaced from self occurs to him, that is a defect. The highest state is to be effaced from effacement." 5 Shabistari describes it as an approximation to the Light of lights, which blinds the mental eye with excess of light. 6 The poet, pursuing his favourite metaphor of human love, describes the state of "/and " as one in which " the flame of everlasting love doth burn ere it transforms," 7 — utterly consuming " self" ere it quickens the lover with the embrace of " union." This doctrine of ecstasy is the really mischievous part of the poet's system. Like Ghazzali, 8 he was aware of its liability to abuse, 9 and for ordinary persons he prescribes 1 Possibly they were influenced by 5 Tholuck"Ssufismus,"pp. 4, 105. the Buddhist "Nirvana." See Vaughan, ii. 132, on Tauler. 2 "Haji Khalfa," ii. 471. "Ibn 6 Gulshan i Raz, 1. 120. Khalliqan," i. 365. 7 From " The Dream of Geron- 3 Quoted by Vaughan, "Hours this." with the Mystics," ii. 127. 8 Sale's Koran, Prelim. Disc, p. 4 Gulshan i Raz, p. 8, note. Cp. 126. the passage from Dionysius the 9 He compares ecstasy to posses- Pseudo Areopagite given there from sion by a spirit — possibly an evil Vaughan, i. 288. spirit. So Wesley said of the trans- xxviii INTRODUCTION. a sort of safeguard in the person of the " Spiritual Director " (Pir). When, however, he has to deal with what Cardinal Newman calls the " eccentricities of the saints," — with the excesses of the " Firs " themselves, — his theology blinds his moral judgment, and he does not dare to censure even such outrageous pretensions as those he relates of the saint Bayazid. He goes so far as to say that in the mouth of a saint even infidelity and blasphemy may be true piety. 1 Such are the pitfalls that lie in the road of all who regard religion as some- thing beyond human criticism, and ignore Bishop Butler's dictum, that reason cannot abdicate its right of judging obvious immoralities in religious doctrines and persons. Speaking generally, the poet's view of the saints is not unlike the old Catholic view. He represents them as the special favourites of heaven, endued with miraculous gifts (Kardmdt or Charismata). 2 Minds having a very vivid sense of God's presence and action, and a very weak sense, if any at all, of the uniformity of nature, come to regard miracles as almost part of the natural order of things. Hence the more ancient Sufis did not make much account of these miraculous gifts, 3 just as, according to Paley, the early Christian Apologists did not lay much stress on the evidentiary force of miracles. A very remarkable doctrine is that of unrecognised saints. There are always on earth four thousand persons who are, so to speak, saints without knowing it. These are they who are born with a natural goodness, which lifts them without effort to a point that most labour to reach in vain, — loyal, gentle, unselfish souls, endowed with a natural intuition of good and a natural inclination ports of religious excitement ex- 1 Cp. " Plus nobis profuit ad fidem perienced, by his energumens that Thoma; infidelitas quam fides cre- " Satan sometimes mimicked the dentium." work of Grace." Cp. Virgil's de- 2 And also as objects of semi- scription of the ecstasy of the Pythian adoration (dulia). priestess. JEn., vi. 77. 3 Ibn Khaldun, quoted in Notices et Ext. des MSS., xii. p. 304. INTRODUCTION. xx i x to pursue it, the stay and comfort of those who enjoy the blessing of their society, and, when they have passed away, perhaps canonized in the hearts of one or two who loved them. Spontaneous goodness of this sort is not to be submitted to rules or forms. The inward inclina- ^ tion, not the outward ordinance, is the source of their ' goodness. " Against such there is no law." They have a standard of thought and character of their own, quite independent of the praise or blame of " men of externals." 1 Pure gold needs no mint-stamp to give it value. It is hardly necessary to dwell on the virtues of the " new commandment," — the love of man to man, which is the necessary complement of the love of man to God. The poet loses no opportunity of insisting on the para- mount obligation of compassion, humility, toleration, patience, the peaceful temper, — in fact, all that beauty of holiness summed up by St. Paul under the name of Charity. Space is wanting to describe others of the poet's doctrines. But attention may be called to his allegoriz- ing method of interpreting the Koran. He held that each word of the Koran, " spiritually understood," had seven senses ; and here he outdid Origen, who contented himself with ascribing only three senses to Scripture. 2 Also noteworthy is his view of the evolution of man out of inanimate matter, through the grades of the vegetive and animal souls, up to humanity, and the presage a,nd augury thence derived that this ascending process will not cease at death, but will be carried on, and the " great aspiration of humanity " realised in a yet higher life to come. His doctrine of the final restitution of all who at the last judgment throw themselves unreservedly on the mercy of the Great Judge is also remarkable. This, as well as his doctrine of " Eeserve," he probably took from the Christian Platonists. 3 Also noteworthy are his 1 See pp. 129, 224, 227. 2 Bigg, " Christian Platonists," p. 136. 3 Ibid., pp 143, 292. xxx INTRODUCTION. appreciation of the disputes of the Christian sects, 1 and his very unoriental view that woman is not a mere play- thing, but a ray of the Deity. III. The poet was born at Balkh in 604 A.H. (1207 A.D.), of a noble family claiming descent from the Khalifa Abu Bakr, and related to the reigning Khwarazmian dynasty. His father, Bahau-'d-Din had to quit Balkh about 1 2 1 1 a.d. in consequence of having given offence to the king by a sermon on politics. At Nishapur the fugitives met the great Sufi saint Faridu-'d-Din 'Attar, who presented the child Jalalu-'d-Din with a copy of his " Asrarnama," and said to his father, " The day will come when this child will kindle the fire of divine enthusiasm throughout the world." 2 When they reached Bagdad they heard the news of the destruction of Balkh by Chingiz Khan. After ^further wanderings the family finally settled at Qonia, the Iconium of St. Paul, in the old Boman province of " Galatia," 3 and hence the poet acquired his ethnic name of Rumi or the "Roman." Qonia was then the capital of 'Alau-'d-Din Kaiqubad, one of the western branch of the Saljuks, who bore the title of Sultan of Rum. Here the poet passed his life, engaged in teaching his disciples, the order of Darveshes called "Maulavis," and in writing the Masnavi and many odes and hymns for their spiritual benefit* He prescribed the use of music in their religious services, because he found that the sluggish temperament of the " Romans " needed this stimulus. 5 He also authorised the use of religious dances, 1 See p. 13. Mir Khwand and 3 See Renan, "Saint Paul," p. 48. Shahrastani (Cureton's ed., p. 173), 4 Portions of these have been evidently following some Judaizing translated by Hammer, "Redekunste Christian authority, make St. Paul Persiens," p. 1 72, and by Rosenzweig the first heresiareh. (Wien, 1838). 2 Ouseley," Persian Poets," p. 113. 5 Redhouse, "Mesnevi,"p. 12. INTRODUCTION. xxxi which had been practised by other Sufi sects before him. 1 The anecdotes translated by Mr. Kedhouse show that he gave way ,at times to excesses of wild enthusiasm, but the " eccentricities of the saints " are not very edifying reading. They only serve to show what tricks overwrought religious feeling will play with well-meaning men when it is not steadied by reason. The poet was assisted in composing the Masnavi by Hasan Hasamu-'d-Din, and he was also intimate with Burhanu-'d-Din of Tirmid, and with Shamsu-'d-Din of Tabriz, in whose name he concludes most of his odes. He died at Qonia in 672 A.H. (1273 A.D.), leaving a son, Bahau-'d-Din Valad, who succeeded bim in the generalship of the Maulavi order. His dying instructions were in these words : — "My testament is this, that ye be pious towards God in private and in public ; — that ye eat little, sleep little, speak little ; — that ye depart from wickedness and sin ; — that ye oontinue instant in fasting and steadfast in vigilance ; — that ye flee from carnal lusts with all your might ; — that ye endure patiently the contumely of all men; — that ye shun the company of the base and foolish, and consort with the noble-hearted and the pious. Verily the best man is he who doth good to men, and the best speech is that which is short and guideth men aright. Praise be to the God who is the Unity ! " 2 According to Jami, "the Masnavi possesses for the Pahlavi dialect the authority of the Koran." 4 Its diction is very simple and unaffected, and it is singularly free from the far-fetched conceits and laboured prettinesses which disfigure later Persian poetry, — the Yusuf and Zulaikha of Jami, for instance. Of course a man so deeply in earnest as Jalalu-'d-Din has no sense of humour, and he is utterly unconscious that some of his illustrations verge on the absurd. 1 NoticesetExt.des.MSS.,iv. 701. Persians," p. xv. The Pahlavi 2 Nafahatu'-l Uns (Lees' ed.), p. dialect was spoken in Eai, Ispahan, . 534. and Hamadan, and was that used by 3 Blochmann, " Prosody of the Sa'di and Hafiz. INTRODUCTION. IV. The Masnavi contains some 26,000 couplets, and a full translation, therefore, would be intolerably tedious. My plan is limited to giving abstracts of the principal stories and a literal translation, Hue by line, of the prin- cipal doctrinal morals. The poet is not so difficult a writer as Hariri, or Mr. Browning, or iEschylus in his corrupter moments, but it is not always easy to follow his drift through the mazes of his discursive moralisings. My object is to perform the work, so to speak, of the " roadmaking sons of Hephaestus," — to open up a few main routes through the tangled jungles of the Masnavi, and so make its beauties somewhat more accessible. The pages given at the head of each section are those of the Lucknow edition of 1282 A.H., that edition being the one commonly used in India ; but the translation is made from the Bulaq edition of 1268 A.H., which gives far corrector readings and omits the glosses and inter- polations found in the Lucknow edition, and in the Tabriz edition of 1264 A.H. I have used the Turkish commen- tary of Isma'il Anqiiravi, which was written by desire of Sultan Murad in 1 o 3 5 A.H. (Stambul 187 2), 1 and likewise the Persian commentary of 'Abdu-T Ali Muhammad (Luck- now, 1293 A.H.), which my friend Syad Sadru-'d-Din Ahmad of Bohar was good enough to send me. Amongst European authorities, I have, more especially, to acknow- ledge my obligations to Mr. Redhouse's "Mesnevi," to Dr. Tholuck's " Ssufismus " and " Bltithensammlung aus der Morgenlandischen Mystik," and to Mr. Vaughan's " Hours with the Mystics." The references to the Gulshan i Raz, or "Mystic Rose-Garden," and to the Quatrains of Omar Khayyam are to my own editions of those poems. 1 See p. 329. THE MASNAVI. Booft 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 ; 1 Love signifies the strong attraction that draws all creatures back to reunion with their Creator. 2 THE MA SNA VI. [book I. Yea, its strains lay bare my inmost secrets. Who Lath 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 labour and sorrow, My days move on, hand in hand with anguish. Yet, though my days vanish thus, 'tis no matter, Do thou abide, Incomparable Pure One ! * But all who are not fishes are soon tired of water ; And they who lack daily bread find the day very long ; So the " Eaw " comprehend not the state of the " Eipe ; " 2 Therefore it behoves me to shorten my discourse. Arise, 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, 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 Leaven, And makes the very hills to dance with joy ! lover, 'twas love that gave life to Mount Sinai, When " it quaked, and Moses fell down in a swoon." Did my Beloved only touch me with his lips, 1 too, like the flute, would burst out in melody. 1 Self-annihilation leads to eter- 2 "Raw" and "Ripe 1 ' are terms nal life in God— the universal Nou- for "Men of externals" and "Men menon, by whom all phenomena of heart "or Mystics, subsist. See Gulshan i Raz, 1. 3 Alluding to the giving of the law 4 00 - on Mount Sinai. Koran vii. 139. book i.] PROLOGUE. 3 But he who is parted from them that speak his tongue, Though he possess 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 ; 1 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 SjJN of God. 2 friends, ye have now heard this tale, Which sets forth the very essence of my case. 1 All phenomenal existences (man is withdrawn they at once relapse included) are but " veils " obscur- into their original nothingness. See ing the face of the Divine Noume- Gulshan i Raz, 1. 165. non, the only real existence, and 2 So Bernard of Clairvaux. See the moment His sustaining presence Gulshan i Raz, 1. 435. ( 4 ) Story I. The Prince and the Handmaid (p. 5). 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} 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 pre- decessors' 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. 1 As enjoined in Koran xviii. 23. hearing the formula, " In sha Allah One cannot converse with a strict Ta'alla," or D. V. Musulman for five minutes without 3 Koran xviii. 73. story I.] THE PRINCE AND THE HANDMAID. Description of Love (p. 7). 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." 1 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. 2 Where is there room in conception for His essence, So that similitudes of Him should be conceivable ? 1 Koran liv. I. 2 There is a tradition, " I know my Lord by my Lord." THE MA SNA VI. [book i. Shamsu-'d-Din of Tabriz importunes Jalalu-'d-Din to compose the Masnavi (p. 7). 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 Tusuf; 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, " 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. 1 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 hungred, And at once, for ' the time is a sharp sword.' comrade, the Sufi is ' the son of time present.' 2 1 See Gnlshan i Ras, 1. 400. In 2 The Sufi is the " son of the time the state of union self remains not. present," because he is an Energu- story ii.] THE OILMAN AND HIS PARROT. 7 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, 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 Were to draw nigher, the world would be consumed. 1 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." Story II. The Oilman and his Parrot (p. 10). 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 men, or passive instrument moved quoted in Notices et Extvaits des by the divine impulse of the MSS., xii. 371 note, moment. "The time present is a 1 "When its Lord appears in glory sharp sword," because the divine to the Mount of existence, impulse of the moment dominates Existence is laid low, like the the Energumen, and executes its dust of the road." decrees sharply. See Sohravardi — Gulshan i Raz, 1. 195. 8 THE MA SNA VI. [book i. 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 (p. 12). 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, 1 These are all figures and types of self-annihilation in order to the acquisition of eternal life in God. story in.] THE JEWISH KING. 9 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 recognise 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 Musailima 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. Story III. The Jewish King, Ms Vazir, and the Christians (pp. 12—22). A certain Jewish king used to persecute the Christians, desiring to exterminate their faith. His Vazir per- suaded him to try a stratagem, namely, to mutilate the Vazir .himself, and expel him from his court, with the intent that he might take refuge with the Christians, and stir up mutual dissensions amongst them. The Vazir's suggestion was adopted. 1 He fled to the Chris- tians, and found no difficulty in persuading them that he had been treated in that barbarous way on account of his attachment to the Chistian faith. He soon gained 1 Compare the story of Zopyrus, Herodotus, iii. 155. io THE MA SNA VI. [book I. complete influence over them, and was accepted as a saintly martyr and a divine teacher. Only a few dis- cerning men divined his treachery ; the majority were all deluded by him. The Christians were divided into twelve legions, and at the head of each was a captain. To each of these captains the Vazir gave secretly a volume of religious directions, taking care to make the directions in each volume different from and contradictory to those in the others. One volume enjoined fasting, another charity, another faith, another works, and so on. Afterwards the Vazir withdrew into a cave, and refused to come out to instruct his disciples, in spite of all their entreaties. Calling the captains to him, he gave secret instructions to each to set himself up as his successor, and to be guided by the instructions in the volume secretly confided to him, and to slay all other claimants of the apostolic office. Having given these directions, he slew himself. In the event each captain set himself up as the Vazir 's successor, and the Christians were split up into many sects at enmity with one another, even as the Vazir had intended. But the malicious scheme did not altogether succeed, as one faithful band cleaved to the name of "Ahmad," mentioned in the Gospel, 1 and were thus saved from sharing the ruin of the rest. The Vazir's Teaching (p. 1 3). Myriads of Christians flocked round him, One after another they assembled in his street. Then he would preach to them of mysteries, — Mysteries of the Gospel, of stoles, of prayers. He would preach to them with eloquent words Concerning the words and acts of the Messiah. Outwardly he was a preacher of religious duties, But within a decoy call and a fowler's snare. 1 John xiv. 26 : " But the Comforter (parakletos) shall teach yon all things." Musulmans read perikli/tos, " praised " = Muhammad. story in. J THE JE WISH KING. i Therefore the followers of the Prophet ('Isa) Were beguiled by the fraud of that demon soul. He mingled in his discourses many secret doctrines Concerning devotion and sincerity of soul. He taught them to make a fair show of devotion, But to say of secret sins, " What do they matter ? " Hair by hair and jot by jot they learned of him Fraud of soul, as roses might learn of garlic. Hair-splitters and all their disciples Are darkened by similar preaching and discourse. The Christians gave their hearts to him entirely, For the blind faith of the vulgar has no discernment. In their inmost breasts they planted love of him, And fancied him to be the Vicar of Christ ; — Yea, him, that one-eyed and cursed Dajjal ! a Save us, God ! who art our only defender ! God, there are hundreds of snares and baits, And we are even as greedy and foolish birds ; Every moment our feet are caught in a fresh snare; Tea, each one of us, though he be a falcon or Simurgh ! Thou dost release us every moment, and straightway We again fly into the snare, Almighty One ! Sleep of the body the soul's awaking (p. 1 4). Every night Thou freest our spirits from the body And its snare, making them pure as rased tablets. Every night spirits are released from this cage, And set free, neither lording it nor lorded over. At night prisoners are unaware of their prison, At night kings are unaware of their majesty. Then there is no thought or care for loss or gain, No regard to such an one or such an one. The state of the " Knower " is such as this, even when awake. 1 Dajjstl, i.e., Antichrist. Sale, Prelim. Discourse, p. 57. 12 THE MASNAVI. [book I. God says, 1 " Thou wouldst deem him awake though asleep, Sleeping to the affairs of the world, day and night, Like a pen in the directing hand of the writer. He who sees not the hand which effects the writing Fancies the effect proceeds from the motion of the pen. If the " Knower " revealed the particulars of this state, 'Twould rob the vulgar of their sensual sleep. His soul wanders in the desert that has no similitude ; Like his body, his spirit is enjoying perfect rest ; — Freed from desire of eating and drinking, Like a bird escaped from cage and snare. But when he is again beguiled into the snare, He cries for help to the Almighty. Laila and the Khalifa (p. 14). The Khalifa said to Laila, " Art thou really she For whom Majnun lost his head and went distracted ? Thou art not fairer than many other fair ones." She replied, " Be silent ; thou art not Majnun ! " If thou hadst Majnun's eyes, The two worlds would be within thy view. Thou art in thy senses, but Majnun is beside himself. In love to be wide awake is treason. The more a man is awake, the more he sleeps (to love) ; His (critical) wakefulness is worse than slumbering. Our wakefulness fetters our spirits, Then our souls are a prey to divers whims, Thoughts of loss and gain and fears of misery. They retain not purity, nor dignity, nor lustre, Nor aspiration to soar heavenwards. That one is really sleeping who hankers after each whim And holds parley with each fancy. 1 Said of the Seven Sleepers in the cave. Koran xviii. 17 ; " Knower " - the Gnostic who through ecstasy beholds divine verities. story iil] THE JEWISH KING. i 3 The twelve volumes of theology (p. 1 6). He drew up a separate scroll to the address of each, The contents of each scroll of a different tenor ; The rules of each of a different purport, This contradictory of that, from beginning to end. In one the road of fasting and asceticism Was made the pillar and condition of right devotion. In one 'twas said, " Abstinence profits not ; Sincerity in this path is naught but charity." In one 'twas said, " Thy fasting and thy charity Are both a making thyself equal with God ; Save faith and utter resignation to God's will In weal and woe, all virtues are fraud and snares." In one 'twas said, " Works are the one thing needful ; The doctrine of faith without works is a delusion." In one 'twas said, " Commands and prohibitions are Not for observance, but to demonstrate our weakness, That we may see our own weakness (to carry them out), And thereby recognise and confess God's power." x In one 'twas said, " Reference to thine own weakness Is ingratitude for God's mercies towards us. Rather regard thy power, for thou hast power from God. Know thy power to be God's grace, for 'tis of Him." In one 'twas said, " Leave power and weakness alone ; Whatever withdraws thine eyes from God is an idol." In one 'twas said, " Quench not thy earthy torch, 2 That it may be a light to lighten mankind. If thou neglectest regard and care for it, Thou wilt quench at midnight the lamp of union." In one 'twas said, " Quench that torch without fear, That in lieu of one thou may'st see a thousand joys, For by quenching the light the soul is rejoiced, And thy Laila is then as bold as her Majnun. 1 This was the doctrine of the 2 i.e.. Hide not thy light (of Jabriyan or extreme predestina- good works or of self-denial) under rians. a bushel. H THE MASNAVI. [book I. Whoso to display his devotion renounces the world, The world is ever with him, before and behind." In one 'twas said, " Whatsoever God has given thee In His creation, that He has made sweet to thee ; Yea, pleasant to thee and allowable. Take it, then, And cast not thyself into the pangs of abstinence." In one 'twas said, " Give up all thou possessest, For to be ruled by covetousness is grievous sin." (Ah ! how many diverse roads are pointed out, And each followed by some sect for dear life ! If the right road were easily attainable, Every Jew and Gueber would have hit on it !) In one 'twas said, " The right road is attainable, For the heart's life is the food of the soul. Whatever is enjoyed by the carnal man Yields no fruit, even as salt and waste land. Its result is naught but remorse, Its traffic yields only loss. It is not profitable in the long run ; Its name is called ' bankrupt ' in the upshot. Discern, then, the bankrupt from the profitable, Consider the eventual value of this and that." In one 'twas said, " Choose ye a wise Director, But foresight of results is not found in dignities." (Each sect looked to results in a different way, And so, perforce, became captive to errors. Eeal foresight of results is not simple jugglery, Otherwise all these differences would not have arisen.) In one 'twas said, " Thyself art thy master, Inasmuch as thou art acquainted with the Master of all ; Be a man, and not another man's beast of burden ! Follow thine own way and lose not thy head ! " In one 'twas said, " All we see is One. Whoever says 'tis two is suffering from double vision." In one 'twas said, " A hundred are even as one." * But whoso thinks this is a madman. i Alluding to the doctrine of the Trinity. story iv.] ANOTHER JEWISH KING. 15 Each scroll had its contrary piece of rhetoric, In form and substance utterly opposed to it ; This contrary to that, from first to last, As if each was compounded of poison and antidotes. Story IV. Another Tyrannical Jewish King (p. 22). A certain Jewish king, the same who is referred to in the Sura " Signs of the Zodiac," 1 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 from the impulsion of, the First Cause (p. 25). 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. 1 Koran Ixxxv. 1 6 THE MA SNA VI. [book I. The flint and steel are themselves causes, yet Look higher for the First Cause, 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 recognise these second causes, But only prophets perceive the action of the First Cause. Praise compared to vapour drawn upwards, and then descending in rain (p. 25). 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 for ever and aye. To speak in plain Persian, this attraction Comes from the same quarter whence comes this sweet savour. 2 J Koran, xxxv. 11. prayer when his prayer is accepted - Sweet savour, i.e., the joy of of God. See Book II. Story XVII. heart experienced by the offerer of stoby v.J THE LION AND THE BEASTS. 17 Story V. The Lion and the Beasts (p. 26). In the book of Kalila and Damna a story is told of a lion who held all the beasts of the neighbourhood 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 practise a stratagem. ,_ They scoffed at him, asking how such a 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 com- manded 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 ,8 THE MA SNA VI. [book I. 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 (p. 26). The beasts said, " 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.' * Hear the adage, ' The worker is the friend of God ; ' 2 Through trust in Providence neglect not to use means. Go, Quietists, practise 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. 1 "Trust in God and keep your powder dry." 2 "Laborare est orare." story v.] THE LION AND THE BEASTS. 19 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 oar 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,' * 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, 1 Koran ii. 341. 2 o THE MA SNA VI. [book i. 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, Bat 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, 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 oftentimes to the weak (p. 29). He said, " friends, God has given me inspiration. "" Oftentimes 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 story v.] THE LION AND THE BEASTS. 21 ' Is a learning beyond the reach of the elephant. The earthly Adam was taught of God names, 1 So that his glory reached the seventh heaven. He laid low the name and fame of the angels, 2 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), 3 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, 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. 4 What mattered its despised form When its soul was drowned in the sea of light ? " Human wisdom the manifestation of divine (p. 31). 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 Eeason embraces ! How broad is this ocean of Reason ! 1 "And He taught Adam the knowledge but what thou hast given names of all things " (Koran ii. us to know " (Koran ii. 30). 2 Q \ 3 See Gulshan i Raz, 1. 543. 2 The angels said, "We have no 4 Koran xviii. 17. 22 THE MA SNA VI. [book I. Yea, the Reason of man is a boundless ocean. son, that ocean requires, as it were, a diver. 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. 2 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 ; 3 It fancies its own steed lost, when all the while That swift steed is bearing it on like the wind. In deep distress that blunderhead 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, master ? " He says, "True, 'tis a steed; but where is mine ?" They say, " Look to thyself, rider ; thy steed is there." The real Soul is lost to view, and seems far off; 4 Thou art like a pitcher with full belly but dry lip ; How canst thou ever see red, green, and scarlet Unless thou see'st the light first of all ? When thy sight is dazzled by colours, 1 See Gulshan i Raz, 1. 575 : lost camel " (Book II. Story XII., The ocean of Reason is the same as infra). Men seek wisdom, and do what is elsewhere called the ocean not know that in themselves is the of Being, viz., the Noumenon, or reflected wisdom of God (Gulshan Divine substratum of all pheno- i Raz, 1. 435). menal being and thought. 4 The real Soul, i.e., the spirit " "Those arrows were God's, not which God "breathed into man" yours" (Koran viii. 17) ; i.e., Man's (Koran xv. 29). "In yourselves reason proceeds from God, the are signs ; will ye not behold " Only Real Agent." them ? " (Koran li. 21). 3 Alluding to the "Believer's .story v.] THE LION AND THE BEASTS. 23 These colours veil the light from thee. But when night veils those colours from thee, Thou seest that colours are seen only through light. As there is no seeing outward colours without light, So it is with the mental colours within. Outward colours arise from the light of sun and stars, And inward colours 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 colours are not seen ; Hence we know what light is by its opposite, darkness. At night no colours are visible, for light is lacking. How can colour be the attribute of dark blackness ? Looking on light is the same as looking on colours ; Opposite shows up opposite, as a Prank a Negro. The opposite of light shows what is light, Hence colours too are known by their opposite. God created pain and grief for this purpose, To wit, to manifest happiness by its opposites. 1 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." " 2 Behold this in the case of Moses and Mount Sinai. 3 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, 1 See G-ulshan i Raz, 1. 92. hypothesi includes all things ; so Mr. Mansel (Bampton Lectures, p. there is nothing to contrast Him 49) says : " A thing can be known with, as that which it is only by being 2 Koran vi. 103. distinguished from that which it is 3 Koran vii. 139: "He said, not." But the Infinite Deity ex ' Thou shalt not see me. ' " 24 - THE MASNAVI. [book r. 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." 1 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, 2 Yet we are ignorant of this renewing for ever 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. 3 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 ! Story VI. 'Omar and the Ambassador (p. 38). 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 1 Koran ii. 151. newed by fresh effluxes of being from 2 See Gulshan i Raz, 1.645 : All the Divine Noumenon. phenomena are every moment re- 3 See Gulshan i Raz, 1. 710. STOBYVi.] 'OMAR AND THE AMBASSADOR. 25 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 com- panions to abjure lust and pride, and to go and do likewise. God's agency reconciled with man's freewill (p. 39). The ambassador said, " 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 baqk 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 ? 26 THE MASNA VI. [book i. Whosoever is bewildered by wavering will, 1 In his ear bath 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 cognisant 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 wilfulness. 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. 1 The poet's insistence on the mysticism is that, independently of doctrine of God being the Fail i sense and reason, man possesses an I/aktki, or Only Real Agent, with- inward sense, or intuition, which out whose word no being and no conveys to him a knowledge of God action can be, leads him to the by direct apprehension (see Gulshan question of freewill and compulsion i Raz. 1. 431). of man's will (see Gulshan i Raz, * Their wills are identified with !• 555)- God's will, as in the case of the - So Gulshan i Raz, 1. 442. saint Daquqi (infra, Book III. 3 The leading principle of all Story XII.) story vi.] 'OMAR AND THE AMBASSADOR. 27 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, 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, 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. 1 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.' " 1 As a sign of the last day (Koran liv. 1). 28 THE MA SNA VI. [book r. Story VII. The Merchant and his Clever Parrot (p. 42). 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 Hindu- stan, 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 Hindu- stani parrot had only feigned death to suggest this way of escaping from confinement in a cage. Saints are preserved from all harm 1 (p. 43). As to a " man of heart," he takes no hurt, Even though he should eat deadly poison. He who gains health from practising abstinence is safe ; The poor disciple is safe in the midst of fever. The prophet said, " 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. 1 This is a comment on the saying blood ! but if a man of heart eats of Faridu-'d-Din Attar, "Thou art poison, 'tis as honey." a man of lusts, O fool ! In dust eat 2 See Koran xxi. 68, and Rod- well's note. story vii.] THE MERCHANT AND HIS PARROT. 29 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 God 1 (p. 46). 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. The king's jealousy would be kindled against him Who, after he had seen his face, preferred his mere per- fume. 1 This is a comment on the Hadis, jealousy He prohibits 'All pollutions, " Verily Sa'd is a jealous man, and both outward and inward. ' " (Ko- I am more jealous than he, and God ran vi. 152.) is more jealous than I, and of His 30 THE MASNAVI. [book i. God's jealousy may be likened to a grain of wheat, But man's jealousy is but empty chaff. For know ye that the source of jealousy is in God, And man's jealousy is only an offshoot from God's. But let me now quit this subject, and make complaint Of the severity of That Fickle Fair One. Complaints of God's harsh dealings with Ms adoring slaves (p. 47). " Wherefore dost thou abandon thy creed and faith ? What matters it if it be heathen or true ? Why hast thou forsaken thy Beloved ? What matters it if she be fair or ugly ? " 1 1 Let me then, I say, make complaint Of the severity of That Fickle Fair One. I cry, and my cries sound sweet in His ear ; He requires from the two worlds cries and groans. How shall I not wail under His chastening hand ? How shall I not be in the number of those bewitched by Him? How shall I be other than night without His day ? Without the vision of His face that illumes the day ? His bitters are very sweets to my soul, My sad heart is a lively sacrifice to my Beloved. I am enamoured of my own grief and pain, For it makes me well-pleasing to my peerless King. I use the dust of my grief as salve for my eyes, That my eyes, like seas, may teem with pearls. The tears which are shed because of His chastening Are very pearls, though men deem them mere tears. 'Tis " The Soul of souls " of whom I am making complaint ; Yet I do not complain ; — I merely state my case. 1 This is a, quotation from Hakim Sanai, and forms the text of the following discourse. story vii.] THE MERCHANT AND HIS PARROT. 31 My heart says, " He has injured me," But I laugh at these pretended injuries. Do me justice, Thou who art the glory of the just, Who art the throne, and I the lintel of Thy door ! But, in sober truth, where are throne and doorway ? Where are " We " and "I?" There where our Beloved is! Thou, who art exempt from " Us " and " Me," — Who pervadest the spirits of all men and women ; When man and woman become one, Thou art that One ! When their union is dissolved, lo ! Thou abidest ! Thou hast made these " Us " and " Me " for this purpose, To wit, to play chess with them by Thyself. 1 When Thou shalt become one entity with " Us " and " You." Then wilt Thou show true affection for these lovers. When these " We " and " Ye " shall all become one Soul, Then they will be lost and absorbed in the " Beloved." These are plain truths. Come then, Lord ! Who art exalted above description and explanation ! Is it possible for the bodily eye to behold Thee ? Can mind of man conceive Thy frowns and Thy smiles ? Are hearts, when bewitched by Thy smiles and frowns, 2 In a fit state to see the vision of Thyself? When our hearts ai*e bewitched by Thy smiles and frowns, Can we gain life from these two alternating states ? The fertile garden of love, as it is boundless, Contains other fruits besides joy and sorrow. The true lover is exalted above these two states, He is fresh and green independently of autumn or spring ! Pay tithe on Thy beauty, Beauteous One ! Tell forth the tale of the Beloved, every whit ! 1 See Gulshan i Raz, 1. 140, and stan, Book II. Story XI.) says : Omar Khayyam Quatr., 270. " The vision of God to the pious 2 See Gulshan i Raz, 1. 745 : consists of manifestation and 00- Frowns are the ocoultation of the cultation ; He shows Himself, and Beloved by the veil of phenomena ; again withdraws Himself from our smiles, the revelation of Absolute sight." Being to its votaries. Sa'di (Guli- 32 THE MA SNA VI. [book I. For through coquetry His glances Are still inflicting fresh wounds on my heart. I gave Him leave to shed my blood, if He willed it ; I only said, " Is it right ? " and He forsook me. "Why dost Thou flee from the cries of us on earth ? Why pourest Thou sorrow on the heart of the sorrowful ? Thou who, as each new morn dawns from the east, Art seen uprising anew, like a bright fountain ! What excuse makest Thou for Thy witcheries ? Thou whose lips are sweeter than sugar, Thou that ever renewest the life of this old world, Hear the cry of this lifeless body and heart ! But, for God's sake, leave off telling of the Rose ; Tell of the Bulbul who is severed from his Rose. My ardour arises not from joy or grief, My sense mates not with illusion and fancy. My condition is different, for it is strange. Deny it not ! God is all-powerful. Argue not from the condition of common men, Stumble not at severity and at mercy. For mercy and severity, joy and sorrow, are transient, And transient things die ; " God is heir of all." * " Tis dawn ! Protector and Asylum of the dawn ! Make excuse for me to my lord Husamu-'d-Din ! Thou makest excuses for " Universal Reason and Soul ; " 2 Soul of souls and Gem of life art Thou ! The light of my dawn is a beam from Thy light, Shining in the morning draught of Thy protection ! Since Thy gift keeps me, as it were, intoxicated, What is this spiritual wine that causes me this joy ? Natural wine lacks the ferment in my breast, The spheres lag behind me in revolutions ! Wine is intoxicated with me, not I with it ! i Koran xv. 23. hath created vera from one Soul, and - %.e., the Logos, and First Soul, of him created his wife" (Koran upposed to be referred to in the iv. 1). See Gulshan i Kaz, 1. 203. text : "0 men, fear your Lord, who Story vii.] THE HARPER. 33 The world takes its being from me, not I from it ! I am like bees, and earthly bodies like wax, 1 I build up these bodies as with my own wax ! Story VIII. The Harper (p. 50). In the time of the Khalifa 'Omar there lived a harper, whose voice was as sweet as that of the angel Israfil, and who was in great request at all feasts. But he grew old, and his voice broke, and no one would employ him any longer. In despair he went to the burial-ground of Tathrub, and there played his harp to God, looking to Him for recompense. Having finished his melody he fell asleep, and dreamed he was in heaven. The same night a divine voice came to 'Omar, directing him to go to the burial-ground, and relieve an old man whom he should find there. 'Omar proceeded to the place, found the harper, and gave him money, promising him more when he should need it. The harper cast away his harp, saying that it had diverted him from God, and expressed great contrition for his past sins. 'Omar then instructed him that his worldly journey was now over, and that he must not give way to contrition for the past, as he was now entered into the state of ecstasy and intoxication of union with God, and in this exalted state' regard to past and future should be swept away. The harper acted on his instructions, and sang no more. Apology for applying the term "Bride" to God (p. 52). Mustafa became beside himself at that sweet call, His prayer failed on " the night of the early morning halt." He lifted not head from that blissful sleep," 2 So that his morning prayer was put off till noon. 1 I.e., in his spiritual exaltation 2 The night of his marriage with he feels himself as the Logos, where- Safiyya. from the whole material creation emanates. 34 THE MA SNA VI. [book I. On that, his wedding night, in presence of his bride, His pure soul attained to kiss her hands. Love and mistress are both veiled and hidden, Impute it not as a fault if I call Him " Bride." I would have kept silence from fear of my Beloved, If He had granted me but a moment's respite. But He said, " Speak on, 'tis no fault, Tis naught but the necessary result of the hidden decree, 'Tis a fault only to him who only sees faults. How can the Pure Hidden Spirit notice faults ? " Faults seem so to ignorant creatures, Not in the sight of the Lord of Benignity. Blasphemy even may be wisdom in the Creator's sight, Whereas from our point of view it is grievous sin. If one fault occur among a hundred beauties, 'Tis as one dry stick in a garden of green herbs. Both weigh equally in the scales, For the two resemble body and soul. Wherefore the sages have said not idly, " The bodies of the righteous are as pure souls." Their words, their actions, their praises, Are all as a pure soul without spot or blemish. 'Omar rebukes the Harper for brooding over and bewailing the past (p. 57). Then 'Omar said to him, "This wailing of thine Shows thou art still in a state of ' sobriety.' " Afterwards he thus urged him to quit that state, And called him out of his beggary to absorption in God : " Sobriety savours of memory of the past ; Past and future are what veil God from our sight. a Burn up both of them with fire ! How long Wilt thou be partitioned by these segments as a reed ? So long as a reed has partitions 'tis not privy to secrets, Nor is it vocal in response to lip and breathing. While circumambulating the house thou art a stranger ; story IX.] THE ARAB AND HIS WIFE. 35 When thou enterest in thou art at home. Thou whose knowledge is ignorance of the Giver of know- ledge, Thy wailing contrition is worse than thy sin. The road of the ' annihilated ' is another road ; Sobriety is wrong, and a straying from that other road. thou who seekest to be contrite for the past, How' wilt thou be contrite for this contrition ? At one time thou adorest the music of the lute, At another embracest wailing and weeping." While the " Discern er" reflected these mysteries, The heart of the harper was emancipated. Like a soul he was freed from weeping and rejoicing, His old life died, and he was regenerated. Amazement fell upon him at that moment, For he was exalted above earth and heaven, An uplifting of the heart surpassing all uplifting ; — 1 cannot describe it ; if you can, say on ! Ecstasy and words beyond all ecstatic words ; — Immersion in the glory of the Lord of glory ! Immersion wherefrom was no extrication, — As it were identification with the Very Ocean ! Partial Reason is as naught to Universal Reason, If one impulse dependent on another impulse be naught ; But when that impulse moves this impulse, The waves of that sea rise to this point. 1 Story IX. The Arab and his Wife (p. 58). An Arab lived with his wife in the desert in extreme poverty, so that they became a reproach to their neigh- bours. The wife at last lost patience, and began to abuse her husband, and to urge him to improve their condition. The Arab rebuked her for her covetousness, reminding her that the Prophet had said, "Poverty is my glory," and 1 I.e., he is possessed by the Deity as an " Energumen," and the Deity works these ecstatic states in him. 36 THE MASNAVI. [book I. showing her now poverty was a better preparation for death than riches, and finally threatening to divorce her if she persisted in her querulous ways. The wife, how- ever, by blandishments reduced her husband to obedience, as wives always do, and made him promise to carry out her wishes. She directed him to go and represent their case to the Khalifa at Bagdad, and to make him an offering of a pot of water, that being the only present they could afford to make. Accordingly the Arab travelled to Bagdad, and laid his offering at the feet of the Khalifa, who received it graciously, and in return filled the pot with pieces of gold, and then sent him back to his home in a boat up the river Tigris. The Arab was lost in wonder at the benignity of the Khalifa, who had recompensed him so bountifully for his petty offering of a drop of water. The story contains several digressions, on Pharaoh, on the prophet Salih, and on Adam and the angels, and the poet, apropos of its disconnectedness, compares it to eternity, as it has no beginning and no end. Men subdued by women's wiles (p. 62). In this manner she pleaded with gentle coaxing, The while her tears fell upon her cheeks. How could his firmness and endurance abide When even without tears she could charm his heart ? That rain brought forth a flash of lightning Which kindled a spark in the heart of that poor man. Since the man was the slave of her fair face, How was it when she stooped to slavish entreaties ? When she whose airs set thy heart a-quaking, — When she weeps, how feelest thou then ? When she whose coquetry makes thy heart bleed Condescends to entreaties, how is it then ? She who subdues us with her pride and severity, What plea is left us when she begins to plead ? When she who traded in naught but bloodshed story IX.] THE ARAB AND HIS WIFE. 37 Submits at last, ah ! what a profit she makes ! God has adorned them " fair in the sight of men ; " x Prom her whom God has adorned how can man escape ? Since He created him " to dwell together with her," 2 How can Adam sever himself from his Eve ? Though he be Rustum, son of Zal, and braver than Hamza, Yet he is submissive to the behests of his dame. He by whose preaching the world was entranced Was he who spake the two words, " Humaira ! " 3 Though water prevails over fire in might, Yet it boils by fire when in a cauldron. When the cauldron intervenes between these two, Air (desire) makes as naught the action of the water. Apparently thou art the ruler of thy wife, like water ; In reality thou art ruled by and suppliant to her. Such is the peculiarity of man, He cannot withstand animal desire ; that is his failing. The Prophet said that women hold dominion Over sages and over men of heart, But that fools, again, hold the upper hand over women, Because fools are violent and exceedingly froward. They have no tenderness or gentleness or amity, Because the animal nature sways their temperament. Love and tenderness are qualities of humanity, Passion and lust are qualities of animality. Woman is a ray of God, not a mere mistress, The Creator's self, as it were, not a mere creature ! Moses and Pharaoh, alike doers of God's will, as Light and Darkness, Poison and Antidote (p. 63). Verily, both Moses and Pharaoh walked in the right way, Though seemingly the one did so, and the other not. By day Moses wept before God, At midnight Pharaoh lifted up his cry, 1 Koran iii. 12. 3 Muhammad said these words to 2 Koran iii. 189. his wife, Ayisha. 3 S THE MASNAVI. [book i. Saying, " "What a yoke is this upon my neck, God ! Were it not for this yoke who would boast, ' I am ? ' Because Thou hast made Moses' face bright as the moon, And hast made the moon of my face black in the face. Can my star ever shine brighter than the moon ? If it be eclipsed, what remedy have I ? Though princes and kings beat drums, And men beat cymbals because of my eclipse, 1 They beat their brass dishes and raise a clamour, And make my moon ashamed thereby, I, who am Pharaoh, woe is me ! The people's clamour Confounds my boast, ' I am Lord Supreme ! ' 2 Moses and I are Thy nurslings both alike, Yet Thy axe cuts down the branches in Thy woods. Some of these branches Thou plantest in the ground, Others Thou castest away as useless. Can branch strive against axe ? Not so. Can branch elude the power of the axe ? Nay, O Lord of the power that dwells in Thy axe, In mercy make these crooked things straight ! " Man and wife types of the spirit and the flesh (p. 67). The dissension of this husband and wife is a parable ; They are types of thy animal and rational souls. This husband and wife are the reason and the flesh, A couple joined together for good and for evil. And in this earthly house this linked pair Day and night are ever at variance and strife. The wife is ever seeking dainties for domestic needs, Namely, bread and meat and her own dignity and position. Like the wife, the animal soul seeks comfort, Sometimes carnal, sometimes ambitious ; Reason has no care for these matters, In its mind is naught but regard to Allah. 1 Compare the ancient custom of J Koran lxxix. 24. Pharaoh's tinging bells to still thunder. boast. story IX.] THE ARAB AND HIS WIFE. 39 Though the secret moral hereof is a bait and snare, Hear its outward form to the end. If spiritual manifestations had been sufficient, *" The creation of the world had been needless and vain. If spiritual thought were equivalent to love of God, ^ Outward forms of temples and prayers would not exist. Presents which friends make one to another Are naught but signs and indications, To give outward testimony and witness Of the love concealed within the heart. Because outward attentions are evidence Of secret love, beloved ! The witness may be true or false, — Now drunk with real wine, now with sour whey ; He who drinks fermented whey displays drunkenness, Makes a noise, and reels to and fro. That hypocrite in prayers and fasts Displays exceeding diligence, That men may think him drunk with love of God ; But if you look into the truth, he is drowned in hypocrisy. In fine, outward actions are guides To show the way to what is concealed within. Sometimes the guide is true, sometimes false, Sometimes a help, and at other times a hindrance. Lord, grant, in answer to my prayers, discernment, That I may know such false signs from the true ! Know you how discernment accrues to the sense ? 'Tis when sense " sees by the light of Allah." If effects are obscure, still causes testify ; Kindred, for instance, shows that there is love. But he to whom God's light is the guide Is no longer a slave to effects and causes. "When the light of Allah illumes his senses, A man is no longer a slave to effects. When love of God kindles a flame in the inward man, He burns, and is freed from effects. He has no need of signs to assure him of love, 4 o THE MASNAVI. [book i. For love casts its own light tip to heaven. Other details are wanting to complete this subject, But take this much, and all hail to you ! Though reality is exposed to view in this form, Form is at once nigh to and far from reality. For instance, these two resemble water and a tree ; When you look to their essence they are far apart ; Yet see how quickly a seed becomes a high tree Out of water, along with earth and sunshine ! If you turn your eyes to their real essence, These two are far, far apart from each other ! But let us quit this talk of essences and properties, And return to the story of those two wealth-seekers. How God made Adam superior to the Angels in wisdom and honour (p. 68). He said, " By Allah, who knoweth hidden secrets, Who created pure Adam out of dust ; — In the form, three cubits high, which he gave him, He displayed the contents of all spirits, all decrees ! — Communicated to him the indelible tablet of existence, 1 That he might know all that is written on those tablets, All that should be first and last to endless eternity He taught him, with the knowledge of his own ' names,' 2 So that the angels were beside themselves at his in- struction, And gained more sanctity from his sanctification. The expansion of their minds, which Adam brought about, Was a thing unequalled by the expansion of the heavens. For the wide expanse of that pure mind The wide space of the seven heavens was not enough." The Prophet said that God has declared, " I am not contained in aught above or below, I am not contained in earth or sky, or even 1 The tablet on which God writes His eternal decrees. 2 Koran ii. 29. st6ry ix.] THE ARAB AND HIS WIFE. 41 In highest heaven. Know this for a surety, beloved ! Yet am I contained in the believer's heart ! If ye seek me, search in such hearts ! " , He said also, " Enter the hearts of my servants 1 A To gain the paradise of beholding Me, fearer of God." Highest heaven, with all its light and wide expanse, When it beheld Adam, was shaken from its place ! Highest heaven is greatness itself revealed ; But what is form when reality draws nigh ? Every angel declared, " In times of yore We bore friendship to the plains of earth ; We were wont to sow the seed of service on the earth, Wherefore we bore a wondrous attachment to it. What was this attachment to that house of earth When our own natures are heavenly ? What was the friendship of lights like us to darkness ? How can light dwell together with darkness ? Adam ! that friendship arose from the scent of thee, Because the earth is the warp and weft of thy body. Thy earthly body was taken from there, Thy pure spirit of light was shed down from here ! But our souls were enlightened by thy spirit 2 Long, long before earth had diverted it to itself. We used to be on earth, ignorant of the earth, — Ignorant of the treasure buried within it. When we were commanded to depart from that place, We felt sorrow at turning our steps away from it. So that we raised many questions, saying, ' Lord ! who will come to take our place ? Wilt Thou barter the glory of our praises and homage For the vain babble (of men) ? ' The commands of God then diffused joy upon us ; He said, ■ ' What are ye saying at such length ? What ye give tongue to so foolishly Is as the words of spoiled children to their father. 1 Koran lxxxix. 29. Adam, the "Perfect Man," or 2 The Logos, the first of created Microcosm, beings, was afterwards embodied in 42 THE MA SNA VI. [book I. I knew of myself what ye thought, But I desired that ye should speak it ; As this boasting of yours is very improper, So shall my mercy be shown to prevail over my wrath : angels, in order to show forth that prevailing, 1 inspired that pretension to cavil and doubt ; If you say your say, and I forbear to punish you, The gainsayers of my mercy must hold their peace. My mercy equals that of a hundred fathers and mothers ; Every soul that is born is amazed thereat. Their mercy is as the foam of the sea of my mercy ; It is mere foam of waves, but the sea abides ever ! What more shall I say ? In that earthly shell There is naught but foam of foam of foam of foam ! ' ' : God is that foam ; God is also that pure sea, For His words are neither a temptation nor a vain boast. Plurality and Partial Evil, though seemingly opposed to Unity, subserve Good (p. 73). The story is now concluded, with its ups and downs, Like lovers' musings, without beginning or ending. It has no beginning, even as eternity, Nor ending, for 'tis akin to world without end. Or like water, each drop whereof is at once Beginning and end, and also has no beginning or end. But God forbid ! This story is not a vain fable, 'Tis the ready money of your state and mine, be sure ! Before every Sufi who is enlightened Whatever is past is never mentioned. When his whole thoughts are absorbed in present ecstasy, No thought of consequences enters his mind. 1 Arab, water-pot, and angels are all ourselves ! " Whatsoever turneth from God is turned from Him." 2 Know the husband is reason, the wife lust and greed ; 1 He is the "sou of the time present and instant," as said above. 2 Koran li. 9. STORY IX.] THE ARAB AND HIS WIFE. 43 She ia vested with darkness and a gainsayer of reason. Learn now whence springs the root of this circumstance, From this, that the Whole has parts of divers kinds. These parts of the Whole are not parts in relation to it, — Not in the way that rose's scent is a part of the rose. The beauty of the green shoot is part of the rose's beauty, But the turtle-dove's cooing is a part of that Bulbul's music. But if I engage in doubts and answers, How can I give water to thirsty souls ? Yet, if you are perplexed by Whole and finite parts, Have patience, for "patience is the key of joy." Be abstinent, — abstinent from vague thoughts, Since there are lions in that desert (of thoughts). Abstinence is the prince of medicines, As scratching only aggravates a scab. Abstinence is certainly the root of medicine ; Practise abstinence, see how it invigorates thy soul ! Accept this counsel and give ear thereto, That it may be to thee as an earring of gold ! Nay, not a mere earring, but that thou mayest be a mine of gold, Or that thou mayest surpass moon and Pleiades. First, know creation is in various forms ; Souls are as various as the letters from Alif to Yd. In this variety of letters there seems disorder, Though in fact they agree in an integral unity. In one aspect they are opposed, in another united ; In one aspect capricious, in another serious. The day of judgment is the day of the great review; Whoso is fair and enlightened longs for that review ; Whoso, like a Hindoo, is black (with sin), The day of review will sound the knell of his disgrace. Since he has not a face like a sun, He desires only night like to a veil ! If his thorn puts not forth a single rosebud, The spring in disclosing him is his foe. 44 THE MASNAVI. [booki. But he who is from head to foot a perfect rose or lily, To him spring brings rejoicing. The useless thorn desires the autumn, That autumn may associate itself with the garden ; And hide the rose's beauty and the thorn's shame, That men may not see the bloom of the one and the other's shame, That common stone and pure ruby may appear all as one. True, the Gardener knows the difference even in autumn, But the sight of One is better than the world's sight. That One Person is Himself the world, as He is. the sun, And every star in heaven is a part of the sun. That One Person is Himself the world, and the rest Are all His dependents and parasites, man ! He is the perfect world, yet He is single ; He holds in hand the writing of the whole of existence. Wherefore all forms and colours of beauty cry out, " Good news ! good news ! Lo ! the spring is at hand ! " If the blossoms did not shine as bright helmets, How could the fruits display their globes ? When the blossoms are shed the fruits come to a head, When the body is destroyed the soul lifts up its head. The fruit is the substance, the blossom only its form, Blossom the good news, and fruit the promised boon. When the blossoms fall the fruit appears, When the former vanish the fruit is tasted. Till bread is broken, how can it serve as food ? Till the grapes are crushed, how can they yield wine ? Till citrons be pounded up with drugs, How can they afford healing to the sick ? Story X. The Man who was Tattooed (p. 74). It was the custom of the men of Qazwin to have various devices tattooed upon their bodies. A certain coward went to the artist to have such a device tattooed on his back, and desired that it might be the figure of a lion. story x.] THE MAN WHO WAS TATTOOED. 4; But when he felt the pricks of the needles he roared with pain, and said to the artist, " What part of the lion are you now painting ? " The artist replied, " I am doing the tail." The patient cried, " Never mind the tail ; go on with another part." The artist accordingly began in another part, but the patient again cried out and told him to try somewhere else. Wherever the artist applied his needles, the patient raised similar objections, till at last the artist dashed all his needles and pigments on the ground, and refused to proceed any further. The Prophet's counsels to 'Ali to follow the direction of the Pir or Spiritual Guide, and to endure his chastisements patiently (p. 75). The Prophet said to 'Ali, " 'Ali, Thou art the Lion of God, a hero most valiant ; Yet confide not in thy lion-like valour, But seek refuge under the palm-trees of the 'Truth.' Whoso takes obedience as his exemplar Shares its proximity to the ineffable Presence. Do thou seek to draw near to Reason ; let not thy heart Bely, like others, on thy own virtue and piety. Come under the shadow of the Man of Reason, 1 Thou canst not find it in the road of the traditionists. That man enjoys close proximity to Allah ; Turn not away from obedience to him in any wise ; For he makes the thorn a bed of roses, And gives sight to the eyes of the blind. His shadow on earth is as that of Mount Qaf, His spirit is as a Simurgh soaring on high. He lends aid to the slaves of the friends of God, And advances to high place them who seek him. Were I to tell bis praises till the last day, 1 I e., the Pir, or Perfect Shaikh, or Spiritual Director. So St. John of the Cross and St. Theresa enjoin obedience to the Director (Vaughan, xii. 122). 46 THE MA SNA VI. [book i. My words would not be too many nor admit of curtail- ment, He is the sun of tine spirit, not that of trie sky, For from bis light men and angels draw life. That sun is hidden in the form of a man, Understand me ! Allah knows the truth. Ali, out of all forms of religious service Choose thou the shadow of that dear friend of God ! Every man takes refuge in some form of service, And chooses for himself some asylum ; Do thou seek refuge in the shadow of the wise man, That thou mayest escape thy fierce secret foes. Of all forms of service this is fittest for thee ; Thou shaft surpass all who were before thee. Having chosen thy Director, be submissive to him, Even as Moses submitted to the commands of Khizr. 1 Have patience with Khizr's actions, sincere one ! Lest he say, ' There is a partition between us.' Though he stave in thy boat, yet hold thy peace ; Though he slay a young man, heave not a sigh. God declares his hand to be even as God's hand, For He saith, ' The hand of God is over their hands.' 2 The hand of God impels him and gives him life ; Nay, not life only, but an eternal soul. A friend is needed ; travel not the road alone, Take not thy own way through this desert ! Whoso travels this road alone Only does so by aid of the might of holy men. The hand of the Director is not weaker than theirs ; His hand is none other than the grasp of Allah ! If absent saints can confer such protection, Doubtless present saints are more powerful than absent. If such food be bestowed on the absent, What dainties may not the guest who is present expect ? The courtier who attends in the presence of the kincy 1 See Koran xviii. 77 for the story of Moses and Khizr. It is also given m Parnell's 'Hermit.' 2 Koran xlviii. 10. STORY x.] THE LION WHO HUNTED. 47 Is served tetter than the stranger outside the gate. The difference between them is beyond calculation ; One sees the light, the other only the veil. Strive to obtain entrance within, If thou wouldst not remain as a ring outside the door. Having chosen thy Director, be not weak of heart, Nor yet sluggish and lax as water and mud ; But if thou takest umbrage at every rub, How wilt thou become a polished mirror ? " Story XI. The Lion who Hunted with the Wolf and the Fox (p. 76). A lion took a wolf and a fox with him on a hunting excursion, and succeeded in catching a wild ox, an ibex, and a hare. He then directed the wolf to divide the prey. The wolf proposed to award the ox to the lion, the ibex to himself, and the hare to the fox. The lion was enraged with the wolf because he had presumed to talk of " I " and " Thou," and " My share " and " Thy share," when it all belonged of right to the lion, and he slew the wolf with one blow of his paw. Then, turning to the fox, he ordered him to make' the division. The fox, rendered wary by the fate of the wolf, replied that the whole should be the por- tion of the lion. The lion, pleased with his self-abnegation, gave it all up to him, saying, " Thou art no longer a fox, but myself." Till man destroys "self" he is no true friend of God (p. 77). Once a man came and knocked at the door of his friend. His friend said, " Who art thou, faithful one ? " He said, ""lis I." He answered, "There is no admit- tance. There is no room for the ' raw ' at my well-cooked feast. Naught but fire of separation and absence 4 8 THE MA SNA VI. [book I. Can cook the raw one and free him from hypocrisy ! Since thy ' self has not yet left thee, Thou must be burned in fiery flames." The poor man went away, and for one whole year Journeyed burning with grief for his friend's absence. His heart burned till it was cooked ; then he went again And drew near to the house of his friend. He knocked at the door in fear and trepidation Lest some careless word might fall from his lips. His friend shouted, " Who is that at the door ? " He answered, " 'Tis Thou who art at the door, Beloved ! " The friend said, " Since 'tis I, let me come in, There is not room for two ' I's ' in one house." Story XII. Joseph and the Mirror (p. 80). An old friend came to pay his respects to Joseph, and, after some remarks upon the bad behaviour of his brethren, Joseph asked him what present he had brought to show his respect. The friend replied that he had long considered what gift would be most suitable to offer, and at last had fixed upon a mirror, which he accordingly produced from his pocket and presented to Joseph, at the same time begging him to admire his own beauteous face in it. Defect and Not-being the Mirror wherein Absolute Perfect Being is reflected 1 (p. 81). He drew forth a mirror from his side A mirror is what Beauty busies itself with. Since Not-being is the mirror of Being, If you are wise, choose Not-being (self-abnegation). Being may be displayed in that Not-being, Wealthy men show their liberality on the poor. He who is an hungered is the clear mirror of bread, 1 Compare the parallel passage in Gulshan i Raz, 1. 135, and the notes thereon. story xil.] JOSEPH AND THE MIRROR. 49 The tinder is the mirror of the flint and steel. Not-being and Defect, wherever they occur, Are the mirrors of the Beauty of all beings. Because Not-being is a clear filtered essence, Wherein all these beings are infused. When a garment is made by a good tailor, 'Tis an evidence of the tailor's art. Logs of wood would not be duly shaped Did not the carpenter plan outline and detail. The leech skilled in setting bones goes Where lies the patient with a broken leg. If there were no sick and infirm, How could the excellence of the leech's art be seen ? If vile base copper were not mingled, How could the alchemist show his skill ? Defects are the mirrors of the attributes of Beauty, The base is the mirror of the High and Glorious One, Because one contrary shows forth its contrary, 1 As honey's sweetness is shown by vinegar's sourness. Whoso recognises and confesses his own defects Is hastening in the way that leads to perfection ! But he advances not towards the Almighty Who fancies himself to be perfect. No sickness worse than fancying thyself perfect Can infect thy soul, arrogant misguided one ! Shed many tears of blood from eyes and heart, That this self-satisfaction may be driven out. The fault of Iblis lay in saying, " I am better than he," 2 And this same weakness lurks in the soul of all creatures. 1 Op. " Religio Medici," Sect. 35 : contrary unto nothing ; out of which " Herein is divinity conformant unto were made all things, and so nothing philosophy, and not only generation became something, and Oinneity in- founded on contrarieties, but also formed nullity into existence." creation. God, being all things, is 2 Koran vii. 1 1. 5 o THE MA SNA VI. [book I. Story XIII. The Prophet's Scribe (p. 81). The Prophet had a scribe who used to write down the texts that fell from his lips. At last this scribe became so conceited that he imagined all this heavenly wisdom proceeded from his own wit, and not from the Prophet. Puffed up with self-importance, he fancied himself inspired, and his heart was hardened against his master, and he became a renegade, like the fallen angels Harut and Marut. He took his own foolish surmises to be the truth, whereas they were all wide of the mark, as those of the deaf man who went to condole with a sick neighbour, and answered all his remarks at cross purposes. How philosophers deceive themselves (p. 32). On the last day, 1 " when Earth shall quake with quaking," This earth shall give witness of her condition. For she " shall tell out her tidings openly,'' Yea, earth and her rocks shall tell them forth ! The philosopher reasons from base analogies (True reason comes not out of a dark corner) ; The philosopher (I say) denies this in his pride of intellect. Say to him, " Go, dash thy head against a wall ! " The speech of water, of earth, of mire, Is audible by the ears of men of heart ! The philosopher, who denies Divine Providence, Is a stranger to the perceptions of saints. He says that the flashes of men's morbid imaginations Instil many vain fancies into men's minds. But, on the contrary, 'tis his perverseness and want of faith Which implant in himself this vain fancy of negation. The philosopher denies the existence of the Devil ; At the same time he is the Devil's laughing-stock. 1 Koran xoix. 1-4. story xiv.] THE CHINESE AND GREEK ARTISTS. 51 If thou hast not seen the Devil, look at thyself, Without demon's aid how came that blue turban x on thy brow? Whosoever has a doubt or disquietude in his heart Is a secret denier and philosopher. Now and then he displays firm belief, But that slight dash of philosophy blackens his face. Beware, believers ! That lurks in you too ; You may develop innumerable states of mind. All the seventy and two heresies lurk in you ; Have a care lest one day they prevail over you ! He in whose breast the leaf of true faith is grown Must tremble as a leaf from fear of such a catastrophe. Thou makest a mock of Iblis and the Devil, Because thou art a fine man in thy own sight ; But when thy soul shall tell thy wretched faults, What lamentation thou wilt cause to the faithful ! The sellers of base gold sit smiling in their shops, Because the touchstone is not as yet in their sight. Veiler of sins ! strip not the veil from us ; Lend us aid on the day of trial ! Story XIV. The Chinese and the Greek Artists (p. 86). The Chinese and the Greeks disputed before the Sultan which of them were the better painters ; and, in order to settle the dispute, the Sultan allotted to each a house to be painted by them. The Chinese procured all kinds of paints, and coloured their house in the most elaborate way. The Greeks, on the other hand, used no colours at all, but contented themselves with cleansing the walls of their house from all filth, and burnishing them till they were as clear and bright as the heavens. When the two houses were offered to the Sultan's inspection, that painted by the Chinese was much admired; but the Greek house 1 Blue turbans were considered a sign of hypocrisy (Hafiz, Ode 5). 52 THE MA SNA VI. [book I. carried off the palm, as all the colours of the other house were reflected on its walls with an endless variety of shades and hues. Knoivledge of the heart preferable to the knowledge of the schools (p. 86). The knowledge of men of heart bears them up, The knowledge of men of the body weighs them down. When 'tis knowledge of the heart, it is a friend ; When knowledge of the body, it is a burden. God saith, "As an ass bearing a load of books," 1 The knowledge which is not of Him is a burden. Knowledge which comes not immediately from Him Endures no longer than the rouge of the tirewoman. Nevertheless, if you bear this burden in a right spirit 'Twill be removed, and you will obtain joy. See you bear not that burden out of vainglory, Then you will behold a store of true knowledge within. When you mount the steed of this true knowledge, Straightway the burden will fall from your back. If you drink not His cup, how will you escape lusts ? You, who seek no more of Him than to name His name ? What do His name and fame suggest ? The idea of Him. And the idea of Him guides you to union with Him. Know you a guide without something to which it guides ? Were there no roads there would be no ghouls. Know you a name without a thing answering to it ? Have you ever plucked a rose (Gul) from Gdf and Lam ? You name His name ; go, seek the reality named by it ! Look for the moon in heaven, not in the water ! If you desire to rise above mere names and letters, Make yourself free from self at one stroke ! Like a sword be without trace of soft iron ; Like a steel mirror, scour off all rust with contrition ; Make yourself pure from all attributes of self, 1 Koran Ixii. 5. STOEYxv.] COUNSELS OF RESERVE. 53 That you may see your own pure bright essence ! Yea, see in your heart the knowledge of the Prophet, Without book, without tutor, without preceptor. The Prophet saith, " He is one of my people, Whoso is of like temper and spirit with me. His soul beholds me by the selfsame light Whereby I myself behold him, — Without traditions and scriptures and histories, In the fount of the water of life." Learn the mystery, " I was last night a Kurd, And this morning am become an Arab." x This mystery of " last night " and " this morning " Leads you into the road that brings you to God. But if you want an instance of this secret knowledge, Hear the story of the Greeks and the Chinese. Story XV. Counsels of Reserve given by the Prophet to his Freedman Zaid (p. 87). At dawn the Prophet said to Zaid, " How is it with thee this morning, pure disciple ? " He replied, " Thy faithful slave am I." Again he said, " If the garden of faith has bloomed, show a token of it." He answered, " I was athirst many days, By night I slept not for the burning pangs of love ; l^ So that I passed by days and nights, As the point of a spear glances off a shield. For in that state all faith is one, A hundred thousand years and a moment are allone ; World without beginning and world without end are one ; Eeason finds no entrance when mind is thus lost." L The Prophet again urged Zaid to deliver to him a present from that celestial region, as a token that he had really been there in the spirit. Zaid answered that he had seen 1 Syad Abu'l Wafa, an unlettered ing the night in prayer, found him- Kurd, found a paper with the words self able to understand Arabic (Luck- Bismillah upon it, and, after spend- now Commentator). 54 THE MASNAVI. [book I. the eight heavens and the seven hells, and the destinies of all men, whether bound to heaven or hell. The body, he said, is as a mother, and the soul as her infant, and death is the time of parturition, when it becomes manifest to what class the infant soul belongs. As, on the day of judgment it will be manifest to all men whether a soul belongs to the saved or to the lost, so now it was plain and manifest to him. He went on to ask the Prophet if he should publish this secret knowledge of his to all men, or hold his peace. The Prophet told him to hold his peace. Zaid, however, proceeded to detail the vision of the last judgment, which he had seen when in the spirit ; and the Prophet again commanded him to pause, adding that " God is never ashamed to say the truth," l and allows His Prophet to speak forth the truth, but that for Zaid to blab forth the secrets seen in ecstatic vision would be wrong. Zaid replied that it was im- possible for one who had once beheld the Sun of " The Truth " to keep his vision a secret. But the Prophet in reply instructed him that all men are masters of their own wills, and that he must not reveal what God has determined to keep secret till the last day, in order to leave men till then under the stimulus of hope and fear, and to give them the credit of " believing what is not seen." 2 More honour is given to the warder of a castle who faithfully executes his trust at a distance from the court than to those courtiers who serve constantly under the king's own eye. Zaid submitted to the Prophet's injunctions, and remained self-contained in his ecstatic visions. Anecdotes of the sage Luqman, of King Solomon, and of a conflagration in the days of the Khalifa 'Omar complete the section. The Prophet's final counsels of '" Reserve'' (p. 91). The Prophet said, " My companions are as the stars, Lights to them that walk aright, missiles against Satan. If every man had strength of eyesight 1 Koran xxxiii. 53. 2 Koran ii. 2. story xv.] COUNSELS OF RESERVE. 55 To look straight at the light of the sun in heaven, What need were there of stars, humble one, To one who was guided by the light of the sun ? Neither moon nor planets would be needed By one who saw directly the Sun of ' The Truth.' The Moon 1 declares, as also the clouds and shadows, fr ' I am a man, yet it hath been revealed to me.' 2 1 Like you, I was naturally dark, j 'Twas the Sun's revelation that gave me such light. ■' I still am dark compared to the Sun, Though I am light compared to the dark souls of men. : Therefore is my light weak, that you may bear it, For you are not strong enough to bear the dazzling Sun. I have, as it were, mixed honey with vinegar, To succour the sickness of your hearts. When you are cured of your sickness, invalid, *" Then leave out the vinegar and eat pure honey, t- When the heart is garnished and swept clear of lust, Therein ' The God of Mercy sitteth on His throne.' 3 Then God rules the heart immediately, <-• When it has gained this immediate connection with Him. This subject is endless ; but where is Zaid, That I may tell him again not to seek notoriety ? 'Tis not wise to publish these mysteries, Since the last day is approaching to reveal all things." Now you will not find Zaid, for he is fled, He sprang from the place where the shoes were left, 4 Scattering the shoes in his hurry. If you had been Zaid, you too would have been lost, As a star is lost when the sun shines on it ; For then you see no trace or sign of it, No place or track of it in the milky way. Our senses and our endless discourses Are annihilated in the light of the knowledge of our King. Our senses and our reason within us 1 I.e., the Prophet. * Koran xx. 4. * Koran xviii. no. 4 I.e., the vestibule of the house. 5 6 THE MA SNA VI. [ B00K x - Are as waves on waves " assembled before us." x When night returns and 'tis the time of the sky's levee, The stars that were hidden come forth to their work. The people of the world lie unconscious, With veils drawn over their faces, and asleep ; But when the morn shall burst forth and the sun arise Every creature will raise its head from its couch ; To the unconscious God will restore consciousness ; They will stand in rings as slaves with rings in ears ; Dancing and clapping hands with songs of praise, Singing with joy, " Our Lord hath restored us to life ! " Shedding their old skins and bones, As horsemen stirring up a cloud of dust. All pressing on from Not-being to Being, On the last day, as well the thankful as the unthankful. Story XVI. 'All's Forbearance (p. 92). 'Ali, the " Lion of God," was once engaged in conflict with a Magian chief, and in the midst of the struggle the Magian spat in his face. Ali, instead of taking vengeance on him, at once dropped his sword, to the Magian's great astonishment. On his inquiring the reason of such for- bearance, 'Ali informed him that the " Lion of God " did not destroy life for the satisfaction of his own vengeance, but simply to carry out God's will, and that whenever he saw just cause, he held his hand even in the midst of the strife, and spared the foe. The Prophet, 'Ali continued, had long since informed him that he would die by the hand of his own stirrup-bearer (Ibn Maljun), and the stirrup-bearer had frequently implored 'Ali to kill him, and thus save him from the commission of that great crime ; but Ali said he always refused to do so, as to him death was as sweet as life, and he felt no anger against his destined assassin, who was only the instrument of God's 1 Koran xxxvi. 53. 8T0KT xvi.] ALPS FORBEARANCE. 57 eternal purpose. The Magian chief, on hearing 'Ali's discourse, was so much affected that he embraced Islam, together with all his family, to the number of fifty souls. i How the Prophet whispered to 'Ali's stirrup-bearer that he ivould one day assassinate his master (p. 90). " The Prophet whispered in the ear of my servant That one day he would sever my head from my neck. The Prophet also warned by inspiration me, his friend, That the hand of my servant would destroy me. My servant cried, " kill me first, That I may not become guilty of so grievous a sin ! " I replied, " Since my death is to come from thee, How can I balk the fateful decree ? " He fell at my feet and cried, " gracious lord, For God's sake cleave now my body in twain, That such an evil deed may not be wrought by me, And my soul burn with anguish for its beloved." I replied, " What God's pen has written, it has written ; In presence of its writings knowledge is confounded ; There is no anger in my soul against thee, Because I attribute not this deed to thee ; Thou art God's instrument, God's hand is the agent. How can I chide or fret at God's instrument ? " He said, " If this be so, why is there retaliation ? " l I answered, " 'Tis from God, and 'tis God's secret ; If He shows displeasure at His own acts, Prom His displeasure He evolves a Paradise ; He feels displeasure at His own acts, Because He is a God of vengeance as of mercy. In this city of events He is the Lord, In this realm He is the King who plans all events. If He crushes His own instruments, He makes those crushed ones fair in His sight. 1 I.e., why is the rule " an eye for an eye " enjoined in the Koran, ii. 173? 58 THE MA SNA VI. [book i. Know the great mystery of ' Whatever verses we cancel, Or cause you to forget, we substitute better for them.' * Whatever law God cancels, He makes as a weed, And in its stead He brings forth a rose. So night cancels the business of the daytime, When the reason that lights our minds becomes inanimate. Again, night is cancelled by the light of day, And inanimate reason is rekindled to life by its rays. Though darkness produces this sleep and quiet, Is not the ' water of life ' in the darkness ? 2 Are not spirits refreshed in that very darkness ? Is not that silence the season of heavenly voices ? For from contraries contraries are brought forth, Out of darkness was created light. The Prophet's wars brought about the present peace, The peace of these latter days resulted from those wars. That conqueror of hearts cut off a thousand heads, That the heads of his people might rest in peace." God's rebuke to Adam for scorning Tblis (p. 9). To whomsoever God's order comes, He must smite with his sword even his own child. Pear then, and revile not the wicked, For the wicked are impotent under God's commands. In presence of God's commands bow down the neck of pride. Scoff not nor chide even them that go astray ! One day Adam cast a look of contempt and scorn Upon Iblis, thinking what a wretch he was. He felt self-important and proud of himself, And he smiled at the actions of cursed Iblis. God Almighty cried out to him, " pure one, Thou art wholly ignorant of hidden mysteries. If I were to blab the faults of the unfortunate, 1 Koran ii, ioo. in the land of darkness discovered 2 Alluding tu the "water of life " by Khizr. story xvi.] A LI'S FORBEARANCE. 59 I should root up the mountains from their bases, And lay bare the secrets of a hundred Adams, And convert a hundred fresh Iblises into Musulmans." Adam answered, " I repent me of my scornful looks ; Such arrogant thoughts shall not be mine again. Lord, pardon this rashness in Thy slave ; 1 repent ; chastise me not for these words ! " Aider of aid-seekers, guide us, For there is no security in knowledge or wealth ; "Lead not our hearts astray after Thou hast guided us," 1 And avert the evil that the " Pen " has written. Turn aside from our souls the evil written in our fates, Eepel us not from the tables of purity ! God, Thy grace is the proper object of our desire ; To couple others with Thee is not proper. Nothing is bitterer than severance from Thee, Without Thy shelter there is naught but perplexity. Our worldly goods rob us of our heavenly goods, Our body rends the garment of our soul. Our hands, as it were, prey on our feet ; Without reliance on Thee how can we live ? And if the soul escapes these great perils, It is made captive as a victim of misfortunes and fears, Inasmuch as when the soul lacks union with the Beloved, It abides for ever blind and darkened by itself. If Thou showest not the way, our life is lost ; A life living without Thee esteem as dead ! If Thou findest fault with Thy slaves, Verily it is right in Thee, Blessed One ! If Thou shouldst call sun and moon obscure, If Thou shouldst call the straight cypress crooked, If Thou shouldst declare the highest heaven base, Or rich mines and oceans paupers, — All this is the truth in relation to Thy perfection ! Thine is the dominion and the glory and the wealth ! 1 Koran iii. 6. 60 THE MASNAVI. [book I. For Thou art exempt from defect and not-being, Thou givest existence to things non-existent, and again Thou makest them non-existent. Epilogue to Book I. (p. 99). Alas ! the forbidden fruits were eaten, And thereby the warm life of reason was congealed. A grain of wheat eclipsed the sun Of Adam, 1 Like as the Dragon's tail 2 dulls the brightness of the moon. Behold how delicate is the heart, that a morsel of dust Clouded its moon with foul obscurity ! When bread is " substance," to eat it nourishes us ; When 'tis empty " form," it profits nothing. Like as the green thorn which is cropped by the camel, And then yields him pleasure and nutriment ; When its greenness has gone and it becomes dry, — If the camel crops that same thorn in the desert, It wounds his palate and mouth without pity, As if conserve of roses should turn to sharp swords. When bread is " substance," it is as a green thorn; When 'tis " form," 'tis as the dry and coarse thorn. And thou eatest it in the same way as of yore Thou wert wont to eat it, helpless being, — Eatest this dry thing in the same manner, After the real " substance " is mingled with dust ; It has become mingled with dust, dry in pith and rind. O camel, now beware of that herb ! The Word is become foul with mingled earth ; The water is become muddy ; close the mouth of the well, Till God makes it again pure and sweet ; Yea, till He purifies what He has made foul. Patience will accomplish thy desire, not haste. Be patient, God knows what is best. 1 Muhammadans think the for- 2 The descending node of the bidden fruit to have been wheat. moon (see Gulshan i Raz, 1. 233). 3Boofe HE. PROLOGUE. The composition of this Masnavi has been delayed for a season. 1 Time is needed for blood to become milk. Till thy fortune comes forth as a new-born babe, Blood becomes not milk, sweet and pleasant to the mind. When that light of God, Husamu-'d-Din Turned his course down from the summit of heaven, — While he had ascended to sublimest verities, In the absence of his spring the buds blossomed not, — But when out of that sea he came to shore, The lute of the poesy of the Masnavi sounded again. This Masnavi, which is the polisher of spirits, — Its recommencement occurred on the day of " Opening." The commencement date of this precious work Was the year six hundred and sixty-two of the Plight. The Bulbul started on this date and became a hawk ; Yea, a hawk to hunt out these mysteries. May the wrist of the King be the resting-place of this hawk, And may this door be open to the people for ever ! 1 The delay was caused by the grief of Husam for the death of his wife. ( 6 2 ) Story I. The Sufi's Beast (p. 103). t After anecdotes of the man, in the time of 'Omar, who mistook his eyelash for the new moon, of one who stole a snake and got bitten by it, and of 'Isa's foolish disciple who besought the Lord to teach him the spell whereby he raised the dead, comes the following story. A certain Sufi, after a long day's journey, arrived at a monastery, where he put up for the night, and strictly enjoined his servant to groom his ass carefully and give him plenty of litter and fodder. The servant assured him that his minute directions were superfluous, and promised to attend to the ass most carefully ; but when his master's back was turned he neglected the ass, and the poor animal remained all night without water or food. Conse- quently he was weak and unfit to travel next morning, and in spite of the blows and kicks that were showered on him, could not carry his master, but had to be led. The other Sufis who were travelling with his owner thought that the ass was useless, and when they arrived at the place where they halted for the night, they sold the ass to a traveller, and with the proceeds of the sale bought deli- cate viands and torches, and made a feast. The owner of the ass, who was ignorant of this transaction, shared the feast, and joined in the chorus sung by the others, " The ass is gone, the ass is gone," without attaching any sense to the words, and blindly following their example. Next morning he asked his servant what had become of the ass, and the servant told him it had been sold, adding that he thought he had known it overnight, because he had heard him singing "The ass is gone" along with the other story I.] THE SUFI'S BEAST. 63 Sufis. In the course of this story there occur anecdotes of God consulting with the angels as to the creation of man, of a king who lost his hawk and found it again in the house of a poor old man, and of Shaikh Ahmad Khiz- rawiya buying sweetmeats for his creditors. Why the poet veils his doctrines in fables (p. 104). What is it hinders me from expounding my doctrines But this, that my hearers' hearts incline elsewhere. Their thoughts are intent on that Sufi guest ; They are immersed in his affairs neck deep. So I am compelled to turn from my discourse To that story, and to set forth his condition. But, friend, think not this Sufi a mere outward form, As children see in a vine nothing but raisins. son, our bodies are as dried grapes and raisins ; If you are a man, cast away these things. If you pass on to the pure mysteries of God, You will be exalted above the nine heavenly spheres. Now hear the outward form of my story, But yet separate the grain from the chaff. Why the prophets were sent (p. 106). God sent the prophets for this purpose, Namely, to sever infidelity from ''faith. God sent the prophets to mankind That they might gather the pure grain on their tray. Infidel and faithful, Musulman and Jew, Before the prophets came, seemed all as one. Before they came we were all alike, No one knew whether he was right or wrong. Genuine coin and base coin were current alike ; The world was a night, and we travellers in the dark, Till the sun of the prophets arose, and cried, " Begone, slumber ; welcome, pure light ! " 64 THE MA SNA VI. [book ii. Now the eye sees how to distinguish colours, It sees the difference between rubies and pebbles. The eye distinguishes jewels from dust, Hence it is dust makes the eyes smart. Makers of base coin hate the daylight, Coins of pure gold love the daylight, Because daylight is the mirror that reflects them, So that they see their own perfect beauty. Mystical Meaning of " Dai/light " (p. 106). God has named the resurrection "that day ; " Day shows off the beauty of red and yellow. Wherefore " Day" in truth is the mystery of the saints ; One day of their moons is as whole years. Know, " Day " is the reflection of the mystery of the saints, Eye-closing night that of their hidden secrets. Therefore hath God revealed the chapter " Daylight," 1 Which daylight is the light of the heart of Mustafa. On the other view, that daylight means " The Friend," It is also a reflection of the same prophet. For, as it is wrong to swear by a transitory being, How can we suppose a transitory being spoken of by God ? The Friend of God said, " I love not them that set ? " s How, then, could Allah have meant a transitory being ? Again, the words "by the night" mean Muhammad's veiling, Namely, the fair earthly body that he bore ; When his sun proceeded from heaven on high Into that body's night, it said, " He hath not forsaken thee ; " Union with God arose out of the depth of that disgrace ; That boon was the word, " He hath not been displeased." 1 Koran xciii : " By the daylight night overshadowed Abraham, he and by the night thy Lord hath not beheld a star, and he said, ' This is forsaken thee nor been displeased." my Lord ; ' but when it set he said 2 Koran vi. 76 : " And when the ' I love not Gods which set.' " story I.] THE SUFI'S BEAST. 65 Expressions of religious or other feeling derive their only value from the state of mind from which they proceed (p. 107). Every expression is the sign of a state of mind ; That state is a hand, the expression an instrument. A goldsmith's instruments in the hand of a cobbler Are as grains of wheat sown on sand. The tools of a cobbler in the hand of a cultivator Are as grass before a dog or bones before an ass. The words, " I am the Truth " were ' light in Mansur's * mouth, In the mouth of Pharaoh "I am Lord Supreme" was blasphemy. The staff in the hand of Moses was a witness, In the hands of the magicians it was naught. For this cause 'Isa taught not to that foolish man The words of power whereby he raised the dead. For he who is ignorant misuses the instrument ; i---"~ If you strike flint on mud you will get no fire. Hand and instrument resemble flint and steel ; You must have a pair ; a pair is needed to generate. *-• He who has no peer or member is the " One," An uneven number, One without dispute ! Whoso says " one " and " two," and so on, Confesses thereby the existence of the " One." When the illusion of seeing double is swept away, They who say " one " and " two '' are even as they who say " One." If you take " One" as your ball in his tennis-field, It is made to revolve by the strokes of his bat. 2 Yea, the ball that is even and without fault Is made to revolve by the strokes of the King's hand. man of double vision, 3 hearken with attention, 1 Mansur Hallaj, a celebrated 2 I.e., unity is made to appear as Sufi who was put to death at Bag- plurality (see Gulshan i Raz, 1. dad in 309 a.h. for using these 710). words 3 See Gulshan i Raz,, 1. 104. E 66 THE MASNAVI. [book n. Seek a cure for your defective sight by listening. Many are the holy words that find no entrance Into blind hearts, but they enter hearts full of light. But the deceits of Satan enter crooked hearts, Even as crooked shoes fit crooked feet. Though you repeat pious expressions again and again, If you are a fool, they affect you not at all ; — Nay, not though you set them down in writing, And though you proclaim them vauntingly ; Wisdom averts its face from you, man of sin, Wisdom breaks away from you and takes to flight ! On Taqlid, Mind imitation or cant (p. 112). " wretch, why did you not come and say to me, ' Such and such a disastrous affair has occurred ? ' ' The servant replied, " By Allah, I came again and again, That I might acquaint you with the matter. You were always saying, ' The ass is gone, my lad ! ' Along with the others in high excitement ; So I went away, thinking you knew all about it, And were pleased at the transaction, being a wise man.'' The Sufi said, " They were all singing the same words, So I felt impelled to sing them as well. Blind imitation of them has undone me. Cursed be that blind imitation ! " The effect of blindly imitating unprofitable conduct Is that men cast away honour for a morsel of bread. The ecstasy of that company cast a reflection, Whereby that Sufi's heart became ecstatic like them. You need many reflections from your associates In order to draw water from the peerless Ocean. The first reflection cast is mere blind imitation ; After it has been often repeated you may test its truth. Till it is thus verified, take it not from your friends ; The drop, not yet become pearl, sever not from its shell. story I.] THE SUFI'S BEAST. 67 Evil influence of covetousness (p. 112). Would you have eyes and ears of reason clear, Tear off the obstructing veil of greed ! The blind imitation of that Sufi proceeded from greed ; Greed closed his mind to the pure light. Tea, 'twas greed that led astray that Sufi, And brought him to loss of property and ruin. Greed of victuals, greed of that ecstatic singing Hindered his wits from grasping the truth. If greed stained the face of a mirror, That mirror would be as deceitful as we men are. 1 If a pair of scales were greedy of riches, Would they tell truly the weight of anything ? The Prophet saith, " people, through singleness of mind, I ask of you no recompense for my prophesying ; 2 I am a guide ; God buyeth my guidance for you, God giveth you my guidance in both worlds. True, a guide deserves his wages ; Wages are due to him for directing you aright. But what are my wages ? The vision of The Friend. Abu Bakr indeed offered me forty thousand pieces of gold, But his forty thousand pieces were no wages for me. 3 How could I take brass beads for pearls of Aden ? " I will tell you a tale ; hearken attentively, That you may know how greed closes up the ears. Every man subject to greed is a miser. Can eyes of hearts clouded with greed see clearly ? The illusion of rank and riches blinds his sight, Like hair dropping down before his eyes. 1 The Turkish commentator 3 Abu Bakr made over all his translates thus. The Luoknow copy goods to the Prophet in aid of the reads Ba sati for Ma sti. expedition to Syria. 2 Koran xi. 53. 68 THE MASNAVI. [book rr. Story II. The Pauper and the Prisoners (p. 113). A certain pauper obtained admittance to a prison, and annoyed the prisoners by eating up all their victuals and leaving them none. At last they made a formal complaint to the Qazi, and prayed him to banish the greedy pauper from the prison. The Qazi summoned the pauper before him, and asked him why he did not go to his own house instead of living on the prisoners. The pauper replied that he had no house or means of livelihood except that supplied by the prison ; whereupon the Qazi ordered him to be carried through the city, and proclamation to be made that he was a pauper, that no one might be induced to lend him money or trade with him. Accord- ingly the attendants sought for a camel whereon to carry him through the city, and at last induced a Kurd who sold firewood to lend his camel for the purpose. The Kurd consented from greed of reward, and the pauper, being seated on the camel, was carried through the city from morning till evening, proclamation being made in Persian, Arabic, and Kurdish that he was a pauper. When evening came the Kurd demanded payment, but the pauper refused to give him anything, observing that if he had kept his ears open he must have heard the pro- clamation. Thus the Kurd was led by greed to spend the day in useless labour. Satan's office in the world (p. 1 14). The pauper said, " Your beneficence is my sustenance ; To me, as to aliens, your prison is a paradise. If you banish me from your prison in reprobation, I must needs die of poverty and affliction." Just so Iblis said to Allah, " have compassion ; Lord ! respite me till the day of resurrection. 1 For in this prison of the world I am at ease, — 1 Koran vii. 13. story ii.] THE PAUPER AND THE PRISONERS. 69 That I may slay the children of my enemies. From every one who has true faith for food, And as bread for his provisions by the way, I take it away by fraud or deceit, So that they raise bitter cries of regret. Sometimes I menace them with poverty, 1 Sometimes I blind their eyes with tresses and moles.'' In this prison the food of true faith is scarce, X And by the tricks of this dog what there is is lost. ' In spite of prayers and fasts and endless pains, Our food is altogether devoured by him. Let us seek refuge with Allah from Satan. Alas ! we are perishing by his insolence. The dog is one, yet he enters a thousand forms ; 2 Whatever he enters straight becomes himself. Whatever makes you shiver, know he is in it, — The Devil is hidden beneath its outward form. When he finds no form at hand, he enters your thoughts, To cause them to draw you into sin. From your thoughts proceeds destruction, When from time to time evil thoughts occur to you. Sometimes thoughts of pleasure, sometimes of business, Sometimes thoughts of science, sometimes of house and home. Sometimes thoughts of gain and traffic, Sometimes thoughts of merchandise and wealth. Sometimes thoughts of money and wives and children, Sometimes thoughts of wisdom or of sadness. Sometimes thoughts of household goods and fine linen, Sometimes thoughts of carpets, sometimes of sweepers. Sometimes thoughts of mills, gardens, and villas, Sometimes of clouds and mists and jokes and jests. Sometimes thoughts of peace and war, Sometimes thoughts of honour and disgrace. Ah ! cast out of your head these vain imaginations, 1 Koran ii. 279. z Cf. Gulshan i Raz, p. 86. 7 o THE MA SNA VI. [book n. Ah ! sweep out of your heart these evil suggestions. Cry, " There is no power nor strength but in God ! " To avert the Evil One from the world and your own soul. It is the true Beloved who causes all outward earthly beauty to exist (p. 115)- Whatsoever is perceived by sense He annuls, But He stablishes that which is hidden from the senses. The lover's love is visible, his Beloved hidden. The Friend is absent, the distraction he causes present. Renounce these affections for outward forms, Love depends not on outward form or face. Whatever is beloved is not a mere empty form, "Whether your beloved be of the earth or of heaven. Whatever be the form you have fallen in love with, — Why do you forsake it the moment life leaves it ? The form is still there ; whence, then, this disgust at it ? Ah ! lover, consider well what is really your beloved. If a thing perceived by outward senses is the beloved, Then all who retain their senses must still love it ; And since love increases constancy, How can constancy fail while form abides ? 1 But the truth is, the sun's beams strike the wall, And the wall only reflects that borrowed light. Why give your heart to mere stones, simpleton ? Go ! seek the source of light which shineth alway ! Distinguish well true dawn from false dawn, Distinguish the colour of the wine from that of the cup ; So that, instead of many eyes of caprice, One eye may be opened through patience and constancy. Then you will behold true colours instead of false, And precious jewels in lieu of stones. But what is a jewel ? Nay, you will be an ocean of pearls ; Yea, a sun that measures the heavens ! 1 This couplet exercises both the Turkish and the Lucknow com- mentators. story ii.] THE PAUPER AND THE PRISONERS. 71 The real Workman is hidden in His workshop, Go you into that workshop and see Him face to face. Inasmuch as over that Workman His work spreads a curtain, Yon cannot see Him outside His work. Since His workshop is the abode of the Wise One, Whoso seeks Him without is ignorant of Him. Come, then, into His workshop, which is Not-being, 1 That you may see the Creator and creation at once. Whoso has seen how bright is the workshop Sees how obscure is the outside of that shop. Eebellious Pharaoh set his face towards Being (egoism), And was perforce blind to that workshop. Perforce he looked for the Divine decree to change, And hoped to turn his destiny from his door. While destiny at the impotence of that crafty one All the while was secretly mocking. He slew a hundred thousand guiltless babes That the ordinance and decree of Allah might be thwarted. That the prophet Moses might not be born alive, He committed a thousand murders in the land. He did all this, yet Moses was born, And was protected against his wrath. Had he but seen the Eternal workshop, He had refrained hand and foot from these vain devices. Within his house was Moses safe and sound, While he was killing the babes outside to no purpose. Just so the slave of lusts who pampers his body Fancies that some other man bears him ill-will ; Saying this one is my enemy, and this one my foe, While it is his own body which is his enemy and foe, He is like Pharaoh, and his body is like Moses, He runs abroad crying, " Where is my foe ? " While lust is in his house, which is his body, He bites his finger in spite against strangers. 1 I.e., annihilation of self and of all phenomenal being, regarding self as naught in the presence of the Deity. 72 THE MA SNA VI. [book n. Then follows an anecdote of a man who slew his mother because she was always misconducting herself with strangers, and who excused himself by pleading that if he had not done so he would have been obliged to slay strangers every day, and thus incur blood-guiltiness. Lust is likened to this abandoned mother ; when it is once slain, you are at peace with all men. In answer to an objection that if this were so the prophets and saints, who have subdued lust, would not have been hated and oppressed as they were, it is pointed out that they who hated the prophets in reality hated themselves, just as sick men quarrel with the physician or boys with the teacher. Prophets and saints are created to test the dispositions of men, that the good may be severed from the bad. The numerous grades of prophets, of saints, and of holy men are ordained, as so many curtains of the light of God, to tone down its brilliance, and make it visible to all grades of human sight. Stoey III. The Xing and his Two Slaves (p. 1 18). A king purchased two slaves, one extremely handsome, and the other very ugly. He sent the first away to the bath, and in his absence questioned the other. He told him that the first slave had given a very bad account of him, saying that he was a thief and a bad character, and asked if it was true. The second slave replied that the first was everything that was good, his inward qualities corresponding to the beauty of his outward appearance, and that whatever he had told the king was worthy of credit. The king replied that beauty was only an accident, and that, according to the tradition, accidents "endure only two moments ; " — that at death the animal soul is destroyed, — that the text, "Whoso shall present himself with beauty shall receive tenfold reward," x does not refer to outward accidents, but to the " substance," the eternal 1 Koran vi. 161. story in.] THE KING AND HIS TWO SLA VES. 73 soul. The slave in reply urged that the accidents of good works and thoughts will in some way bear fruit in the next world, pointing out that thought is always the pre- cursor of the completed work, as the plan of the architect precedes the building, and the gardener's design the perfect fruit resulting from his labours. He added that the world is only the realised thought of "Universal Reason." 1 The king then sent away the slave with whom he had held this discourse, and summoned the other, and told him that his fellow slave had given a bad account of him, and asked what he had to say. He replied that his fellow slave was a liar and a rascal, and the king then dismissed him, observing that, in accordance with the tra- dition, " Every man is hidden under his own tongue," his tongue had betrayed his inner vileness. " The safety of a man lies in holding his tongue." The apostolical succession of the prophets and the saints (p. 120). With that " brightness of lightning " 2 He kindled their souls So that Adam acquired knowledge from that light. That which shone from Adam was gathered by Seth, Wherefore Adam made him his viceroy when he saw it. When Noah received the gift of that lustre, He became a soul bearing pearls in the tempest of the flood. By that light the soul of Abraham was led, Without fear he entered Nimrod's fiery furnace. When Ishmael sought out that light, He meekly laid his head beneath his father's bright knife. The soul of David was warmed by its heat, Iron became pliable by the force of his weaving. 3 1 I.e. , the Logos as Demiurge. inspiration is likened to a light 2 Koran xxiv. 43. The prophetic handed on from one to another. 3 Koran xxi. 80. 74 THE MA SNA VI. [book n. When Solomon was nurtured by its fruition, The devils became the submissive slaves of his will. When Jacob bowed his head to the Divine decree, He recovered his sight at the scent of his son. 1 When moonlike Joseph saw that brilliant sun, He became so expert as he was in interpreting dreams. When the staif drew might from the hand of Moses, It devoured the realm of Pharaoh at a mouthful. When the soul of Jirjis 2 became privy to its light, He sacrificed his life seven times, and regained it. When Zakhariah 3 boasted of his love for it, He ransomed his life in the hollow of the tree. When Jonah swallowed a draught from that cup, He found repose in the belly of the fish. When John the Baptist became filled with its unction, He laid his head in the golden charger in ardour for it. When Jethro became aware of this exaltation, He risked his life to find it. Patient Job gave thanks for seven years, For in his calamities he saw signs of its approach. When Khizr and Elias boasted of gaining it, They found the water of life and were no more seen. When Jesus, Son of Mary, found that ladder of ascent, He ascended to the height of the fourth heaven. When Muhammad gained that blessed possession, In a moment he cleft asunder the disk of the moon. 4 When Abu Bakr became the exemplar of that grace, He was companion of that Lord, and a " faithful witness." When 'Omar was enraptured with that beauty, Like a mind he discerned true and false. 5 When Osman viewed those brilliant sights, He diffused light and became " Lord of the two lights." 6 1 Koran lxxvii. 96. 4 Koran liv. 1. 2 Jirjis or St. George is supposed 5 'Omar was called "The Dis- by Muhammadans to be the same cerner." person as Khizr or Elias. 6 He bore this name because he 3 Zakhariah the prophet is said had two daughters of Muhammad to have taken refuge from his per- as his wives. secutors in the hollow of a tree. story in.] THE KING AND HIS TWO SLAVES. 75 When Martaza ('AH) shinetf with its reflection, He became the " Lion of God " in the soul's domain. When his two sons were illumined by this light, They became the " Pearly earrings of highest heaven ; " l One of them losing his life by poison, The other losing his head as he went about his march. When Junaid was succoured by the forces of that light, His ecstatic states exceeded counting. Bayazid saw his way to increased fruition thereof, And gained from God the name " Polestar of Gnostics." What time King Mansiir became victorious, 2 He left his throne and hastened to the stake. When Karkhi of Karkh became its keeper, He became lord of love and of the breath of Jesus. Ibrahim son of Adham rode his horse to that point, And became king of kings of equity. And that Shakfk starting from that junction Became a sun of wit and acute of genius. Fazfl from a highway robber became a sage of the way, 3 When he was regarded with esteem by the King. To Bishr Hafi the doctrine was announced, And he set his face towards the desert of inquiry. When Zu-1-Niin became distraught with care for it, Egypt (Milk) as sugar became the house of his soul. When Sari 4 lost his head in seeking the way thereto, His rank was exalted above the seats of the mighty. A hundred thousand great (spiritual) kings Exalted by this divine light approach the world. Their names remain hidden through God's jealousy ; Every beggar tells not their names. 6 1 A tradition gives this title to 4 All these saints lived in the Hasan and Hussain. second and third centuries of the 2 Mausrir Hallaj, the celebrated Flight. Sufi impaled at Bagdad. Shah or 6 In the introduction to the Na- King was a title often assumed by fahatu-'l Uns, Jami says there are darveshes. always 4000 saints on the earth who 3 The "way" means the Sufi are not even known to one another, doctrines. 76 THE MA SNA VI. [book n. Story IV. The Falcon and the Owls (p. 125). A certain falcon lost his way, and found himself in the waste places inhabited by owls. The owls suspected that he had come to seize their nests, and all surrounded him to make an end of him. The falcon assured them that he had no such design as they imputed to him, that his abode was on the wrist of the king, and that he did not envy their foul habitation. The owls replied that he was trying to deceive them, inasmuch as such a strange bird as he could not be a favourite of the king. The falcon repeated that he was indeed a favourite of the king, and that the king would assuredly destroy their houses if they injured him, and proceeded to give them some good advice on the folly of trusting to outward appearances. He said, "It is true I am not homogeneous with the king, but yet the king's light is reflected in me, as water becomes homogeneous with earth in plants. I am, as it were, the dust beneath the king's feet ; and if you become like me in this respect, you will be exalted as I am. Copy the outward form you behold in me, and perchance you will reach the real substance of the king." The right use of forms (p. 126). That my outward form may not mislead you, Digest my sweet advice before copying me. Many are they who have been captured by form, Who aimed at form, and found Allah. After all, soul is linked to body, Though it in nowise resembles the body. The power of the light of the eye is mated with fat, The light of the heart is hidden in a drop of blood. Joy harbours in the kidneys and pain in the liver, The lamp of reason in the brains of the head ; Smell in the nostrils and speech in the tongue, story v.] THE THIRSTY MAN. 77 Concupiscence in the flesh and courage in the heart. These connections are not without a why and a how, But reason is at a loss to understand the how. Universal Soul had connection with Partial Soul, 1 "Which thence conceived a pearl and retained it in its bosom. From that connection, like Mary, Soul became pregnant of a fair Messiah ; — Not that Messiah who walked upon earth and water, But that Messiah who is higher than space. 2 Next, as Soul became pregnant by the Soul of souls, So by the former Soul did the world become pregnant ; Then the World brought forth another world, And of this last are brought forth other worlds. Should I reckon them in my speech till the last day I should fail to tell the total of these resurrections. 3 Story V. The Thirsty Man who threw Bricks into the Water (p. 126). A thirsty man discovered a tank of water, but could not drink of it because it was surrounded by a high wall. He took some of the bricks off the top of the wall and cast them over it into the water. The water cried out, " What advantage do you gain by doing this?" He made answer, "The first advantage is this, that I hear your voice ; and the second, that the more bricks I pull off the wall, the nearer I approach to you.'' The moral is, that so long as the wall of the body intervenes, we cannot reach the water of life. The abasement of the body brings men nearer to union with the Deity. Destroy, therefore, the 1 This is a figurative account of 3 " Continually is creation born the emanations of Absolute Being, again in a new creation " (Gulshan whereby the world of phenomena is i Raz, p. 66). By constant effluxes constituted (see Gulshan i Raz, p. from Absolute Being the world of 21, note, and p. 66). phenomena is every moment re- 2 I.e., the spirit of the Prophet newed. Muhammad, whom the Sufis identify with the Primal Soul. 7 8 THE MASNAVI. [book n. fleshly lusts which war against the soul. Then follows another parable to illustrate the folly of procrastination in this important matter. "It was not ye who shot, but God shot; and those arrows were God's, not yours" (p. 130). 1 Tis God's light that illumines the senses' light, That is the meaning of " Light upon light." 2 The senses' light draws us earthwards, God's light carries us heavenwards. As objects of sense are of base condition, God's light is an ocean, and the senses' light a dewdrop. But that light which is " upon this light" is not seen, Save through signs and holy discourses. Since the senses' light is gross and dense, It lies hidden in the black pupil of the eye. When you cannot see the senses' light with the eye, How can you see with the eye the Light of the mind ? As the senses' light is hidden in these gross veils, Must not that Light which is pure be also hidden ? Like the senses, this world is ruled by a hidden Power. It confesses its impotence before that hidden Power, Which sometimes exalts it and sometimes lays it low, Sometimes makes it dry and sometimes moist. The hand is hidden, yet we see the pen writing ; The horse is galloping, yet the rider is hid from view. The arrow speeds forth, yet the bow is not seen ; Souls are seen, the Soul of souls (God) is hidden. Break not the arrow, for it is the arrow of the King ; Yea, it is an arrow from the bow of Wisdom. " Ye shot not when ye shot,'' was said by God ; God's action has predominance over all actions. Break your own passion, break not that arrow, The eye of passion takes milk to be blood. 1 Koran viii. 17, meaning, " God is the Fa'U i BahiTci, or Only Real Agent." 2 Koran xxiv. 35. story vi.] LUQMAN'S MASTER EXAMINES HIM. 79 Kiss that arrow and bear it to the King, Yea, though it be stained with your own blood. Whatsoever is seen is weak and base and impotent ; What is hidden is equally fierce and headstrong. We are the captured game ; who is the snare ? We are the balls ; where is the bat ? He tears and mends ; who is this tailor ? He fans and kindles the flame ; who is this kindler ? At one time He makes the faithful one an infidel, At another He makes the atheist a devotee ! Next comes an anecdote of a dirty man who refused to bathe because he was ashamed to go into the water, with the moral that " Shame hinders religion ; " x and then another of Zu'l Nun, a celebrated Egyptian Sufi of the third century A.H. Zu'l Nun appeared to his ignorant friends to be mad, and they accordingly confined him in a mad- house. After a time they thought that he was not really mad, but had feigned madness for some deep purpose, and they went to the madhouse to inquire into the state of his health. When they arrived there, Zu'l Nun asked them who they were, and they answered that they were his devoted friends, who were now convinced that the story of his being mad was a calumny. Zu'l Nun jumped up and drove them away with sticks and stones, saying that true friendship would have been manifested in sharing his troubles, even as pure gold is tried by fire. Story VI. Luqmaris Master examines him and discovers his Acuteness (p. 132). Luqman the Sage, 2 who is sometimes identified with Esop, and sometimes with the nephew of the prophet Job, though " gifted with wisdom by God," was a slave. 1 Freytag, Arabum Proverbia, vol. religion;" and the other, " Shame ii. pp. 379 and 418, gives two pro- hinders getting a livelihood." verbs— one, "Shame is a part of 2 See Koran xxxi. Another anec- dote of his wit occurs in Book I. , " / 80 THE MA SNA VI. [book n. His master, however, discovered his worth, and became extremely attached to him, so that he never received any delicacy without giving Luqman a share of it. One day, having received a water-melon, he gave Luqman the best part of it, and Luqman devoured it with such apparent relish that his master was tempted to taste it. To his surprise he found it very bitter, and asked Luqman why he had not told him of this. Luqman replied that it was not for him, who lived on his master's bounty, to complain if he now and then received disagreeable things at his hands. Thus, though to outward appearance a slave, Luqman showed himself to be a lord. Love mditres hardships at the hands of the Beloved (p. 134). Through love bitter things seem sweet, Through love bits of copper are made gold. Through love dregs taste like pure wine, Through love pains are as healing balms. Through love thorns become roses, And through love vinegar becomes sweet wine. Through love the stake becomes a throne, Through love reverse of fortune seems good fortune. Through love a prison seems a rose bower, Without love a grate full of ashes seems a garden. Through love burning fire is pleasing light, "Through love the Devil becomes a Houri. Through love hard stones become soft as butter, Without love soft wax becomes hard iron. Through love grief is as joy, -''Through, love Ghouls turn into angels. Through love stings are as honey, Through love lions are harmless as mice. Through love sickness is health, Through love wrath is as mercy. Through love the dead rise to life, Through love the king becomes a slave. story til] MOSES AND THE SHEPHERD. 8i Even when an evil befalls you, have due regard ; Regard well him who does you this ill turn. The sight which regards the ebb and flow of good and ill Opens a passage for you from misfortune to happpiness. Thence you see the one state moves you into the other, 1 One opposite state generating its opposite in exchange. So long as you experience not fears after joys, How can you look for pleasures after disgusts ? While ye fear the doom of the angel on the left hand, Men hope for the bliss of the angel on the right. 2 May you gain two wings ! 3 A fowl with only one wing Is impotent to fly, well-intentioned one ! Now either permit me to hold my peace altogether, Or give me leave to explain the whole matter. And if you mislike this and forbid that, Who can tell what your desire is ? You must have the soul of Abraham in order with light To see the mansions of Paradise in the fire. Step by step he ascended above sun and moon, And so lagged not below, as a ring that fastens a door. Since the " Friend of God " ascended above the heavens, And said, " I love not Gods that set ; " 4 So this world of the body is a breeder of misconceptions In all who have not fled from lust. Story VII. Moses and the Shepherd (p. 138). Next follows an anecdote of Bilkis, Queen of Sheba, whose reason was enlightened by the counsels of the Hoopoo sent to her by King Solomon. Outward sense is 1 The doctrine of Heraclitus, that 3 The two wings are hope and opposite states generate one another, fear, both of which are needed to ia discussed by Jelaludin in a passage guide men's religious flight (see quoted in Lumsden's Grammar, ii. Book III. on "Probability the 323, and is mentioned in the Phsedo guide of life "). and the Nicomachsean Ethics. 4 Koran vi. 77. 3 An anacoluthon (see Koran 1. 16). 82 THE MASNA VI. [book ii. as opposed to true reason as Abu Jahl was to Muhammad ; and when the outward senses are replaced by the true inner reason, man sees that the body is only foam, and the heart the limitless ocean. Afterwards comes an anecdote of a philosopher who was struck blind for cavilling at the verse, " What think ye ? If at early morn your waters shall have sunk away, who will then give you clear run- ing water ? " 1 This is succeeded by the story of Moses and the shepherd. Moses once heard a shepherd praying as follows : " God, show me where thou art, that I may become Thy servant. I will clean Thy shoes and comb Thy hair, and sew Thy clothes, and fetch Thee milk." When Moses heard him praying in this senseless manner, he rebuked him, saying, " foolish one, though your father was a Musulman, you have become an infidel. God is a Spirit, and needs not such gross ministrations as, in your ignorance, you suppose." The shepherd was abashed at his rebuke, and tore his clothes and fled away into the desert. Then a voice from heaven was heard, saying, " Moses, wherefore have you driven away my servant ? Tour office is to reconcile my people with me, not to drive them away from me. I have given to each race different usages and forms of praising and adoring me. I have no need of their praises, being exalted above all such needs. I regard not the words that are spoken, but the heart that offers them. I do not require fine words, but a burning heart. Men's ways of showing devotion to me are various, but so long as the devotions are genuine, they are accepted." Religious forms indifferent (jo. 139). A voice came from God to Moses, " Why hast thou sent my servant away ? Thou hast come to draw men to union with me, Not to drive them far away from me. 1 Koran lxvii. 30. story VII.] MOSES AND THE SHEPHERD. 8 So far as possible, engage not in dissevering ; ' The thing most repugnant to me is divorce.' 1 To each person have I allotted peculiar forms, To each have I given particular usages. What is praiseworthy in thee is blameable in him, What is poison for thee is honey for him. What is good in him is bad in thee, What is fair in him is repulsive in thee. I am exempt from all purity and impurity, I need not the laziness or alacrity of my people. I created not men to gain a profit from them, But to shower my beneficence upon them. In the men of Hind the usages of Hind are praiseworthy, In the men of Sind those of Sind. I am not purified by their praises, 'Tis they who become pure and shining thereby. I regard not the outside and the words, I regard the inside and the state of heart. I look at the heart if it be humble, Though the words may be the reverse of humble. Because the heart is substance, and words accidents, Accidents are only a means, substance is the final cause. How long wilt thou dwell on words and superficialities ? A burning heart is what I want ; consort with burning ! Kindle in thy heart the flame of love, And burn up utterly thoughts and fine expressions. Moses ! the lovers of fair rites are one class, They whose hearts and souls burn with love are another. Lovers must burn every moment, As tax and tithe are levied on a ruined village. If they speak amiss, call them not sinners ; If a martyr be stained with blood, wash it not away. Blood is better than water for martyrs, This fault is better than a thousand correct forms. No need to turn to the Ka'ba when one is in it, And divers have no need of shoes. 1 A tradition. 84 THE MA SNA VI. [book n. One does not take a drunken man as a guide on the way, Nor speak of darns to torn garments. The sect of lovers is distinct from all others, Lovers have a religion and a faith of their own. Though the ruby has no stamp, what matters it ? Love is fearless in the midst of the sea of fear. Beware, if thou offerest praises or thanksgivings, And know them to be even as the babble of that shepherd ; Though thy praises be better compared with his, Yet in regard to God they are full of defects. How long wilt thou say, ' They obscure the truth, For it is not such as they fancy ' ? Thy own prayers are accepted only through mercy, They are suffered as the prayers of an impure woman. If her prayers are made impure by the flow of blood, Thine are stained with metaphors and similitudes. Blood is impure, yet its stain is removed by water ; But that impurity of ignorance is more lasting, Seeing that without the blessed water of God It is not banished from the man who is subject to it. that thou wouldst turn thy face to thy own prayers, And become cognisant of the meaning of thy ejaculations, And say, ' Ah ! my prayers are as defective as my being ; requite me good for evil ! ' " Moses questions God as to the reason of the flourishing state of the wicked (p. 140). Moses said, " beneficent Creator, With whom a moment's remembrance is as long ages, I see Thy plan distorted in this world of earth and water ; My heart, like the angel's, feels a difficulty thereat. With what object hast thou framed this plan, And sowed therein the seeds of evil ? Why hast Thou kindled the fire of violence and wrong ? Why burnt up mosques and them who worship therein ? story vin.] THE MAN AND THE PET BEAR. 85 Paradise is attached to requirements unpleasant to us, Hell is attached to things flattering our lusts. The branch full of sap is the main fuel of thy fire. ' They that are burnt with fire are near to Kausar.' 1 Whoso is in prison and acquainted with troubles, That is in requital for his gluttony and lusts. Whoso is in a palace and enjoying wealth, That is in reward for toils and troubles. Whoso is seen enjoying uncounted gold and silver, Know that he strove patiently to acquire it. He, whose soul is exempt from natural conditions, And who possesses the power of overriding causes, Can see without causes, like eyes that pierce night ; But thou, who art dependent on sense attend to causes. Having left Jesus, thou cherishest an ass (lust), And art perforce excluded, like an ass ; The portion of Jesus is knowledge and wisdom, Not so the portion of an ass, O asinine one ! Thou pitiest thine ass when it complains ; So art thou ignorant, thy ass makes thee asinine. Keep thy pity for Jesus, not for the ass, Make not thy lust to vanquish thy reason. Leave thy natural lusts to whine and howl, Tear thee from them, escape that snare of the soul ! Story VIII. The Man who made a Pet of a Bear (p. 143). 2 A kind man, seeing a serpent overcoming a bear, went to the bear's assistance, and delivered him from the serpent. The bear was so sensible of the kindness the man had done him that he followed him about wherever he went, and became his faithful slave, guarding him from every- thing that might annoy him. One day the man was lying asleep, and the bear, according to his custom, was sitting by him and driving off the flies. The flies 1 A saying of the Prophet. 2 Anwari Suhaili, i. 27. 86 THE MA SNA VI. [book n. became so persistent in their annoyances that the bear lost patience, and seizing the largest stone he conld find, dashed it at them in order to crush them utterly ; but un- fortunately the flies escaped, and the stone lighted upon the sleeper's face and crushed it. The moral is, " Do not make friends with fools." In the course of this story occur anecdotes of a blind man, of Moses rebuking the worshippers of the calf, and of the Greek physician Galen and a madman. Me who needs mercy finds it (p. 143). Doing kindness is the game and quarry of good men, A good man seeks in the world only pains to cure. Wherever there is a pain there goes the remedy, Wherever there is poverty there goes relief. Seek not water, only show you are thirsty, That water may spring up all around you. That you may hear the words, " The Lord gives them to drink," 1 Be athirst ! Allah knows what is best for you. Seek you the water of mercy ? Be downcast, And straightway drink the wine of mercy to intoxication. Mercy is called down by mercy to the last. Withhold not, then, mercy from any one, son ! If of yourself you cannot journey to the Ka'ba, Represent your helplessness to the Reliever. Cries and groans are a powerful means, And the All-Merciful is a mighty nurse. The nurse and the mother keep excusing themselves, Till their child begins to cry. In you too has God created infant needs ; When they cry out, their milk is brought to them ; God said, " Call on God ; " continue crying, So that the milk of His love may boil up. 2 1 Koran lxxvi. 21. 2 Koran xvii. no. story viii.] THE MAN AND THE PET BEAR. 87 Moses and the worshipper of the calf (p. 145). Moses said to one of those full of vain imaginations, " malevolent one, through error and heresy You entertain a hundred doubts as to my prophethood, Notwithstanding these proofs, and my holy character. You have seen thousands of miracles done by me, Yet they only multiply your doubts and cavils. Through doubts and evil thoughts you are in a strait, You speak despitefully of my prophethood. I brought the host out of the Eed Sea before all men, That ye might escape the oppression of the Egyptians. For forty years meat and drink came from heaven, And water sprang from the rock at my prayer. My staff became a mighty serpent in my hand, Water became blood for my ill-conditioned enemy. The staff became a snake, and my hand bright as the sun ; From the reflection of that light the sun became a star. Have not these incidents, and hundreds more like them, Banished these doubts from you, cold-hearted one ? The calf lowed through magic, And you bowed down to it, saying, ' Thou art my God.' 1 The golden calf lowed ; but what did it say, That the fools should feel all this devotion to it? You have seen many more wondrous works done by me, But where is the base man who accepts the truth ? What is it that charms vain men but vanity ? What else pleases the foolish but folly ? Because each kind is charmed by its own kind, Does a cow ever seek the lion ? Did the wolf show love to Joseph, 2 Or only fraud upon fraud with a view to devour him ? True, if it lose his wolf-like nature it becomes a friend ; Even as the dog of the cave became a son of man. 3 1 See Koran xx. 90. 2 Koran xii. 17. 3 Koran xviii. 17. 88 THE MASNAVI. [book u. When good Abu Bakr saw Muhammad, He recognised his truth, saying, ' This one is true ; ' When Abu Bakr caught the perfume of Muhammad, He said, ' This is no false one.' But Abu Jahl, who was not one of the sympathisers, Saw the moon split asunder, yet believed not. If from a sympathiser, to whom it is well known, I withhold the truth, still 'tis not hidden from him ; But he who is ignorant and without sympathy, However much I show him the truth, he sees it not. The mirror of the heart must needs be polished Before you can distinguish fair and foul therein." Stoky IX. The Gardener and the Three Friends (p. 148). A voice came from heaven to Moses, saying, " Moses, why didst thou not visit me when I was sick ? " Moses inquired the meaning of this dark saying, and the answer was, " When one of God's saints is sick, God regards his sickness as His own ; and, therefore, he who desires to hold companionship with God must not forsake the saints." x This is illustrated by a story of a gardener who saw three friends walking in his garden, and making free with his fruit. Knowing he could not prevail against them while they remained united, he contrived by tricks to separate them, and then proceeded to chastise them one by one. And this caused one of them to make the reflection that he had acted very foolishly in deserting his friends. Stoky X. Bdyazid and the Saint (p. 149). The celebrated Sufi, Abu Yazid or Bayazfd of Bastam, in Khorasan, who lived in the third century of the Blight, was once making a pilgrimage to Mecca, and visiting all the " Pillars of insight " who lived in the various towns 1 Cp. Matthew xxv. 40. story x.] BAYAZlD AND THE SAINT. 89 that lay on his route. At last he discovered the " Khizr of the age " in the person of a venerable Darvesh, with whom he held the following conversation : — The Sage said, " Whither are yon going, Bayazid ? Where will you bring your caravan to a halt ? " Bayazid replied, " At dawn I start for the Ka'ba." Quoth the Sage, " What provision for the way have you ? " He answered, " I have two hundred silver dirhams ; See them tied up tightly in the corner of my cloak." The Sage said, " Circumambulate me seven times ; Count this better than circumambulating the Ka'ba ; And as for the dirhams, give them to me, liberal one, And know you have finished your course and obtained your wish, You have made the pilgrimage and gained the life to come, You have become pure, and that in a moment of time. Of a truth that is God which your soul sees in me, For God has chosen me to be His house. Though the Ka'ba is the house of His grace and favours, Yet my body too is the house of His secret. Since He made that house He has never entered it, But none but That Living One enters this house. 1 When you have seen me you have seen God, And have circumambulated the veritable Ka'ba. To serve me is to worship and praise God ; Think not that God is distinct from me. Open clear eyes and look upon me, That you may behold the light of God in a mortal. The Beloved once called the Ka'ba ' My house,' But has said to me ' my servant ' seventy times. 1 Bayazid, you have found the Ka'ba, You have found a hundred precious blessings." Bayazid gave heed to these deep sayings, And placed them as golden earrings in his ears. 1 Alluding to the Hadis : " Heaven and earth contain me not, but the heart of my faithful servant contains me." go THE MASNA VI. [book ii. Then follow anecdotes of the Prophet paying a visit to one of his disciples who lay sick, of Shaikh Bahlol, nick- named " The Madman," who was a favourite at the court of Harunu-'r-Eashid, and of the people of Moses. The sweet uses of adversity (p. 150). The sick man said, " Sickness has brought me this boon, That this Prince (Muhammad) has come to me this morn, So that health and strength may return to me From the visit of this unparalleled King. blessed pain and sickness and fever ! O welcome weariness and sleeplessness by night ! Lo ! God of His bounty and favour Has sent me this pain and sickness in my old age ; He has given me pain in the back, that I may not fail To spring up out of my sleep at midnight ; That I may not sleep all night like the cattle, God in His mercy has sent me these pains. At my broken state the pity of kings has boiled up, And hell is put to silence by their threats ! " Pain is a treasure, for it contains mercies ; The kernel is soft when the rind is scraped off. O brother, the place of darkness and cold Is the fountain of life and the cup of ecstasy. So also is endurance of pain and sickness and disease. For from abasement proceeds exaltation. The spring seasons are hidden in the autumns, And autumns are charged with springs ; flee them not. Consort with grief and put up with sadness, Seek long life in your own death ! Since 'tis bad, whatever lust says on this matter Heed it not, its business is opposition. But act contrary thereto, for the prophets Have laid this injunction upon the world. 1 1 Freytag quotes a saying of right course " (Arabum Proverbia, 'Omar, "A fool may indicate the i. p. 566). story x.] BAYAZtD AND THE SAINT. 91 Though it is right to take counsel in affairs, That you may have less to regret in the upshot ; — The prophets have laboured much To make the world revolve on this pivot stone ; x But, in order to destroy the people, lust desires To make them go astray and lose their heads ; — The people say, ' With whom shall we take counsel ? ' The prophets answer, ' With the reason of your chief.' Again they say, ' Suppose a child or a woman enter, Who lacks reason and clear judgment ; ' They reply, ' Take counsel with them, And act contrary to what they advise.' Know your lust to be woman, and worse than woman ; Woman is partial evil, lust universal evil. If you take counsel with your lust, See you act contrary to what that base one advises. Even though it enjoin prayers and fasting, It is treacherously laying a snare for you.' You must abandon and ignore your own knowledge, And dip your hand in the dish of abnegation of knowledge. Whatever seems profitable, flee from it, Drink poison and spill the water of life. Contemn whatever praises you, Lend to paupers your wealth and profits ! Quit your sect and be a subject of aversion, Cast away name and fame and seek disgrace ! " God the Author of good and evil (p. 156). If you seek the explanation of God's love and favour, In connection therewith read the chapter " Brightness." 2 And if you say evil also proceeds from Him, Yet what damage is that to His perfection ? 1 The law defining the right brightness, and by the night when course _ ' it darkeneth, thy Lord hath not for- 2 Koran xciii. ; " By the noonday saken thee nor been displeased." 9 2 THE MASNA VI. [book ii. To send that evil is one of His perfections. I will give you an illustration, O arrogant one ; The heavenly Artist paints His pictures of two sorts, Pair pictures and pictures the reverse of fair. Joseph he painted fair and made him beautiful ; He also painted ugly pictures of demons and 'afrits. Both sorts of pictures are of His workmanship, They proceed not from His imperfection, but His skill, That the perfection of His wisdom may be shown, And the gainsayers of His art be put to shame. Could He not paint ugly things He would lack art, And therefore He creates Guebers as well as Moslems. Thus, both infidelity and faith bear witness to Him, Both alike bow down before His almighty sway. But know, the faithful worship Him willingly, For they seek and aim at pleasing Him ; While Guebers worship Him unwillingly, Their real aim and purpose being quite otherwise. Evil itself is turned into good for the good (p. 157). The Prophet said to that sick man, " Pray in this wise and allay your difficulties ; ' Give us good in the house of our present world, And give us good in the house of our next world. 1 Make our path pleasant as a garden, And be Thou, Holy One, our goal ! ' " The faithful will say on the last day, " King ! Was not Hell on the route all of us travelled ? Did not faithful as well as infidels pass through it ? Yet on our way we perceived not the smoke of the fire ; Nay, it seemed Paradise and the mansion of the blessed." Then the King will answer, " That green garden, As it appeared to you on your passage through it, Was indeed Hell and the place of dread torment ; 1 "0 Lord, give us good in this save us from the torment of the fire." world and good in the next, and (Koran ii 197), story x.] BAYAZID AND THE SAINT. 93 Tet for you it became a garden green with trees. Since you have laboured to make hellish lusts, And the fire of pride that courts destruction, — To make these, I say, pure and clean, — And, to please God, have quenched those fires, So that the fire of lust, that erst breathed flame, Has become a holy garden and a guiding light, — Since you have turned the fire of wrath to meekness, And the darkness of ignorance to shining knowledge, Since you have turned the fire of greed into bounty, And the vile thorns of malice into a rose-garden ; Since you have quenched all these fires of your own For my sake, so that those poisons are now pure sweets ; — Since you have made fiery lust as a verdant garden, And have sowed therein the seed of fidelity, So that nightingales of prayer and praise Ever warble sweetly around this garden ; — Since you have responded to the call of God, And have drawn water out of the hell of lust, — For this cause my hell also, for your behoof, Becomes a verdant garden and yields leaves and fruit." What is the recompense of well-doing, son ? It is kindness and good treatment and rich requital. Have ye not said, " We are victims, Mere nothings before eternal Being? If we are drunkards or madmen, "lis that Cup-bearer and that Cup which make us so. We bow down our heads before His edict and ordinance, We stake precious life to gain His favour. While the thought of the Beloved fills our hearts, All our work is to do Him service and spend life for Him. Wherever He kindles His destructive torch, Myriads of lovers' souls are burnt therewith. The lovers who dwell within the sanctuary Are moths burnt with the torch of the Beloved's face." heart haste thither, 2 for God will shine upon you, 1 I.e., to annihilation of self in God, as a moth in the flame. 94 THE MASNAVI. [book n. And seem to you a sweet garden instead of a terror. He will infuse into your soul a new soul, So as to fill you, like a goblet, with wine. Take up your abode in His soul ! Take up your abode in heaven, bright full moon ! Like the heavenly Scribe, 1 He will open your heart's book That He may reveal mysteries unto you. Abide with your Friend, since you have gone astray, Strive to be a full moon ; you are now a fragment thereof. Wherefore this shrinking of the part from its whole ? Why this association with its foes ? Behold Genus become Species in due course, Behold secrets become manifest through his light ! So long as woman-like you swallow blandishments, How, wise man, can you get relief from false flatteries ? These flatteries and fair words and deceits (of lust) You take, and swallow, just like women. But the reproaches and the blows of Darveshes Are really better for you than the praises of sinners. Take the light blows of Darveshes, not the honey of sinners, And become, by the fortune of good, good yourself. Because from them the robe of good fortune is gained, In the asylum of the spirit blood becomes life. Story XI. Mo'avia and Iblis (p. 158). Mo'avia, the first of the Omimad_Khalifas, was one day lying asleep in his palace, when he was awakened by a strange man. Mo'avia asked him who he was, and he replied that he was Iblis. Mo'avia then asked him why he had awakened him, and Iblis replied that the hour of prayer was come, and he feared Mo'avia would be late. Mo'avia answered, " Nay ! it could never have been your intention to direct me in the right way. How can I trust a thief like you to guard my interests ? " Iblis answered, " Remember that I was bred up as an angel of light, 1 Atarid or Mercury. story xi.] MO'AVIA AND IBLIS. 95 and that I cannot quite abandon my original occupation. You may travel to Rome or Cathay, but still you retain the love of your fatherland. I still retain my love of God, who fed me when I was young ; nay, even though I re- volted from Him, that was only from jealousy (of Adam), and jealousy proceeds from love, not from denial of God. I played a game of chess with God at His own desire, and though I was utterly checkmated and ruined, in my ruin I still experience God's blessings." Mo'avia answered, " What you say is not credible. Tour words are like the decoy calls of a fowler, which resemble the voices of the birds, and so lure them to destruction. You have caused the destruction of hundreds of mortals, such as the people of Noah, the tribe of 'Ad, 1 the family of Lot, Mmrod, Pharaoh, Abu Jahl, and so on." Iblis retorted, " You are mistaken if you suppose me to be the cause of all the evil you mention. I am not God, that I should be able to make good evil, or fair foul. Mercy and vengeance are twin divine attributes, and they generate the good and evil seen in all earthly things. I am, therefore, not to blame for the existence of evil, as I am only a mirror, which reflects the good and evil existing in the objects presented to it." Mo'avia then prayed to God to guard him against the sophistries of Iblis, and again adjured Iblis to cease his arguments and tell plainly the reason why he had awakened him. Iblis, instead of answering, continued to justify himself, saying how hard it was that men and women should blame him when they did any- thing wrong, instead of blaming their own evil lusts. Mo'avia, in reply, reproached him with concealing the truth, and ultimately brought him to confess that the true reason why he had awakened him was this, that if he had overslept himself, and so missed the hour of prayer, he would have felt deep sorrow and have heaved many sighs, and each of these sighs would, in the sight of God, have counted for as many as two hundred ordinary prayers. 1 See Koran xi. 63. 96 THE MASNA VI. [book it. The value of sighs (p. 162). A certain man was going into the mosque, Just as another was coming out. He inquired of him what had occurred to the meeting, That the people were coming out of the mosque so soon. The other told him that the Prophet Had concluded the public prayers and mysteries. " Whither go you," said he, " foolish one, Seeing the Prophet has already given the blessing ? " The first heaved a sigh, and its smoke ascended ; That sigh yielded a perfume of his heart's blood. The other, who came from the mosque, said to him, " Give me that sigh, and take my prayers instead." The first said, " I give it, and take your prayers." The other took that sigh with a hundred thanks. He went his way with deep humility and contrition, As a hawk who had ascended in the track of the falcon. That night, as he lay asleep, he heard a voice from heaven, " Thou hast bought the water of life and healing ; The worth of what thou hast chosen and possessed Equals that of all the people's accepted prayers." To illustrate the treachery of wolves in sheep's clothing, — of Satans rebuking sin and preaching religion — an anecdote is told of a master of a house who caught a thief, but was induced to let him escape by the stratagem of the thief's confederate, who cried that he had got the real thief elsewhere. Apropos of the same theme, the poet next relates the story of " those who built a mosque for mis- chief," as recorded in the Koran. 1 The tribe of Bani Ganim built a mosque, and invited the Prophet to dedi- cate it. The Prophet, however, discovered that their real motive was jealousy of the tribe of Bani Amru Ibn Auf and of the mosque at Kuba, near Medina, and a treacherous 1 Koran ix. 108. story xi.] MO' A VIA AND IB LIS. 97 understanding with the Syrian monk Abu Amir, and therefore he refused their request, and ordered the mosque to be razed to the ground. Wisdom the believer's lost camel (p. 165). My people adopt my law without obeying it, They take that coin without assaying it. The Koran's wisdom is like the " believer's lost camel, ' 1 Every one is certain his camel is lost. You have lost your camel and seek it diligently ; Yet how will you find it if you know not your own ? What was lost ? Was it a female camel that you lost ? It escaped from your hand, and you are in a maze. The caravan is come to be loaded, Your camel is vanished from the midst of it. You run here and there, your mouth parched with heat ; The caravan moves on, and night approaches. Your goods lie on the ground in a dangerous road, You hurry after your camel in all directions. You cry " Moslems, who has seen a camel, Which escaped from its stable this morning ? To him who shall give me news of my camel I will give a reward of so many dirhems." You go on seeking news of your camel from every one. And every lewd fellow flatters you with a fresh rumour, Saying, " I saw a camel ; it went this way ; 'Twas red, and it went towards this pasture." Another says, " Its ear was cropped." Another says, " Its cloth was embroidered." Another that it had only one eye, Another that it had lost its hair from mange. To gain the reward every base fellow Mentions a hundred marks without any foundation. 1 This is a proverb ascribed to Ali. It means, people are always losing wisdom and seeking it like a lost camel (Freytag, Arabum Proverbia, i. P- 385)- G 98 THE MASNAVI. [book n. All false doctrines contain an element of truth (p. 165). Just so every one in matters of doctrine Gives a different description of the hidden subject. A philosopher expounds it in one way, And a critic at once refutes his propositions. A third censures both of them ; A fourth spends his life in traducing the others. Every one mentions indications of this road, In order to create an impression that he has gone it. This truth and that truth cannot be all true, And yet all of them are not entirely astray in error. Because error occurs not without some truth, Pools buy base coins from their likeness to real coins. If there were no genuine coins current in the world, How could coiners succeed in passing false coins ? If there were no truth, how could falsehood exist ? Falsehood derives its plausibility from truth. 'Tis the desire of right that makes men buy wrong ; Let poison be mixed with sugar, and they eat it at once. If wheat were not valued as sweet and good for food, The cheat who shows wheat and sells barley would make no profit ! Say not, then, that all these creeds are false, The false ones ensnare hearts by the scent of truth. Say not that they are all erroneous fancies, There is no fancy in the universe without some truth. Truth is the "night of power" 1 hidden amongst other nights, In order to try the spirit of every night. Not every night is that of power, youth, Nor yet is every night quite void of power. In the crowd of rag- wearers there is but one Faqir • 2 Search well and find out that true one. 1 The night on which the Koran - So in the Pbiedo, " Many are the was revealed. wandbearers, but few the Mystics." story xii.] THE FOUR HINDUSTANIS. 99 Tell the wary and discerning believer To distinguish the king from the beggar. If there were no bad goods in the world, Every fool might be a skilful merchant ; For then the hard art of judging goods would be easy. If there were no faults, one man could judge as well as another. Again, if all were faulty, skill would be profitless. If all wood were common, there would be no aloes. He who accepts everything as true is a fool, But he who says all is false is a knave. Story XII. The Four Hindustanis who censured one another (p. 167). Four Hindustanis went to the mosque to say their prayers. Each one duly pronounced the Takbir, and was saying his prayers with great devotion, when the Mu'azzin happened to come in. One of them immediately called out, " Mu'azzin, have you yet called to prayer ? It is time to do so." Then the second said to the speaker, " Ah ! you have spoken words unconnected with worship, and therefore, according to the Hadis, you have spoiled your prayers." J Thereupon the third scolded the last speaker, saying, " simpleton, why do you rebuke him ? Eather rebuke yourself." Last of all, the fourth said, " God be praised that I have not fallen into the same ditch as my three companions." The moral is, not to find fault with others, but rather, according to the proverb, 2 to be ad- monished by their bad example. Apropos of this proverb, a story is told of two prisoners captured by the tribe of Grhuz. The Ghuzians were about to put one of them to death, to frighten the other, and make him confess where the treasure was concealed, when the doomed man dis- covered their object, and said, " noble sirs, kill my companion, and frighten me instead." 1 Mishkdt ul Masibib, by Mat- 2 Freytag, Arabum Proverbia, i. thews, i. 205. 628., THE MA SNA VI. [book ii. Story XIII. The Old Man and the Physician (p. 169). An old man complained to his physician that he suffered from headache. The physician replied, " That is caused by old age." The old man next complained of a defect in his sight, and the physician again told him that his malady was due to old age. The old man went on to say that he suffered from pain in the back, from dyspepsia, from short- ness of breath, from nervous debility, from inability to walk, and so on ; and the physician replied that each of these ailments was likewise caused by old age. The old man, losing patience, said, " fool, know you not that God has ordained a remedy for every malady ? " The physician answered, " This passion and choler are also symptoms of old age. Since all your members are weak, you have lost the power of self-control, and fly into a passion at every word.'' Bad principles always produce bad acts (p. 169). Pools laud and magnify the mosque, While they strive to oppress holy men of heart. But the former is mere form, the latter spirit and truth. The only true mosque is that in the hearts of saints. The mosque that is built in the hearts of the saints Is the place of worship of all, for God dwells there. So long as the hearts of the saints are not afflicted, God never destroys the nation. Our forefathers lifted their hands against the prophets ; Seeing their bodies, they took them for ordinary men. In you also abide the morals of those men of old • How can you avoid fearing that you will act like them ? The morals of those unthankful ones dwell in you Your urn will not always return unbroken from the well. Seeing that all these bad symptoms are seen in you And that you are one with those men, how can you escape ? TORY xiv.] THE CARRIER AND THE SCHOLAR. 101 Story XIV. The Arab Carrier and the Scholar (p. 171). An Arab loaded his camel with two sacks, filling one with wheat and the second with sand, in order to balance the first. As he was proceeding on his way he met a certain tradition-monger, who questioned him about the contents of his sacks. On learning that one contained nothing but sand, he pointed out that the object might be attained much better by putting half the wheat in one sack and half in the other. On hearing this the Arab was so struck by his sagacity that he conceived a great respect for him, and mounted him on his camel. Then he said, " As you possess such great wisdom, I presume that you are a king or a Vazir, or at least a very rich and powerful noble." The theologian replied, " On the con- trary, I am a very poor man ; all the riches my learning has brought me are weariness and headaches, and I know not where to look for a loaf of bread." The Arab said, " In that case get off my camel and go your way, and suffer me to go mine, for I see your learning brings ill luck.'' The moral of the story is the worthlessness of mere human knowledge, and its inferiority to the divine knowledge proceeding from inspiration. This thesis is further illus- trated by an account of the mighty works which were done by the saint Ibrahim bin Adham, through the divine knowledge that God had given him. Ibrahim was origi- nally prince of Balkh, but renounced his kingdom and became a saint. One day he was sitting by the shore mending his cloak, when one of his former subjects passed by and marvelled to see him engaged in such a mean occu- pation. The saint at once, by inspired knowledge, read his thoughts, and thus corrected his false impressions. He took the needle with which he was mending his cloak and cast it into the sea. Then with a loud voice he cried out, " needle, rise again from the midst of the sea, and come back again into my hands." Without a moment's 102 THE MA SNA VI. [book n. delay thousands of fishes rose to the stirface of the sea, each bearing in its mouth a golden needle, and cried out, " Shaikh, take these needles of God ! " Ibrahim then turned to the noble, saying, " Is not the kingdom of the heart better than the contemptible earthly kingdom I formerly possessed ? What you have just seen is a very trifling sign of my spiritual power — as it were, a mere leaf plucked to show the beauty of a garden. Tou have now caught the scent of this garden, and it ought to attract your soul to the garden itself, for you must know that scents have great influence, e.g., the scent of Joseph's coat, 1 which restored Jacob's sight, and the scents which were loved by the Prophet." 2 Story XV. The Man who boasted that God did not punish him for his sins, and Jethro's answer to him (p. 175). That person said in the time of Shu'aib (Jethro), " God has seen many faults done by me ; Yea, how many sins and faults of mine has He seen, Nevertheless of His mercy He punishes me not." God Almighty spake in the ear of Shu'aib, Addressing him with an inner voice in answer thereto, " Why hast thou said I have sinned so much, And God of His mercy has not punished my sins ? " Thou sayest the very reverse of the truth, fool ! Wandering from the way and lost in the desert ! How many times do I smite thee, and thou knowest not ? Thou art bound in my chains from head to foot. On thy heart is rust on rust collected, So thou art blind to mysteries. Thy rust, layer on layer, black kettle ! Makes the aspect of thy inner parts foul. If that smoke touched a new kettle, It would show the smut, were it only as a grain of barley ; 1 Koran xii. 93. loved perfumes and fair women and There is a Hadis : "The Prophet brightness of eyes in prayer." story xv.] THE MAN WHO BOASTED. io} For everything is made manifest by its opposite, In contrast with its whiteness that black shows foul. But when the kettle is black, then afterwards Who can see on it the impression of the smoke ? If the blacksmith be a negro, His face agrees in colour with the smoke. But if a man of Rum does blacksmith's work, His face becomes grimed by the smoke fumes ; Then he quickly perceives the impression of his fault, So that he wails and cries ' Allah ! ' When he is stubborn and follows his evil practices, He casts dust in the eyes of his discernment. He recks not of repentance, and, moreover, that sin Becomes dear to his heart, so that he becomes without faith, Old shame for sin and calling on God quit him, Bust five layers deep settles on his mirror, Bust spots begin to gnaw his iron, The colour in his jewel grows less and less. When you write on white paper, What is written is read at a glance ; But when you write on the face of a written page, It is not plain, reading it is deceptive ; For that black is written on the top of other black, Both the writings are illegible and senseless. Or if, in the third place, you write on the page, .And then blacken it like an infidel's soul, Then what remedy but the aid of the Remedier ? Despair is copper and sight its elixir. Lay your despair before Him, That you may escape from pain without medicine." When Shu'aib spoke these aphorisms to him, From that breath of the soul roses bloomed in his heart, His soul heard the revelations of heaven ; He said, " If He has punished me, where is the sign of it ? " Shu'aib said, " Lord, he repels my arguments, He seeks for a sign of that punishment." io4 THE MASNA VI. [book ii. The Veiler of sins replied, " I will tell him no secrets, Save only one, in order to try him. One sign that I punish him is this, That he observes obedience and fasting and prayer, And devotions and almsgiving, and so on, Yet never feels the least expansion of soul. He performs the devotions and acts enjoined by law, Yet derives not an atom of relish from them. Outward devotion is sweet to him, spirit is not sweet, Nuts in plenty, but no kernel in any of them. Relish is needed for devotions to bear fruit, Kernels are needed that seeds may yield trees. How can seeds without kernels become trees ? Form without soul (life) is only a dream." Story XVI. Tlie Gluttonous Sufi (p. 178). In a certain convent there lived a Sufi whose conduct gave just offence to the brethren. They brought him before their Shaikh and thus accused him, "This Sufi has three very bad qualities ; he babbles exceedingly like a bell, at his meals he eats more than twenty men, and when he sleeps he is as one of the Seven Sleepers." The Shaikh then admonished him, insisting on the obligation of keeping to the golden mean, and reminding him that even the prophet Moses 1 was once rebuked by Khizr for ' speaking to excess. But the delinquent excused himself on the grounds that the mean is relative, what is excess in one man being moderation in another, that he who is led by the spirit is no longer subject to the outward law, and that the "inner voice," which rules such an one's conduct, is its own evidence. 1 Koran xviii. 77. stohyxvi.] THE GLUTTONOUS SUFI. 105 The mean is relative (p. 178). He said, " Though the path of the mean is wisdom, Yet is this same mean also relative. The water which is insufficient for a camel Is like an ocean to a mouse. Whoso has four loaves as his daily allowance, Whether he eat two or three, he observes the mean. But if he eat all four he transgresses the mean, A very slave to greed, and voracious as a duck. Whoso has an appetite for ten loaves, Know, though he eat six, he observes the mean. If I have an appetite for fifty loaves, While you can manage only six, we are not on a par. You are wearied with ten prostrations in prayer, Whilst I can endure five hundred. Such an one goes barefoot to the Ka'ba, Whilst another faints with" going to the mosque." The ecstatic state which exalts the subject of it above law (p. 179). " At times my state resembles a dream, My dreaming seems to them infidelity. Know my eyes sleep, but my heart is awake ; My body, though torpid, is instinct with energy. , The Prophet said, ' Mine eyes sleep, But my heart is awake with the Lord of mankind.' Your eyes are awake and your heart fast asleep, My eyes are closed, and my heart at the ' open door.' My heart has other five senses of its own ; These senses of my heart view the two worlds. Let not a weakling like you censure me, What seems night to you is broad day to me ; What seems a prison to you is a garden to me, Busiest occupation is rest to me. 106 THE MASNAVI. [book n. Your feet are in the mire, to me mire is rose, What to you is funeral wailing is marriage drum to me. While I seem on earth, abiding with you in the house, I ascend like Saturn to the seventh heaven. 'Tis not I who companion with you, 'tis my shadow ; My exaltation transcends your thoughts, Because I have transcended thought, Yea, I have sped beyond reach of thought. I am lord of thought, not overlorded by thought, As the builder is lord of the building. All creatures are enslaved to thought ; For this cause are they sad at heart and sorrowful. I send myself on an embassy to thought, And, at will, spring back again from thought. I am as the bird of heaven and thought as the fly, How can the fly lend a helping hand to me ? Whoso has in him a spark of the light of Omnipotence, However much he eats, say ' Eat on ; ' 'tis lawful to him." To the spiritual man the " inner voice " is its own evidence, and needs no other proof (p. 179). " If you are a true lover of my soul, This truth-fraught saying of mine is no vain pretence, — ' Though I talk half the night I am superior to you ; ' And again, 'Fear not the night; here am I, your kins- man.' These two assertions of mine will both seem true to you The moment you recognise the voice of your kinsman. Superiority and kinsmanship are both mere assertions, Yet both are recognised for truth by men of clear wit. The nearness of the voice proves to such an one That the voice proceeds from a friend who is near. The sweetness of the kinsman's voice, too, beloved, Proves the veracity of that kinsman. But the uninspired fool who from ignorance story xvn.] THE TREE OF LIFE. 107 Cannot tell the voice of a stranger from a friend's, — To him the friend's saying seems a vain pretension, His ignorance is the material cause of his disbelief. To the wise, whose hearts are enlightened, The mere sound of that voice proves its truth." " When you say to a thirsty man, ' Come quickly ; This is water in the cup, take and drink it,' Does the thirsty man say, ' This is a vain pretension ; Go, remove yourself from me, O vain pretender, Or proceed to give proofs and evidence That this is generic water, and concrete water thereof? Or when a mother cries to her sucking babe, ' Come, son, I am thy mother,' Does the babe answer, ' mother, show a proof That I shall find comfort from taking thy milk ' ? In the hearts of every sect that has a taste of the truth The sight and the voice of prophets work miracles. When the prophets raise their cry to the outward ear, The souls of each sect bow in devotion within ; — Because never in this world hath the soul's ear Heard from any man the like of that cry. That poor man in that strange sweet voice Recognises the voice of God, ' Verily I am nigh.' " 1 Story XVII. The Tree of Life (p. 180). The preceding story is followed by a short anecdote of the infants of the Virgin Mary and the mother of John the Baptist leaping in their mothers' wombs, 2 and in reply to matter of fact cavillers and questioners of this anecdote, the poet says we must look at its spirit and essential basis rather than its outward form. This introduces the story of the tree of life. A certain wise man related that in 1 " And when my servants ask cry of him that crieth, when he thee concerning me, then will I be crieth unto me " (Koran ii. 182). nigh unto them. I will answer the 2 Luke i. 41. io8 THE MA SNA VI. [book u. Hindustan there was a tree of such wonderful virtue that whosoever ate of its fruit lived for ever. Hearing this, a king deputed one of his courtiers to go in quest of it. The courtier accordingly proceeded to Hindustan, and travelled all over that country, inquiring of every one he met where this tree was to be found. Some of these per- sons professed their entire ignorance, others joked him, and others gave him false information; and, finally, he had to return to his country with his mission unaccom- plished. He then, as a last resource, betook himself to the sage who had first spoken of the tree, and begged for further information about it, and the sage replied to him as follows : — The Shaikh laughed, and said to him, " friend, This is the tree of knowledge, knowing one ; Very high, very fine, very expansive, The very water of life from the circumfluent ocean. Thou hast run after form, ill-informed one, Wherefore thou lackest the fruit of the tree of substance. Sometimes it is named tree, sometimes sun, Sometimes lake, and sometimes cloud. Tis one, though it has thousands of manifestations ; Its least manifestation is eternal life ! Though 'tis one, it has a thousand manifestations, The names that fit that one are countless. That one is to thy personality a father, In regard to another person He may be a son. In relation to another He may be wrath and vengeance, In relation to another, mercy and goodness. He has thousands of names, yet is One, — Answering to all of His descriptions, yet indescribable. Every one who seeks names, if he is a man of credulity, Like thee, remains hopeless and frustrated of his aim. Why cleavest thou to this mere name of tree, So that thou art utterly balked and disappointed ? Pass over names and look to qualities, So that qualities may lead thee to essence ! story xviii.] THE YOUNG DUCKS. 109 The differences of sects arise from His names ; When they pierce to His essence they find His peace ! " This story is followed by another anecdote illustrative of the same thesis that attending merely to names and outward forms, rather than to the spirit and essence of religion, leads men into error and delusion. Pour persons, a Persian, an Arab, a Turk, and a Greek, were travelling together, and received a present of a dirhem. The Persian said he would buy "angUr" with it, the Arab said he would buy " inab," while the Turk and the Greek were for buying " fazum " and " astaphil " {staphyle), respectively. Now all these words mean one and the same thing, viz., " grapes ; " but, owing to their ignorance of each other's languages, they fancied they each wanted to buy some- thing different, and accordingly a violent quarrel arose beween them. At last a wise man who knew all their languages came up and explained to them that they were all wishing for one and the same thing. Story XVIII. The Young Bucks who were brought up under a Hen (p. 184). Although a domestic fowl may have taken thee, Who art a duckling, under her wing and nurtured thee, Thy mother was a duck of that ocean, Thy nurse was earthy, and her wing dry land. The longing for the ocean which fills thy heart, — That natural longing of thy soul comes from thy mother. Thy longing for dry land comes to thee from thy nurse ; Quit thy nurse, for she will lead thee astray. Leave thy nurse on the dry land and push on, Enter the ocean of real Being, like the ducks ! Though thy nurse may frighten thee away from water, Do thou fear not, but haste on into the ocean ! Thou art a duck, and flourishest on land and water, And dost not, like a domestic fowl, dig up the house. no THE MASNAVI. [book n. Thou art a king of " the sons of Adam honoured by God," * And settest foot alike on sea and land ; — For impress on thy mind, " We have carried them by sea," Before the words, " We have caried them by land." The angels go not on dry land, And the animals know nothing of the sea ; Thou in body art an animal, in thy soul an angel ; Hence thou goest both upon earth and on heaven." Hence to outward view " He is a man like you," 2 While to his sharp-seeing heart " it hath been revealed." His earthy form has fallen on earth, His spirit revolving above highest heaven. O boy, we are all of us waterfowl, The sea knows full well our language. Solomon 3 is, as it were, that sea, and we as the birds ; In Solomon we hold our course to eternity. Along with Solomon plunge into the ocean, 4 Then, like David, the water will make us coats-of-mail. That Solomon is present to every one, But negligence closes their eyes and bewitches them. Hence, through ignorance, sloth, and folly, Though he stands hard by us, we are shut off from him. The noise of thunder makes the head of the thirsty ache ; When he knows not that it unlocks the blessed showers, His eyes are fixed on the running stream, Unwitting of the sweetness of the rain from heaven. He urges the steed of his desire towards the caused, And perforce remains shut off from the Causer. Whoso beholds the Causer face to face, How can he set his heart on things caused on earth ? 1 Koran xvi. 72: "And now have been revealed unto me that your God we honoured the sons of Adam, by is one on-ly God." sea and by land have we carried 3 Koran xxvii. 16 : "Solomon said, them." O men, we have been taught the a Koran xviii. no: "Say, In sooth speech of birds." I am only a man like you. It hath ' Koran xxvii. 44 and xxi. 80. Boo?? ro. Story I. The Travellers who ate theYoung Elephant (p. 190). A party of travellers lost their way in a wilderness, and were well nigh famished with hunger. While they were considering what to do, a sage came up and condoled with them on their unfortunate plight. He told them that there were many young elephants in the adjacent woods, one of which would furnish them an ample meal, but at the same time he warned them that if they killed one, its parents would in all probability track them out and be revenged on them for killing their offspring. Shortly after the travellers saw a plump young elephant, and could not resist killing and eating it. One alone refrained. Then they lay down to rest ; but no sooner were they fast asleep than a huge elephant made his appearance and proceeded to smell the breath of each one of the sleepers in turn. Those whom he perceived to have eaten of the young elephant's flesh he slew without mercy, sparing only the one who had been prudent enough to abstain. God's care for His children (p. 190). son, the pious are God's children, Absent or present He is informed of their state. Deem Him not absent when they are endangered, For He is jealous for their lives. He saith, " These saints are my children, Though remote and alone and away from their Lord. For their trial they are orphans and wretched, ii2 THE MA SNA VI. [book n. Yet in love I am ever holding communion with them. Thou art backed by all my protection, My children are, as it were, parts of me. Verily these Darveshes of mine Are thousands on thousands, and yet no more than One ; For if not,, how did Moses with one magic staff Turn the realm of Pharaoh upside down ? And if it were not so, how did Noah with one curse Make East and West alike drowned in his flood ? Nor could one prayer of eloquent Lot Have razed their strong city against their will, — Their mighty city, like to Paradise, Became as a Tigris of black water; go, see its vestige! Towards Syria is this vestige and memorial, Thou seest it in passing on the way to Jerusalem. Thousands of God-fearing prophets In every age hold divine chastisements in hand. Should I tell of them my limits would be exceeded, And not hearts only but very hills would bleed." Evil deeds give men's prayers an ill savour in God's nostrils (p. 192). Thou art asleep, and the smell of that forbidden fruit Ascends to the azure skies, — Ascends along with thy foul breath, Till it overpowers heaven with stench ; — Stench of pride, stench of lust, stench of greed. All these stink like onions when a man speaks. Though thou swearest, saying, " When have I eaten ? Have I not abstained from onions and garlic ? " The very breath of that oath tells tales, As it strikes the nostrils of them that sit with thee. So too prayers are made invalid by such stenches x That crooked heart is betrayed by its speech. 1 "Whoever eats garlic or onions must keep away from me or from the Masjid " (Mishkstt ill Masiibih, ii. 321). stoeti.] THE HUNGRY TRAVELLERS. 113 The answer to that prayer is, " Be ye driven into hell," 1 The staff of repulsion is the reward of all deceit. But, if thy speech be crooked and thy meaning straight, Thy crookedness of words will be accepted of God. That faithful Bilal, when he called to prayer, Would devoutly cry, " Come hither, come hither ! " At last men said, " Prophet, this call is not right, This is wrong ; now, what is thy intention ? Prophet, and ambassador of the Almighty, Provide another Mu'azzin of better talent, 'Tis an error at the beginning of our divine worship To utter the words, ' Come to the asylum I'" 2 The wrath of the Prophet boiled up, and he said (Uttering one or two secrets from the fount of grace), " base ones, in God's sight the ' Ho ! ' of Bilal Is better than a hundred ' Come hithers ' and ejaculations. Ah ! excite not a tumult, lest I tell forth openly Tour secret thoughts from first to last. If ye keep not your breath sweet in prayer, Go, desire a prayer from the Brethren of Purity ! " For this cause spake God to Moses, At the time he was asking aid in prayer, " Moses ! desire protection of me With a mouth that thou bast not sinned withal." Moses answered, " I possess not such a mouth." God said, " Call upon me with another mouth ! Act so that all thy mouths By night and by day may be raising prayers. When thou hast sinned with one mouth, With thy other mouth cry, ' Allah ! ' Or else cleanse thy own mouth, And make thy spirit alert and quick. Calling on God is pure, and when purity approaches, Impurity arises and takes its departure. Contraries flee away from contraries ; 1 Koran xxiii. no : "He will say, 'Rules for the call to prayer ' Be ye driven down into it, and are given in Mishka't ul Masibih, i. addressmenot.' 1 4 1 . ' ' H 1 1 4 THE MA SNA VI. [book III. When day dawns night takes flight. When the pure name (of God) enters the mouth, Neither does impurity nor that impure mouth remain ! " The man whose calling " Allah " was equivalent to God's ansivering him, "Here am I" 1 (p. 192). That person one night was crying, " Allah ! " That his mouth might be sweetened thereby, And Satan said to him^ " Be quiet, austere one ! How long wilt thou babble, man of many words ? No answer comes to thee from nigh the throne, How long wilt thou cry ' Allah ' with harsh face ? " That person was sad at heart and hung his head, And then beheld Khizr present before him in a vision, Who said to him, " Ah ! thou hast ceased to call on God, Wherefore repentest thou of calling upon Him ? " The man said, " The answer ' Here am I ' came not, Wherefore I fear that I am repulsed from the door." Khizr replied to him, " God has given me this command ; Go to him and say, ' much-tried one, Did not I engage thee to do my service ? Did not I engage thee to call upon me ? That calling ' Allah ' of thine was my ' Here am I,' And that pain and longing and ardour of thine my messenger ; Thy struggles and strivings for assistance Were my attractions, and originated thy prayer. Thy fear and thy love are the covert of my mercy, Each ' Lord ! ' of thine contains many ' Here am I's.' ' The soul of fools is alien from this calling on God, Because it is not their wont to cry, ' Lord ! ' On their mouths and hearts are locks and bonds, 2 That they may not cry to God in time of distress. God gave Pharaoh abundance of riches and wealth, 1 Or, "What dost thou require of me?" 2 Koran ii. 6. STORY II.] THE VILLAGER AND THE TOWNSMAN. 115 So that he boasted that he was ' Lord Supreme.' In the whole of his life he suffered no headache, So that he never cried to God, wretch that he was. God granted him the absolute dominion of the world, But withheld from him pain and sorrow and cares ; Because pain and sorrow and loads of cares Are the lot of God's friends in the world. Pain is better than the dominion of the world, So that thou mayest call on God in secret. The cries of those free from pain are dull and cold, The cries of the sorrowful come from the burning hearts." Story II. The Villager who invited the Townsman to visit him (p. 193). A certain villager paid a visit to the town, and there received hospitality from one of the townsmen. At his departure the villager was profuse of thanks, and pressed the townsman to come and see him in his village, and bring his family with him. The townsman hesitated long before accepting his invitation, having doubts as to his sincerity, and remembering the Hadis, " Caution consists in suspecting others." 1 But after ten years' solicitation he at length yielded, and set off with his family to the village. On his arrival the villager shut the door in his face, say- ing that he did not know him, and the townsman had to pass five nights in the cold and rain. At last, exhausted with suffering, he implored the villager to give him shelter, promising to render service in return. The villager granted it on condition that he would protect his garden from the wolves. The townsman accepted this condition, and taking bow and arrows, proceeded to patrol the garden, but, owing to the rain and the darkness, and his own fears, ended by shooting the villager's pet ass in mistake for a wolf. The villager abused him roundly, saying that he 1 Freytag, Arabum Proverbia, i. p. 370, ascribes this saying to the poet, Aqzam bin Zaid. 1 1 6 THE MA SNA VI. [book hi. himself would not have taken an ass for a wolf, even on the darkest night. The townsman replied, " If that be so, you are self-convicted of inhumanity, for you must have recognised me, your friend of ten years' standing, the moment I knocked at your door. As for me, I am igno- rant of all but Allah, and, moreover, was unable to see in the darkness ; and God has said, ' No criminality is im- puted to the blind.' 1 But your blindness in refusing to recognise me was wilful, and your claims to humanity are thus proved to be false by the test to which you have been submitted." Jesus healing the sick (p. 195). The house of Tsa was the banquet of men of heart, Ho ! afflicted one, quit not this door ! Prom all sides the people ever thronged, Many blind and lame, and halt and afflicted, To the door of the house of Tsa at dawn, That with his breath he might heal their ailments. As soon as he had finished his orisons, That holy one would come forth at the third hour ; He viewed those impotent folk, troop by troop, Sitting at his door in hope and expectation ; He spoke to them, saying, " stricken ones ! The desires of all of you have been granted by God ; Arise, walk without pain or affliction, Acknowledge the mercy and beneficence of God ! " Then all, as camels whose feet are shackled, When you loose their feet in the road, Straightway rush in joy and delight to the halting-place, So did they run upon their feet at his command. How many afflictions caused by thyself to thyself Hast thou escaped through these princes of the faith ? How long that lameness of thine was thy steed ! How seldom was thy soul void of sorrow and grief ! 1 Koran xxiv. 60. story II.] THE VILLAGER AND THE TOWNSMAN. 117 careless straggler, bind a rope upon thy feet, Lest thou lose even thine dwn self! But thy ingratitude and unthankfulness Forget the honey draught thou hast sipped. That road was perforce closed to thee When thou didst wound the hearts of the men of heart. Quick ! clasp them and ask pardon of them ; Like the clouds, shed tears of lamentation, So that their rose-garden may bloom for thee, And their ripe fruits burst open of themselves. Press around that door, be not viler than a dog, If thou wouldest rival the Seven Sleepers' dog. God's claims to our gratitude (p. 195). Whereas want of fidelity is shameful even in dogs, How can it be right in men ? God Almighty Himself makes boast of fidelity, Saying, " Who more faithful to his promise than We ? " : Know, infidelity is fidelity to God's adversary, No one has pre-eminence over the rights of God. The claims of a mother are less than God's, for He, That bounteous One, made her debtor for thy embryo. He gave thee a form whilst thou wast in her womb, In her womb He gave thee needful rest and nurture. He viewed her as a part united to thee, Then His wisdom separated that united part. God devised a thousand plans and arts, To make thy mother lavish aifection upon thee. Wherefore the claims of God predominate over the mother's, Whoso acknowledges not God's claims is a fool. He who made mother and breast and milk United mother to father also, — despise Him not ! Lord, Ancient of days, Thy mercies, Whether known to us or unknown, are all from Thee ! Thou hast commanded, saying, " Remember thy God," Because God's claims are never exhausted ! 1 Koran, ix. 112. n8 THE MA SNA VI. [book in. Since thou hast been led astray by faithless men, Turn now from thy evil doubts to the opposite mind. I am free from error and all faithlessness ; Thou must come to me and rescind evil doubts. Out off these evil doubts and cast them away, For in the presence of such thou becomest double. Therefore thou hast chosen harsh friends and companions ; If I ask where they are thou sayest they are gone. The good friend goes up to highest heaven, Evil friends sink beneath the bottom of the earth, Whilst thou art left alone in the midst, forlorn, Even as the fires left by the departed caravan." O brave friend, grasp His skirt, Who is removed alike from the world above and below ; Who neither, like Jesus, ascends to heaven, Nor, like Korah, sinks into the earth ; Who will abide with thee in the house and abroad When thou lackest house and home. He will bring forth peace out of perturbations, And when thou art afflicted will keep His promise. How false pretensions to sanctity are distinguished from true sanctity (p. 203). son, a hundred thousand tests await thee, Whoever thou art who sayest "lama prince of the gate," If the vulgar detect not such an one by tests, Yet the skilled wayfarers seek of him a sign. When a man makes pretension to be a tailor, The master places before him a piece of silk, Saying, " Cut out a large head-dress," And failure in the test leads him to the pillory. If all the evil men were not tested, Every catamite would through fraud pass for a Eustam. Suppose he wears the semblance of one clad in mail Yet when wounded he is at once taken captive. The God-intosicated are not sobered by old age, They remain beside themselves till the last trump. story ii.] THE VILLAGER AND THE TOWNSMAN. 119 The wine of God is true, and not false, But thou hast drunk only sour whey. Thou makest thyself out to be a Junaid or a Bayazid ; Go ! for do I not know a hatchet from a ploughshare ? plotter, how canst thou conceal by fraud Baseness, sloth, covetousness, and lust ? Thou holdest thyself out as a lover of God, But thou hast coquetted with the evil demon. The lover and the beloved on the last day Will be joined together and raised in sight of all. How foolish and silly thou hast made thyself ! Thou hast drunk blood of grapes, nay, my blood ! Go ! for I know thee not. Get away ! 1 am a lover beside himself, whose words are wild. Thou fanciest thyself near to God, Saying, " The maker of the dish is not far from the dish." Knowest thou not that the nearness of saints to God Involves the power to do mighty works and signs ? Iron was as wax in the hands of David, Wax in thy hands is as iron. God's nearness and His beneficence are common to all, But only eminent saints enjoy inspired love. Nearness is of various kinds, son, The sun shines alike on rocks and on gold. Yet the sun possesses a nearness to gold, Whereof the common willow has no cognisance. The dry branch and the green are alike near the sun, Does the sun veil himself from either ? Yet what is the nearness of that green branch, Wherefrom thou eatest ripe fruits ? But as for the dry branch, from its nearness to the sun, What does it but more quickly grow dry and sapless ? Be not intoxicated after the manner of this branch, Which, when it becomes sober, has cause for repentance, But, like those drunkards who, when they drink wine, Bear ripe fruits of wisdom of penitence. 120 THE MASNAVI. [book m Story III. The Jackal who pretended to be a Peacock (p. 204). A jackal fell into a dye-pit, and his skin was dyed of various colours. Proud of his splendid appearance, he returned to his companions, and desired them to address him as a peacock. But they proceeded to test his preten- sions, saying, " Dost thou scream like a peacock, or strut about gardens as peacocks are wont to do ? " And he was forced to admit that he did not, whereupon they rejected his pretensions. Another story, also on the subject of false pretenders, follows. A proud man who lacked food pro- cured a skin full of fat, greased his beard and lips with it, and called on his friends to observe how luxuriously he had dined. But his belly was vexed at this, because it was hungry, and he was destroying his chance of being invited to dinner by his friends. So the belly cried to God, and a cat came and carried off the skin of fat, and so the man's false pretences were exposed. The poet takes occasion to point out that Pharaoh's pretensions to divinity exactly resembled the pretensions of this jackal, and adds that all such false pretenders may be detected by the mark noted in the Koran, " Ye shall know them by the strangeness of their speech." x This recalls the story of Harut and Marut, two angels who were very severe on the frailties of man- kind, and whom God sent down upon the earth to be tempted, with the result that they both succumbed to the charms of the daughters of men. 2 Story IV. Moses and Pharaoh (p. 207). Then follows a long account of the birth of Moses, of Pharaoh's devices to kill him in his infancy, of bis educa- tion in Pharaoh's house, of his desiring Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go, and of his contest with the magicians 1 Koran xlvii. 32. s Koran ii. 96. story iv.J MOSES AND PHARAOH. 121 of Egypt, and his victory over them. In the course of the story the following anecdote is narrated : — A snake-catcher, who was following his occupation in the mountains, discovered a large snake frozen by the cold, and, imagining it to be dead, he tied it up and took it to Baghdad. There all the idlers of the city flocked together to see it, and the snake, thawed by the warmth of the sun, recovered life, and immediately destroyed the spectators. Comparison of fleshly lust to the snake (p. 213). Lust is that snake ; How say you it is dead ? It is only frozen by the pangs of hunger. If it obtains the state of Pharaoh, So as to command the (frozen) rivers to flow, Straightway it is led to pride like Pharaoh's, And it plunders the goods of many a Moses and Aaron. Through pressure of want this snake is as a fly, It becomes a gnat through wealth and rank and luxury. Beware, keep that snake in the frost of humiliation, Draw it not forth into the sunshine of 'Iraq ! So long as that snake is frozen, it is well ; When it finds release from frost you become its prey. Conquer it and save yourself from being conquered, Pity it not, it is not one who bears affection. For that warmth of the sun kindles its lust, And that bat of vileness flaps its wings. Slay it in sacred war and combat, Like a valiant man will God requite you with union. When that man cherished that snake, That stubborn brute was happy in the luxury of warmth ; And of necessity worked destruction, friend ; Yea, many more mischiefs than I have told. If you wish to keep that snake tied up Without trouble, be faithful, be faithful ! But how can base men attain this wish ? 122 THE MASNAVI. [book in. It requires a Moses to slay serpents ; And a hundred thousand men were slain by his serpent, In dire confusion, according to his purpose. Story V. The Elephant in a Dark Boom (p. 217). Some Hindoos were exhibiting an elephant in a dark room, and many people collected to see it. But as the place was too dark to permit them to see the elephant, they all felt it with their hands, to gain an idea of what it was like. One felt its trunk, and declared that the beast resembled a water-pipe ; another felt its ear, and said it must be a large fan ; another its leg, and thought it must be a pillar ; another felt its back, and declared the beast must be like a great throne. According to the part which each felt, he gave a different description of the animal. One, as it were, called it " Dal," and another " Alif." Comparison of the sensual eye to the hand of one that felt the elephant (p. 217). The eye of outward sense is as the palm of a hand, The whole of the object is not grasped in the palm. The sea itself is one thing, the foam another ; Neglect the foam, and regard the sea with your eyes. Waves of foam rise from the sea night and day, Tou look at the foam ripples and not the mighty sea. We, like boats, are tossed hither and thither, We are blind though we are on the bright ocean. Ah ! you who are asleep in the boat of the body, You see the water ; behold the Water of waters ! Under the water you see there is another Water moving it, Within the spirit is a Spirit that calls it. Where were Moses and Jesus when that Sun Showered down water on the fields sown with corn ? Where were Adam and Eve what time God Almighty fitted the string to His bow ? story v.] THE ELEPHANT IN A DARK ROOM. 123 The one form of speech is evil and defective; The other form, which is not defective, is perfect. If I speak thereof your feet stumble, Yet if I speak not of it, woe be to you ! And if I speak in terms of outward form, You stick fast in that same form, son. You are footbound like the grass in the ground, And your head is shaken by the wind uncertainly. Your foot stands not firmly till you move it, Nay, till you pluck it not up from the mire. When you pluck up your foot you escape from the mire, The way to this salvation is very difficult. When you obtain salvation at God's hands, wanderer, You are free from the mire, and go your way. When the suckling is weaned from its nurse, It eats strong meats and leaves the nurse. You are bound to the bosom of earth like seeds, Strive to be weaned through nutriment of the heart. Bat the words of wisdom, for veiled light Is not accepted in preference to unveiled light. When you have accepted the light, beloved, When you behold what is veiled without a veil, Like a star you will walk upon the heavens ; Nay, though not in heaven, you will walk on high. Keep silence, that you may hear Him speaking Words unutterable by tongue in speech. Keep silence, that you may hear from that Sun Things inexpressible in books and discourses. Keep silence, that the Spirit may speak to you ; Give up swimming and enter the ark of Noah ; Not like Canaan when he was swimming, Who said, " I desire not to enter the ark of Noah passing by-" 124 THE MA SNA VI. [book in. Noah and his unbelieving son Canaan (p. 218). Noah cried, " Ho ! child, come into the ark and rest, That you be not drowned in the flood, O weak one." x Canaan said, " Nay ! I have learned to swim, I have lit a torch of my own apart from thy torch." Noah replied, " Make not light of it, for 'tis the flood of destruction, Swimming with hands and feet avails naught to-day. The wind of wrath and the storm blow out torches ; Except the torch of God, all are extinguished." He answered, " Nay ! I am going to that high mountain, For that will save me from all harm." Noah cried, " Beware, do not so, mountains are now as grass ; Except the Friend none can save thee.'' He answered, " Why should I listen to thy advice ? For thou desirest to make me one of thy flock. Thy speech is by no means pleasing to me, I am free from thee in this world and the next." Thus the more good advice Noah gave him, The more stubborn refusals he returned. Neither was his father tired of advising Canaan, Nor did his advice make any impression on Canaan ; While they were yet talking a violent wave Smote Canaan's head, and he was overwhelmed. Reconciliation of the two traditions, " Acquiescence in in- fidelity is infidelity," and " Whoso acquiesces not in God's ordinance desires another Lord besides me" (p. 219). Yesterday an inquirer questioned me, Since he was interested in the foregoing narrative, Saying, " The Prophet, whose words are as a seal, 1 Koran xi. 44. story v.] THE ELEPHANT IN A DARK ROOM. 125 Said, ' Acquiescence in infidelity is infidelity.' And again, ' Acquiescence in God's ordinance Is incumbent on all true believers.' Infidelity and hypocrisy are not ordained of God ; If I acquiesce in them I am at variance with God. And yet, if I acquiesce not, that again is wrong ; What way of escape is there from this delemma ? " I said to him, " This infidelity is ordained, not ordinance, 1 Though this infidelity is the work of the ordinance. Therefore distinguish the ordinance from the ordained, That thy difficulty may be at once removed. I acquiesce in infidelity so far as it is God's ordinance, Not so far as it is our evil and foul passions. Infidelity qud ordinance is not infidelity, Call not God an infidel. Set not foot in this place. Infidelity is folly, ordained infidelity wisdom, How can mercy and vengeance be the same ? Ugliness of the picture is not ugliness of the painter, Not so, for he erases ugly pictures. The ability of the painter is shown in this, That he can paint both ugly and beautiful pictures. If I should pursue this argument properly, So that questions and answers should be prolonged, The unction of the mystery of love would escape me, The picture of obedience would become another picture." BevAlderment from intense love of God puts an end to all thinking and argument 2 (p. 219). A certain man whose hair was half grey came in haste To a barber who was a friend of his, Saying, " Pluck out the white hairs from my beard, For I have selected a young bride, my son. The barber cut off his beard and laid it before him, Saying, " Do you part them, the task is beyond me." 1 Or " decreed, not decree " (maqzi nai gam). I confess I do not under- stand the distinction. 2 See Gulshan i Kaz, 1. 287. 126 THE MA SNA VI. [book lit Questions are white and answers black ; do you choose, For the man of faith knows not how to choose. Thus, one smote Zaid a blow, And Zaid attacked him for his treachery. The striker said, " Let me first ask you a question, Give me an answer to it and then strike me ; I struck your back and a bruise appeared, Now I ask you a question in all kindliness, Did this bruise proceed from my hand, Or from the smitten part of your back, complainer ? " Zaid replied, " Through pain I am not in a condition To enter upon thought and consideration of this. You, who are free from pain, think this out ; Such trifling thoughts occur not to a man in pain." [Men in pain have no time for other thoughts, Whether you enter mosque or Christian church. Your carelessness and injustice suggest thoughts And unprecedented difficulties to your imagination. The man in pain cares only for the faith, He is aware only of man and his work. He set's God's command upon his head and face, And for thinking, he puts it aside. 1 ] Stoky VI. The Lover who read Sonnets to his Mistress (p. 220). A lover was once admitted to the presence of his mistress, but, instead of embracing her, he pulled out a paper of sonnets and read them to her, describing her perfections and charms and his own love towards her at length. His mistress said to him, " You are now in my presence, and these lover's sighs and invocations are a waste of time. It is not the part of a true lover to waste his time in this way. It shows that I am not the real object of your affection, but that what you really love is your own effusions and ecstatic raptures. I see, as it were, 1 The four last couplets are omitted in the Bulaq edition. story vi.] THE LOVER AND HIS MISTRESS. 127 the water which I have longed for before me, and yet you withhold it. I am, as it were, in Bulgaria, and the object of your love is in Cathay. One who is really loved is the single object of her lover, the Alpha and Omega of his desires. As for you, you are wrapped up in your own amorous raptures, depending on the varying states of your own feelings, instead of being wrapped up in me." The true mystic must not stop at mere subjective religious emotions, but seek absolute union with God (p. 220). 1 Whoso is restricted to religious raptures is but a man ; Sometimes his rapture is excessive, sometimes deficient. The Sufi is, as it were, the " son of the season," But the pure (Sdfi) is exalted above season and state. Beligious raptures depend on feelings and will, But the pure one is regenerated by the breath of Jesus. You are a lover of your own raptures, not of me ; You turn to me only in hope of experiencing raptures. Whoso is now defective, now perfect, Is not adored by Abraham ; he is " one that sets." Because the stars set, and are now up, now down, He loved them not ; "I love not them that set." 2 Whoso is now pleasing and now unpleasing Is at one time water, at another fire. He may be the house of the moon, but not the true moon ; Or as the picture of a mistress, but not the living one. The mere Sufi is the " child of the season ; " He clings to seasons as to a father, But the pure one is drowned in overwhelming love. A child of any one is never free from season and state. The pure one is drowned in the light "that is not be- gotten," " What begets not and is not begotten " is God. 3 Go ! seek such love as this, if you are alive ; 1 See Gulshan i Kaz, 1. 850. 2 Koran vi. 77, 3 Koran oxii. 3. i 2 8 THE MASNAVI. [book hi. If not, you are enslaved by varying seasons. Gaze not on your own pictures, fair or ugly, Gaze on your love and the object of your desire. Gaze not at the sight of your own weakness or vileness, Gaze at object of your desire, exalted one. Story VII. The Man who prayed earnestly to he fed without work (p. 221). In the time of the prophet David there was a man who used to pray day and night, saying, " Thou hast created me weak and helpless ; give me my daily bread without obliging me to work for it." The people derided him for making such a foolish petition, but he still persisted, and at last a cow ran into his house of its own accord, and he killed and ate it. This illustrates the saying of the Prophet that God loves earnest petitioners, because He regards the sincerity of the prayer more than the nature of the thing prayed for. All things praise God, but the praises of inanimate things are different from the praises of men, and those of a Sunni different from those of a Compulsionist {Jabri). Each says the other is in the way of error, but none but the truly spiritual man knows the truth. Knowledge or conviction opposed to opinion (p. 223). Little is known by any one but the spiritual man, Who has in his heart a touchstone of vital truth. The others, hovering between two opinions, Ply towards their nest on a single wing. Knowledge has two wings, opinion only one wing ; Opinion is weak and lopsided in its flight. The bird having but one wing quickly drops down, And again flies on two steps or more. This bird of opinion goes on rising and falling On one wing, in hope to reach his nest. story viii.] THE BOYS AND THEIR TEACHER. 129 When he escapes from opinion and knowledge is seen, This bird gains two wings and spreads both of them. Afterwards he " goes upright on a straight path, Not grovelling on his face or creeping." 1 He flies up on two wings even as the angel Gabriel, Free of opinion, of duplicity, and of vain talk. >- Though the whole world say to him, " Thou art firm in the road of God's faith," He is not made more ardent by their saying this, Nor is his lofty soul inclined from its course. And though all say to him, " Thou art in the wrong way, Thou thinkest thyself a rock who art but a blade of grass," He relapses not into opinion at their rebukes, Nor is he vexed at their malevolence. Nay, even if sea and mountains should cry out, Saying, " Thou art mated with error," He would not relapse one jot into vain imaginations, Nor would he be grieved by the reproaches of his foes. Story VIII. The Boys and their Teacher (p. 223). To illustrate the force of imagination or opinion, a story is told of a trick played by boys upon their master. The boys wished to obtain a holiday, and the sharpest of them suggested that when the master came into the school each boy should condole with him on his alleged sickly appear- ance. Accordingly, when he entered, one said, " master, how pale you are looking ! " and another said, " You are looking very ill to-day," and so on. The master at first answered that there was nothing the matter with him, but as one boy after another continued assuring him that he looked very ill, he was at length deluded into imagining that he must really be ill. So he returned to his house, making the boys follow him there, and told his wife that he was not well, bidding her mark how pale he was. His wife assured him he was not looking pale, and offered to 1 Koran lxvii. 22. i 3 o THE MA SNA VI. [book in. convince him by bringing a mirror ; but he refused to look at it, and took to his bed. He then ordered the boys to begin their lessons ; but they assured him that the noise made his head ache, and he believed them, and dismissed them to their homes, to the annoyance of their mothers. - ! Apro- pos of the sharpness of the boy who devised this trick, the poet takes occasion to controvert the opinion of the Mu'tazalites, that all men are born with equal ability, and to express his agreement with the doctrine of the Sunnis, •^that the innate capacities of men vary very greatly. Story IX. The Darvesh who Broke his Vow (p. 225). There was once a Darvesh who took up his abode in the mountains, in order to enjoy perfect solitude. In that place were many fruit-trees, and the Darvesh made a vow that he would never pluck any of the fruit, but eat only what was shaken down by the wind. For a long time he kept his vow ; but a time came when there was no wind, and consequently no fruit was shaken down. The Darvesh was true to his vow for five days, but he could then endure the pangs of hunger no longer, and he stretched out his hand and plucked some of the fruit from the branches. The reason of this lapse on his part was that he had omitted to say " If God will " when making his vow ; and as nothing can be accomplished without God's aid, he could not possibly keep his vow. Shortly afterwards the chief of the police visited the mountains in pursuit of a band of robbers, and arrested the Darvesh along with them, and cut off his hand. When he discovered his mistake he apologised very earnestly ; but the Darvesh reassured him, saying that men were not to blame, as God had evidently designed to punish him for breaking his vow by depriving him of the hand which had sinned in plucking the fruit. 1 1 Cp. Cranmer. story ix.] THE DARVESH WHO BROKE HIS VOW. 131 All things dependent upon the will of God (p. 226). Therefore hath God commanded, " Make an exception, Couple the words ' If God will ' with your vows. 1 Because the governance of actions is in my hands, The wills of all are subject to my will. Every moment I impart a fresh bias to the heart, Every instant I set a fresh mark on the heart ; Each day I am engaged in a fresh work, 2 There is naught that swerves from my purpose." There is a tradition, " The heart is like a feather In the desert, which is borne captive by the winds ; 3 The wind drives it everywhere at random, Now to right and now to left in opposite directions." According to another tradition, know the heart is like To water in a kettle boiling on the fire. So every moment a fresh purpose occurs to the heart, Not proceeding from itself, but from its situation. Why, then, are you confident about the heart's purposes ? Why make you vows only to be covered with shame ? All these changes proceed from the effect of God's will ; Although you see the pit, you cannot avoid it. The strange thing is, not that winged fowl Pall into the deadly snare without seeing it, But that they see the snare and the limed twig, And yet fall into it, whether they will or no ; Their eyes and ears are open and the snare is in front, Yet they fly into the snare with their own wings ! Comparison of the divine decrees to something that is hidden, yet whose effects are seen (p. 226). Behold that king's son clad in rags, With bare head and fallen into distress ; Consumed by lusts and riotous living, 1 Koran xviii. 23. a Freytag, Arabum Proverbia, vol. 2 Koran lv. 29 ; cp. John v. 17. iii. p. 49°- 1 32 THE MASNAVI. [book in. Having sold all his clothes and substance ; Having lost house and home, utterly disgraced, Fulfilling the desire of his enemies by his disgrace. If he sees a pious man he cries, " sir, Aid me, for the love of God ; For I have fallen into this dire disgrace ; I have squandered goods and gold and wealth. Aid me so that perchance I may escape hence, And extricate myself from this deep slough." He repeats this prayer to high and low, " Release me, release me, release me ! " His eyes and ears are open, and he is free from bonds, No jailer watches him, no chain binds him ; What, then, is the bond from which he asks release ? What is the prison from which he seeks an exit ? "lis the bond of God's purpose and hidden decrees ; Ah ! none but the pure in sight can see that bond ; Though not visible, that bond exists in concealment ; 'Tis more stringent than prison or chains of iron, For the mason can pull down prison walls, And blacksmiths can break asunder iron chains ; But, strange to say, this ponderous hidden bond, — Blacksmiths are impotent to break this asunder ! Ahmad alone could see that bond on Omm Jahil's back, 1 And the rope of palm fibre bound upon her neck ; Yea, he saw wood on the back of the wife of Bu Lahab, And she, the bearer of the firewood, said it was heavy. No eye but his saw that rope and that firewood, For to him things unseen were visible. The others explained it, saying That Ahmad was beside himself, and they in their senses. Nevertheless from the weight of the load her back bent, And she complained of its weight before him, 1 See Koran oxi. : Abu Lahab, at hammad declared that they should the instigation of his wife, Omm be " burned in the fiery flame," and Jahil, rejected Muhammad's claim the wife " laden with firewood, and to the prophetic office, and Mu- on her neck a rope -of palm fibre." story x.] THE OLD MAN AND HIS SONS. 133 Saying, " Aid me to escape from this load, And to shake off this grievous burden." He who sees clearly these indications, Does he not know also the doomed from the elect ? Tea, he knows them, yet conceals it by command of God, Since God permits him not to reveal it. Story X. The Old Man who made no Lamentation at the Death of his Sons (p. 229). After short anecdotes of Pharaoh's magicians, of the mule who complained to the camel that he was always stumbling, and of the prophet Ezra, comes the story of the old man who wept not for the death of his sons. An old man who was noted for sanctity, and who realised the saying of the Prophet, " The 'ulama of the faith are as the prophets of Israel," lost all his sons, but showed no grief or regret. His wife therefore rebuked him for his want of feeling, whereupon he replied to her as follows : — He turned to his wife and said, " dame, The harvest of December is not as that of July ; Though they be dead or though they be living, Are they not equally visible to the eyes of the heart ? I behold them clearly before me, Wherefore should I disfigure my countenance like you ? Though they have gone forth by revolution of fortune, They are with me still, playing round me. The cause of lamentation is separation or parting, But I am still with my dear ones, and embrace them. Ordinary people may see them in dreams, But I see them clearly, though wide awake. I conceal myself a while from this world, I shake down the leaves of outward sense from the tree. Know, wife, outward sense is captive to reason, And reason, again, is captive to spirit. 134 THE MA SNA VI. [book in. Spirit unlooses the chained hands of reason ; Tea, it opens all things that are closed. Sensations and thoughts resemble weeds Which occupy the surface of pure water. The hand of reason puts these weeds aside, And the pure water is then visible to the wise. "Weeds in plenty cover the stream like bubbles ; When they are swept aside, the water is seen ; But when God unlooses not the hands of reason, The weeds on our water grow thick through carnal lust ; Yea, they cover up your water more and more, While your lust is smiling and your reason weeping. When fear of God binds the hands of lust, Then God unlooses the two hands of reason. Then the powerful senses are subdued by you, When you submit to reason as your commander. Then your sleepless sense is lulled into sleep, That mysteries may appear to the soul. You behold visions when broad awake, And the gates of heaven are open before you." Story XL Bahlol and the Darvesh (p. 232.) The foregoing story is followed by anecdotes of a blind saint who was miraculously enabled to read the Koran, of Luqman and David, and a description of the saints who, mindful of the saying, " Patience is the key of happiness," resign themselves to the dispensations of Providence, and never pray to have them altered. The story of Bahlol and the Darvesh is then given as an example of this resignation to the will of God. Bahlol once paid a visit to a saintly Darvesh, and asked him how he fared. The Darvesh replied, " I fare like a man who directs the course of the world as he wills, to whom death and life are subservient, and whom the stars themselves obey." Bahlol then pressed him to explain his meaning more clearly ; and the Darvesh replied as follows : — story xi.] BAHLOL AND THE DARVESH. 135 He said, " This at least is notorious to all men, That the world obeys the command of God. Not a leaf falls from a tree Without the decree and command of that Lord of lords ; Not a morsel goes from the mouth down the throat Till God says to it, ' Go down.' Desire and appetite, which are the reins of mankind, Are themselves subservient to the rule of God. Hear this much, that, whereas the totality of actions Is not effected without God's direction, When the decree of God becomes the pleasure of man, Then man desires the fulfilment of God's decrees ; And this too spontaneously, not in hope of reward, But because his very nature is congruous therewith. He desires not even his own life for himself, Nor is he relying on the hope of sweets of life to come. Whatever path is taken by the eternal decree, Whether it be life or death, 'tis all one to him. He lives for the sake of God, not for wealth ; He dies for the sake of God, not in fear and grief. His faith is based on his desire to do God's will, Not on hope to gain paradise with its groves and founts. His avoidance of infidelity is also for God's sake, It proceeds not from fear of falling into the fire. Thus this temper of his arises from his very nature, Not from any discipline and endeavour of his own. At times he laughs when he contemplates God's pleasure, God's decrees are to him as sweetmeats of sugar. I ask, does not the world march agreeably to the will And commands of a man rejoicing in this disposition ? Why, then, should such an one make prayers and petitions, Saying, ' God, change such and such a decree ? ' His own death and his children's deaths For God's sake seem to him as sweets in the mouth. In the view of that faithful one his children's deaths Are as sweetmeats to a starving beggar. 1 36 THE MA SNA VI. [book in. Why, therefore, should he make prayers Unless he pray for what is pleasing to God ? These prayers and petitions, not those of self-pity Make that man to be endued with salvation. He utterly burned up all his self-pity, At the time when he lit the lamp of love to God. His love was the hell that burned up his inclinations ; Yea, he burned up his own inclinations one by one." Story XII. The Visions seen by the Saint Daquqi (p. 232). To illustrate the exalted state of identification of the will with the Divine will just described, the poet tells the story of the visions and mighty works of the holy Daquqi. Daquqi was journeying in pious fervour, and in hope to see the splendour of " The Friend " in human shape, the Ocean in a drop of water, and the Sun in an atom, when late one evening he arrived at the sea-shore. Turning his eyes to heaven, he saw seven great lights never before seen of men, for " God directs whom He will." 1 Overwhelmed with awe, he watched these lights, and while he still watched them they united into one light. Still more amazed, he watched on, and the single light shortly assumed the likeness of seven men. Afterwards these seven men changed into seven trees ; but, strange to say, although crowds of people were passing by, none of them could see these trees, so that Daquqi shared the feelings of the apostles " who lost all hope " (of convincing the world), " and deemed that they were reckoned as liars." 2 Possess- ing his soul in patience, Daquqi still watched on, and saw the seven trees bowing down in prayer, and was reminded of the text, " Plants and trees bend in adoration." 8 Pre- sently the seven trees again changed into seven men, and Daquqi was appointed to conduct their devotions. While he was yet acting as Imam in front of them, and they were following the prayers he recited, a ship was seen in great 1 Koran ii. 136. 2 Koran xii. no. 3 Koran Iv. 5. story xil] THE VISIONS SEEN BY DAQUQI. 137 distress and all but lost. At Daqiiqi's earnest prayer the crew were saved, but straightway vanished from sight ; and this led his followers to doubt the reality of the miracle which had just been performed before their eyes. Description of a saint ivhose will was identified with God's will (p. 232). That Daqiiqi possessed a sweet aspect, As a lover of God and a worker of miracles. He resembled the moon of heaven come down on earth, He was as a light to them that walked in darkness. He rarely tarried in one place, And seldom stayed two days in one village. He said, " If I tarry in one house two days, Attachment to that house becomes a passion with me. I guard myself from being deceived into loving a home ; Up ! Soul, and travel in search of eternal wealth. My heart's inclination is not satisfied by houses, So that they should be places of temptation for me." Thus by day he travelled, and by night prayed, His eyes were always gazing on the King as a falcon's ; Cut off from mankind, though not for any fault, Severed from men and women, though not for baseness ; Having compassion on mankind, and wholesome as water, A kind intercessor, and one whose prayers were heard. Benevolent to the good and the bad, and a firm ally, Better than a mother, and kinder than a father. The Prophet said, " To you, blessed ones, I am as a father, affectionate and indulgent ; For this cause, that you are all portions of me." Wherefore should you tear away the parts from the whole ? If the part be severed from its whole it is useless ; If a limb be rent from the body it dies. Till it is again joined to its whole, 'Tis a dead thing, and a stranger to life. 138 THE MA SNA VI. [book in. Tims Daqiiqi, in devotions and praises and prayers, Was ever seeking the particular favourites of God. Throughout his long journeyings his object was this, To interchange a word with the favourites of God. He cried continually as he went his way, " Lord, let me draw near to Thy chosen ones ! " So Daqiiqi (the mercy of God be upon him !) Said, "I journeyed long time to East and to West, I journeyed years and months for love of that Moon, Heedless of the way, absorbed in God. With bare feet I trod upon thorns and flints, Seeing I was bewildered, and beside myself, and senseless. Think not my feet touched the earth, For the lover verily travels with the heart. What knows the heart of road and stages ? What of distant and near, while it is drunk with love ? Distance and nearness are attributes of bodies, The journeyings of spirits are after another sort. You journeyed from the embryo state to rationality Without footsteps or stages or change of place, The journey of the soul involves not time and place. And my body learnt from the soul its mode of journeying, Now my body has renounced the bodily mode of journeying ; It journeys secretly and without form, though under a form." He added, " One day I was thus filled with longing To behold in human form the splendours of ' The Friend,' To witness the Ocean gathered up into a drop, The Sun compressed into a single atom ; And when I drew near to the shore of the sea The day was drawing to a close." story VII.] THE MAN WHO PRAYED TO BE FED. 139 All religions are in svhstance one and the same (p. 237). In the adorations and benedictions of righteous men The praises of all the prophets are kneaded together. All their praises are mingled into one stream, All the vessels are emptied into one ewer. Because He that is praised is, in fact, only One, In this respect all religions are only one religion. Because all praises are directed towards God's light, Their various forms and figures are borrowed from it. Men never address praises but to One deemed worthy, They err only through mistaken opinions of Him. So, when a light falls upon a wall, That wall is a connecting-link between all its beams ; Yet when it casts that reflection back to its source, It wrongly shows great as small, and halts in its praises. Or if the moon be reflected in a well, And one looks down the well, and mistakenly praises it, In reality he is intending to praise the moon, Although, through ignorance, he is looking down the well. The object of his praises is the moon, not its reflection ; His infidelity arises from mistake of the circumstances. That well-meaning man goes wrong through his mistake ; The moon is in heaven, and he fancies it in the well. By these false idols mankind are perplexed, And driven by vain lusts to their sorrow. Story "VII. (continued). The Man in the time of the Prophet David who prayed to oe fed without having to work for his food (p. 241). After the petitioner had slain and eaten the cow, the owner of the cow came up and accused him of theft, and seizing him by the collar, dragged him before the judgment- seat of the prophet David. When he had stated his case, David ordered the accused to make restitution, telling him 140 THE MA SNA VI. [book in. that lie must not break the law. At this order the accused redoubled his cries, telling David that he was siding with an oppressor. David was staggered at the man's assurance, and finally resolved to take further time for consideration before deciding the case. After private meditation he re- versed his former sentence, and directed the plaintiff to relinquish his claim. On the plaintiff refusing to do this, and stoutly protesting against David's injustice, David further ordered that all the plaintiff's goods should be given to the accused. The reason for this decision was, that David discovered the plaintiff had formerly slain the grandfather of the accused, and stolen all his goods. David then led all the Musulmans to a tree in the desert where the murder had been perpetrated, and there put the murderer to death. The hands and feet of criminals betray their crime s even in this world (p. 244). He of himself lifted the veil that hid his crime ; Had he not done so, God would have kept it hidden. Criminals and sinners, even in the course of sinning, Themselves rend the coverings of their crimes. Their sins are veiled among the heart's secrets, Yet the criminal himself exposes them to view Saying, " Behold me wearing a pair of horns, A cow of hell in sight of all men." Thus, even here, in the midst of thy sin, thy hand and foot Bear witness of the secrets of thy heart. Thy secret thought is as a governor who says to thee, " Tell forth thy convictions, withhold them not ; " Especially in seasons of passion and angry talk It betrays thy secrets one by one. Thy secret sins and crimes govern hand and foot, Saying, " Disclose us to men, hand and foot ! " And since these witnesses take the bit in their mouths Especially in times of passion and wrath and revenge story vn.] THE MAN WHO PRAYED TO BE FED. 141 Therefore the same God who appointed this governor To blazen forth thy secret sins to the world Is also able to create many more governors To divulge thy secret sins on the day of judgment. 1 man whose only handiwork is crime and sin, Thy secret sins are manifest ; no divulging is needed. There is no need to proclaim thy sins, All men are cognisant of thy sin-burnt heart. Thy soul every moment casts up sparks of fire, Which say, " See me a man destined to the fire ; I am a part of the fire, and go to join my whole ; Not a light, so that I should join the Source of light." Comparison of lust to the murderer in the story (p. 245). Kill thine own lust and give life to the world ; It has killed its lord, reduce it to servitude. That claimant of the cow is thy lust ; Beware ! It has made itself lord and master. That slayer of the cow is thy reason ; Go ! Be not obdurate to the prayers of him that kills the cow. Beason is a poor captive, and ever cries to God For meat on its dish without labouring and toiling. On what depends its getting meat without toiling ? On its killing the cow of the body, the source of evil. Lust says, " Why hast thou killed my cow ? " It says, " Because lust's cow is the form of the body." 2 Beason, the Lord's child, has become a pauper, Lust, the murderer, has become a lord and chief. Know'st thou what is meat untoiled for ? 'Tis the food of spirits and the aliment of the Prophet. But it is attainable only by slaying the cow ; Treasure is gained by digging, digger of treasure ! 1 " On that day shall their hands 2 Bahau-'d-Din Amili, in his Nan speak unto us, and their feet shall wa Halwa, -.chap, iv., compares lust bear witness of that which they to a cow, referring to Koran 11. 63. have done " (Koran xxxvi. 65). 1 42 THE MASNAVI. [book in. Stoey XIII. The People of Saba (p. 247). After an anecdote of 'Isa being obliged to ascend a mountain to get away from the fools comes the story of the men of Saba. " A sign there was to Saba in their dwelling-places — two gardens, the one on the right hand and the other on the left ; — ' Eat ye of your Lord's supplies, and give thanks to Him ; goodly is the country and gracious is the Lord.' But they turned aside, so we sent upon them the flood of Iram. Such was our retribu- tion on them for their ingratitude." 1 The men of Saba were all fools, and brought destruction on themselves by their ingratitude to God One was far-sighted, and yet blind ; another sharp of hearing, and yet deaf; and a third naked, and yet wearing a long robe. Avarice is blind to its own faults, but sees those of others ; the sharp-eared deaf man hears death approaching others, but not himself, and the long-robed naked man is he who fears robbers, though he has nothing to lose. In fact, all these men of Saba were afflicted with follies and self-delusions of this kind, and gave no thanks to God for the blessings which they enjoyed. Accordingly thirteen prophets were sent to admonish them, but their admonitions were not listened to, the men of Saba questioning their divine mission and demanding a miracle as a sign. They also told the prophets a parable of a clever hare, who, wishing to frighten an elephant away from a fountain, went to the elephant, pretending to be an ambassador from the moon. 2 The prophets were naturally indignant at the effrontery of the men of Saba in misapplying parables to discredit their divine mission, and reminded them that wicked men had flouted the prophet Noah in the same way when he was warning them of the flood. And they demonstrated at length how the men of Saba had misapplied the parable of the hare and the elephant, and again adjured them to 1 Koran xxxiv. 14. 2 Auvar i Suhaili, chap. iv. Story IV. story xm.] THE PEOPLE OF SABA. 143 believe. But the men of Saba continued refractory, and would not accept the Prophets' counsels. They plied the prophets with the arguments of the Compulsionists (Jabriydn), and refused to be convinced of the fallacy of their reasoning. So at last the prophets despaired of them, and left them to their doom. Not every one can properly use similitudes and parables in divine matters (p. 252). The faculty of using similitudes is peculiar to a saint Who is signally marked by knowledge of hidden mysteries. What know you of the mystery hid in aught, that you In your folly should use similitudes of curl and cheek ? Moses took his staff to be a stick, though it was not ; It was a serpent, and its mystery was revealed. If a saint such as he knew not the mystery of a stick, What know you of the mystery of the snare and grains ? When the eye of a Moses erred as to a similitude, How can a presumptuous mouse understand one ? Those similitudes of yours are changed into serpents To tear you into pieces with their jaws. Such a parable did cursed Iblis use, So that he became cursed of God till the day of doom. Such a parable did Korah use in his argument, So that he was swallowed up in the earth with his wealth. Such parables know to be as crows and owls, Whereby a hundred households are annihilated. When Noah was building the ark in the desert, A hundred parable-mongers attacked him with irony, Saying, " In the desert, where is no water or well, He builds a boat ! What ignorant folly is this ! " i 4 4 THE MASNA VI. [book hi. The arguments of the Jabriydn, i.e., the Fatalists or Comvulsionists (p. 255)- The men of Saba said, " preachers, enough ! What you say is enough, if there are any wise here. God has placed a ' lock upon our hearts,' ; And no man can overcome the Creator. That great Painter has painted us thus ; His painting cannot be altered by argument. Keep telling for ever a stone to become a ruby, Keep telling for ever the old to become young ! Tell earth to assume the quality of water, Bid water to become honey or milk ! God is the creator of heaven and them that dwell therein ; Also of water and of earth, and them that dwell therein ; To heaven He gave its revolutions and its purity, To the earth its dark look and appearance. Can the heaven will to become as dregs ? Can earth will to assume the clearness of pure wine ? That Person has assigned to each its lot, Can mountain by endeavour become as grass ? " The prophets answered, " Verily God has created Some qualities in you which you cannot alter ; But He has created other accidental qualities, Which, being objectionable, may be made good. Bid stone become gold — that is impossible ; Bid copper become gold — that is possible. Bid sand bloom as a rose — it cannot ; Bid dust turn to mud — that is within its capacity. God has sent some pains for which there is no cure, Such, for instance, as lameness, loss of nose, and blindness. God has sent other pains for which there are cures, To wit, crooked mouth and headache. God has ordained these remedies of His mercy ; The use of these in pain and anguish is not in vain. 1 Koran xxxvi, 6. STORY xiil] THE PEOPLE OF SABA. 145 Nay, the majority of pains may be cured ; When you seek those cures earnestly you find them." The men of Saba replied, " men, these pains of ours Are not of the sort that admit of cure. Long time ye utter these presages and warnings, But our bonds are made thereby heavier every moment. If our sickness admitted of a cure, It would certainly have been lessened by your spells. When the body is obstructed water reaches not the liver, Though one drinks the ocean, it passes elsewhere. Then of course the hands and feet become dropsical, And yet that draught does not quench his thirst." The prophets replied, " To despair is wrong, The mercy and grace of God are boundless. One must not despair of the grace of such a Benefactor, One must cling to the stirrup-straps of God. Ah ! many are the conditions which at first are hard, But are afterwards relieved and lose their harshness. Oftentimes hope succeeds to hopelessness, Many times does sunlight succeed to darkness. We admit that ye are weighted as with stones, And that ye have locks upon your ears and your hearts. 1 No condition of ours is altogether as we wish, Our business is to be resigned and to obey. God has enjoined this servitude upon us ; We say not this merely on our own authority. We enjoy life on condition of doing His will ; If He bids us, we sow our seed upon the sand. The soul of the prophet cares for naught but God, It has naught to do with approving or disapproving His works." The men of Saba replied, " If ye yourselves are happy, Ye make us miserable and annoy and disturb us. Our souls were void of all anxieties, And ye have plunged us into cares and anxieties. 1 Koran Ixi. 5 : " God led their hearts astray." K i 4 6 THE MA SNA VI. [book in. The comfort and harmony which we enjoyed heretofore Have been rent in pieces by your evil presages. We used to be as parrots munching sugar, Ye have made us as fowls brooding on death. On every side stories inspiring anxiety, On every side sounds exciting fears : On every side in the world an evil presage, On every side evil portents threatening punishment : — This is the burden of your parables and presages, This the purport of your awe-inspiring stories." The prophets replied, " Our evil presages Are corroborated by the state of your souls. Suppose you are sleeping in a place of danger, And serpents are drawing near to bite your heads, A kind friend will inform you of your danger, Saying, ' Jump up, lest the serpent devour you.' You reply, ' Why do you utter evil presages ? ' He answers, ' What presage ? Up, and see for yourself ! By means of this evil presage I rouse you, And release you from danger and lead you to your home.' Like a prophet he warns you of hidden danger, For a prophet sees what worldlings cannot see." Mercy inclines the good to devotion, but vengeance the bad (P- 257)- If you do a kindness to a generous man, 'tis fitting, For each kindness he will return seven hundredfold. When you treat a base man with scorn and contumely, He will become your slave in all sincerity. Infidels when enjoying prosperity do wrong, When they are in hell they cry, " our Lord ! " For base men are purified when they suffer evil, And when they enjoy prosperity they do evil. Wherefore the mosque of their devotion is hell, As the snare is the fetter of wild fowl. The prison is the hermitage of the wicked thief. story an.]- THE PEOPLE OF SABA. H7 For when he is there he is ever crying to God. Whereas the object of man's being is to worship God, Hell is ordained as a place of worship for the proud. 1 Man has the power to engage in any actions soever, But worship of God is the main object of his existence. Read.the text, 2 " I have not created Jinns and men but to worship me." The only object of the world is to worship God. Though the object of a book is to teach an art, If you make a pillow of it, it serves that purpose too. Yet its main object is not to serve as a pillow, But to impart knowledge and useful instruction. If you use a sword for a tent-peg, You prefer the worse use of it to the better. Though the object of all men's being is wisdom, Yet each man has a different place of worship. The place of worship of the noble is nobility, The place of worship of the base is degradation. Smite the base to make them bow the head, Give to the noble to make them repay liberally. Inasmuch as the base are evil and arrogant, Hell and humbling are the " small gate ' : for them. Verily God has created two places of adoration, Hell for the base and increased bliss for the noble. Even so Moses made a small gate in Jerusalem, 3 To make the Israelites bow the head in entering it. The discussion is continued and illustrated by anecdotes of the Sufi who preferred a table with no food upon it, because he ever sought " not-being," of Jacob's vision of Joseph, and of a devout slave who obtained leave of his master to say his prayers in a mosque, but tarried there so long that- the doors were shut, and he could not get out, nor his master in. The prophets at last despaired of making any impression upon the unbelievers, but called to 1 God said, " Come ye either in 2 Koran li. 56. obedience, or in spite of your wishes " 3 See Koran ii. 55, with Sale's (Koran xli. 10). note. i 4 8 THE MA SNA VI. [book in. mind the text " When at last the Apostles lost all hope, and deemed that they were reckoned as liars, our aid reached them, and we delivered whom we would, but our vengeance was not averted from the wicked." x The despair of the prophets (p. 259). The prophets said, " How long, in our benevolence, Shall we give to this and that one good advice ? How long shall we hammer cold iron in vain ? How long waste breath in blowing into a lattice ? Men are moved by God's decree and fixed ordinance,' 2 As sharp-set teeth are caused by heat of belly. 'Tis Primal Soul that dominates the Second Soul, 3 Fish begins to stink at the head, not the tail. Yet be advised and keep your steed straight as an arrow, When God says ' Proclaim ' we must obey. 4 men, ye know not to which party ye belong, 5 Exert yourselves then, till ye see which ye are. When you place goods upon a ship, You do it in trust that the voyage will be prosperous ; You know not which of the two events will befall you, Whether you will be drowned or come safe to land. If you say, ' Till I know which will be my fate 1 will not set foot upon the ship ; Shall I be drowned on the voyage or a survivor ? Reveal to me in which class I shall be. I shall not undertake the voyage on the chance — On the bare hope of reaching land, as the rest do.' In that case no trade at all will be undertaken by you, As the secret of these two events is always hidden. The lamp of the heart, that is a timid trader, 1 Koran xii. 11. produced the second or "Universal 1 "All things have we created Soul." after a fixed decree, ' " Apostle ! proclaim all that Every action great and small hath been sent down " (Koran v. 71). is written." » " Which party," i.e., those —Koran liv. 49. doomed to be saved or those doomed The Logos or first Emanation to destruction. story xiil.] THE PEOPLE OF SABA. 149 Acquires neither loss nor gain by its ventures. 1 Nay, it acquires loss, for it is precluded from gain ; 'Tis the lamp that takes fire that acquires light. Since all things are dependent on probability, Religion is so first of all, for thereby you find release. In this world no knocking at the door is possible Save hope, and God knows what is best." Probability the guide of life in religion as well as in common matters. " Religion dependent on hope and fear" 2 (-p. 259). The final cause of trading is hope or probability, When traders work themselves lean as spindles. 3 When the merchant goes to his shop in the morning, He does so in hope and probability of gaining bread. If you have no hope of getting bread, why go ? There is the fear of loss, since you are not strong. But does not this fear of utter loss in your trade Become weakened in the course of your exertions ? You say, " Although the fear of loss is before me, Yet I feel greater fear in remaining idle. I have a better hope through exerting myself; My fear is increased by remaining idle." Why then, faint-hearted one, in the matter of religion Are you paralysed by the fear of loss ? See you not how the traders in this market of ours Make large profits, both apostles and saints ? What a mine of wealth awaits them on leaving it, Seeing they make such profits while still here ! Fire is soft to them as cotton raiment, The ocean bears them gently like a porter ; Iron in their hands is soft as wax, The winds are their obedient slaves. 1 " Nothing shall be reckoned to a 2 So Sa'di Bostan, Book I. Cp. man save that for which he hath Butler's Analogy, Conclusion, made effort " (Koran liii. 40). 3 I.e., exert themselves much. ISO THE MA SNA VI. [book in. Story XIV. Miracles performed by the Prophet Muhammad (p. 260). It is related that the Prophet was once present at a banquet, and after he had eaten and drunk, his servant Anas threw the napkin which he had used into the fire, and the napkin was not burnt, but only purified by the fire. On another occasion a caravan of Arabs was travelling in the desert, and was in sore distress through lack of water, whereupon the Prophet miraculously increased the water in a single water-skin, so that it sufficed to supply the needs of all the travellers. Moreover, the negro who carried the water-skin was rendered as white and fair as Joseph. Again, a heathen woman came to the Prophet carrying her infant, aged only two months, and the infant saluted the Prophet as the veritable apostle of God. Again, when the prophet was about to put on his sandals, an eagle swooped down upon one of them and carried it off, when a viper was seen to drop from the sandal. The Prophet was at first inclined to grumble at this stroke of ill-luck ; but when he saw the viper his discontent was turned into thankfulness to God, who had thus miraculously saved him from being bitten by the viper. In difficulties there is provided a way of salvation 1 (p. 263). In this tale there is a warning for thee, Soul, That thou mayest acquiesce in God's ordinances, And be wary and not doubt God's benevolence, When sudden misfortunes befall thee. Let others grow pale from fear of ill fortune, Do thou smile like the rose at loss and gain ; For the rose, though its petals be torn asunder, Still smiles on, and it is never cast down. It says, " Why should I fall into grief in disgrace ? 1 Freytag, Arabum Proverbia, vol. iii. p. 334. story xv.] THE LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS. 151 I gather beauty even from the thorn of disgrace." Whatsoever is lost to thee through God's decree Know of a surety is so much gained from misfortune. What is Sufiism ? Tis to find joy in the heart Whensoever distress and care assail it. Know troubles to be that eagle of the Prophet's Which carried off the sandal of that holy one, In order to save his foot from the bite of the viper — excellent device ! — to preserve him from harm. 'Tis said, " Mourn not for your slaughtered cattle If a wolf has harried your flocks ; " For that calamity may avert a greater calamity, And that loss may ward off a more grievous loss. Story XV. The Man who asked Moses to teach him the language of animals (p. 264). A certain man came to Moses and desired to be taught the language of animals, for, he said, men used their language only to get food and for purposes of deception, and possibly a knowledge of animals' languages might stimulate his faith. Moses was very unwilling to comply with his request, as he knew such knowledge would prove destructive to him, but, on his persisting, took counsel of God, and finally taught him the language of fowls and dogs. Next morning the man went amongst the fowls, and heard a discussion between the cock and the dog. The dog was abusing the cock for picking up the morsels of bread which fell from their master's table, because the cock could find plenty of grains of corn to eat, whereas the dog could only eat bread. The cock, to appease him, said that on the morrow the master's horse would die, and then the dog would have enough and to spare. The master, hearing this, at once sold his horse, and the dog, being disappointed of his meal, again attacked the cock. The cock then told him the mule would die, whereupon the master sold the mule. Then the cock foretold the 152 THE MA SNA VI. [book in. death of a slave, and the master again sold the slave. At this the dog, losing patience, upbraided the cock as the chief of deceivers, and the cock excused himself by- showing that all three deaths had taken place just as he had predicted, but the master had sold the horse, mule, and slave, and had thrown the loss on others. He added that, to punish him for his fraudulent dealing, the master would himself die on the morrow, and there would be plenty for the dog to eat at the funeral feast. Hearing this, the master went to Moses in great distress, and prayed to be saved. Moses besought the Lord for him, and gained permission that he should die in the peace of God. Why freewill is good for man (p. 264). God said, "Do thou grant his earnest request, Enlarge his faculty according to his freewill. Freewill is as the salt to piety, Otherwise heaven itself were matter of compulsion. In its revolutions reward and punishment were needless, For 'tis freewill that has merit at the great reckoning. If the whole world were framed to praise God, There would be no merit in praising God. Place a sword in his hand and remove his impotence, To see if he turns out a warrior or a robber. Because freewill is that wherewith ' we honour Adam,' x Half the swarm become bees and half wasps. The faithful yield honeycombs like bees, The infidels yield store of poison like wasps. For the faithful feed on choice herbs, So that, like bees, their chyle yields life-giving food, Whilst infidels feed on filth and garbage, And generate poison according to their food." Men inspired of God are the fountain of life ; Men of delusions are a synonym for death. In the world the praise " Well done, faithful servant ! " Koran xvii. 72. STOfwxvi.] THE WOMAN AND HER INFANTS. 153 Is given to freewill which is used with prudence. If all dissolute men were shut up in prison, They would all be temperate and devout and pious. When power of choice is absent actions are worthless ; But beware lest death snatch away your capital ! Your power of choice is a capital yielding profit, Eemember well the day of final account ! Story XVI. The Woman who lost all her infants (p. 267). A woman bore many children in succession, but none of them lived beyond the age of three or four months. In great distress she cried to God, and then beheld in a vision the beautiful gardens of Paradise, and many fair mansions therein, and upon one of these mansions she read her own name inscribed. And a voice from heaven informed her that God would accept the sorrows she had endured in lieu of her blood shed in holy war, as, owing to her sex, she was unable to go out to battle like the men. On looking again, the woman beheld in Paradise all the children she had lost, and she cried, " Lord ! they were lost to me, but were safe with Thee ! " This story is followed by anecdotes of Hamza going out to battle without his coat-of-mail, of the Prophet advising a man who complained of being cheated in his bargains to take time before completing them, and of the death of Bilal, Muhammad's crier, and by illustrations of the illusive nature of the world, of the difference between things self-evident and mere matters of inference, and between knowing a thing through illustrations and on the authority of others and knowing it as it really is in its essence. 154 THE MA SNA VI. [book in. The difference between knowing a thing merely by similitudes and on the authority of others, and knowing the very essence thereof (p. 272). God's mercy is known through the fruits thereof, But who save God knows His essence ? 1 No one knows the very essence of God's attributes But only in their effects and by similitudes. A child knows naught of the nature of sexual intercourse, Except what you tell him, that it is like sweetmeats. Yet how far does the pleasure of sexual intercourse Really resemble that derived from sweetmeats ? Nevertheless the fiction produces a relation Between you, with your perfect knowledge, and the child ; So that the child knows the matter by a similitude, Though he knows not its essence or actual nature. Hence if he says, " I know it," 'tis not far wrong, And if he says, " I know it not," 'tis not wrong. Should one say, " Do you know Noah, That prophet of God and luminary of the Spirit ? " If you say, " Do I not know him, for that moon Is more famed than the sun and moon of heaven ? Little children in their schools, And elders in their mosques, All read his name prominently in the Koran, And preachers tell his story from times of yore ; " — You say true, for you know him by report, Though the real nature of Noah is not revealed to you. On the other hand, if you say, " What know I of Noah As his contemporaries knew him ? I am a poor ant — what can I know of the elephant ? What knows a fly of the motions of the elephant ? " — This statement also is true, brother, Seeing that you know not his real nature. But this impotence to perceive real essence, 1 There is a Iladis, " Think on God's mercies, and not on His essence." story xvil] THE VAKIL OF BOKHARA. 155 Though common to ordinary men, is not universal ; Because essence and its deepest secrets Are open and manifest to the eyes of the perfect. Negation and affirmation of one proposition are lawful ; When the aspects differ the relation is double. "Thou castest not when thou castest" 1 shows such relation, Here negation and affirmation are both correct. Thou castest it, since it is in thy hand, Thou castest not, since 'tis God who affords the strength. The might of the sons of Adam is limited, How can a handful of sand shatter an army ? The sand was in man's hands, the casting was God's. Owing to the two relations negation and affirmation are both true. The infidels know the prophets, As well as they doubtless know their own children ; Yea, the infidels know them as well as their own sons, By a hundred tokens and a hundred evidences, But from envy and malice conceal their knowledge, And incline themselves to say, " We know them not." So when God says in one place " knows them," In another He says, " None knows them beside me." For in truth they are hid under God's overshadowing, 2 And none but God knows them by actual experience. Therefore take this declaration with its context, Eemembering how you know and do not know Noah. Story XVIL The Vakil of the Prince of Bokhara (p. 272). The Prince of Bokhara had a Vakil who, through fear of punishment for an offence he had committed, ran away and remained concealed in Kuhistan and the desert for the 1 Koran viii. 1 7. Said of the the commentator says the allusion is sand cast into the eyes of the men to Moses at Mount Sinai. Koran of Mecca at Beder. vii. 139. 2 See Gulshan i Raz, 1. 354, where . ;*fj 156 THE MASNAVI. [book in. space of ten years. At the end of that time, being unable to endure absence from his lord and his home any longer, he determined to return to Bokhara and throw himself at his lord's feet, and endure whatever punishment his lord might be pleased to inflict upon him. His friends did all they could to dissuade him, assuring him that the Prince's wrath was still hot against him, and that if he appeared at Bok- hara he would be put to death, or at least imprisoned for the rest of his life. He replied, " advisers, be silent, for the force of the love which is drawing me to Bokhara is stronger than the force of prudent counsels. When love pulls one way all the wisdom of Abu Hanifa and Ash- Shafi'i is impotent to withstand it. If it shall please my lord to slay me, I will yield up my life without reluctance, for this life of estrangement from him which I am now leading is the same as death, and release from it will be eternal happiness. I will return to Bokhara and throw myself at my lord's feet, and say to him, ' Deal with me as thou wilt, for I can no longer bear absence from thee, and life or death at thy hands is all the same to me!" : Accordingly, he journeyed back to Bokhara, counting the very toils and discomforts of the road sweet and delightful, because they were steps in his homeward course. When he reached Bokhara his friends and relations all warned him not to show himself, as the Prince was still mindful of his offence and bent on punishing him ; but he replied to them as to his other advisers, that he was utterly regard- less of his life, and was resolved to commit himself to his lord's good pleasure. He then went to the court and threw himself at his lord's feet and swooned away. The Prince, seeing the strong affection borne to him by his repentant servant, conceived a similar affection towards him, and descended from his throne and graciously raised him from the ground, and pardoned his offence. Thus it is that eternal life is gained by utter abandonment of one's own life. When God appears to His ardent lover the lover is absorbed in Him, and not so much as a hair of the lover story xvii.] THE VAKIL OF BOKHARA. 157 remains. True lovers are as shadows, and when the sun shines in glory the shadows vanish away. He is a true lover of God to whom God says, " I am thine, and thou art mine ! " In the course of this story, which is narrated at great length, are introduced anecdotes of a lover and his mis- tress, of the Virgin Mary being visited by the " Blessed Spirit " or Angel Gabriel, 1 of the fatal mosque, of Galen's devotion to carnal learning, of Satan's treachery to the men of Mecca at the battle of Bedr, 2 and of Solomon and the gnat. There also occur comments on various texts, and a curious comparison of the trials and wholesome afflictions of the righteous to the boiling of potherbs in a saucepan by the cook. The reply of the lover when asked hy his mistress which city of all those he had seen was most pleasing in his sight (p. 276). A damsel said to her lover, " fond youth, You have visited many cities in your travels ; Which of those cities seems most delightful to you ? " He made answer, " The city wherein my love dwells. In whatever nook my queen alights, Though it be as the eye of a needle/'tis a wide plain ; Wherever her Yusuf-like face shines as a moon, Though it be the bottom of a well, 'tis Paradise. With thee, my love, hell itself were heaven, With thee a prison would be a rose-garden. With thee hell would be a mansion of delight, Without thee lilies and roses would be as flames of fire ! " 1 Koran xix. 18. 2 Koran viii. 10. is8 THE MA SNA VI. [book nr. The answer of the Vakil to those who advised him not to court death by yielding himself up to his lord (p. 277). He said, " I am a drawer of water ; water attracts me, Even though I know water may be my death. No drawer of water flees from water, Even though it may cause him a hundred deaths. Though it may make my hand and belly dropsical, My love for water will never be lessened. I should say, when they asked me about my belly, ' Would that the ocean might flow into it ! ' Though the bottle of my belly were burst with water, And though I should die, my death would be acceptable. Wheresoever I see one seeking water, I envy him, And cry, ' Would I were in his place ! ' My hand is a tabor and my belly a drum, Like the rose I beat the drum of love of water. Like the earth or like a foetus I devour blood, Since I became a lover this is my occupation. If that ' Faithful Spirit ' should shed my blood, I would drink it up drop by drop like the earth. At night I boil on the fire like a cooking-pot, From morn till eve I drink blood like the sand. It repents me that I planned a stratagem, And that I fled from before his wrath. Tell him to sate his wrath on my poor life, He is the ' Feast of Sacrifice,' and I his loving cow. 1 The cow, whether it eats or sleeps, Thinks of naught but sacrificing itself. Know me to be that cow of Moses which gave its life, Each part of me gives life to the righteous. That cow of Moses was made a sacrifice, And its least part became a source of life. That murdered man leapt up from his deadness 1 The Id ul Azha, or the Feast of the month Zul Hijja. It is also Sacrifices, held on the tenth day of called "The Cow Festival." story xvn.] THE VAKIL OF BOKHARA. j 59 At the words, ' Strike the corpse with part of her.' 1 pious ones, slay the cow (of lust), If ye desire true life of soul and spirit ! I died as inanimate matter and arose a plant, 1 died as a plant and rose again an animal. 2 I died as an animal and arose a man. Why then should I fear to become less by dying ? I shall die once again as a man To rise an angel perfect from head to foot ! Again when I suffer dissolution as an angel, I shall become what passes the conception of man ! Let me then become non-existent, for non-existence Sings to me in organ tones, ' To him shall we return.' 8 Know death to be the gathering together of the people, The water of life is hidden in the land of darkness. Like a water-lily seek life there ! Yea, like that drawer of water, at the risk of life, Water will be his death, yet he still seeks water, And still drinks on, — and God knows what is right. lover, cold-hearted and void of loyalty, Who from fear for your life shun the beloved ! base one, behold a hundred thousand souls Dancing towards the deadly sword of his love : Behold water in a pitcher ; pour it out ; Will that water run away from the stream ? When that water joins the water of the stream It is lost therein, and becomes itself the stream. Its individuality is lost, but its essence remains, And hereby it becomes not less nor inferior. 1 will hang myself upon my lord's palm-tree In excuse for having fled away from him ! " Even as a ball rolling along on head and face, 1 This refers to Koran ii. 63. perishes to feed and be transmuted The cow was to be sacrificed in order into animal, and in like manner that a murderer might be discovered animal becomes man. See the pas- by striking the corpse with a piece sage of Milton quoted below, and of her flesh. Gulshan i Raz, 1. 490 and note. 2 I.e., Earth losing its own form 3 Koran ii. 153 : "Verily we are becomes vegetable, vegetable again God's, and to Him shall we return." i6o THE MASNA VI. [book hi. He fell at the feet of the Prince with streaming eyes. The people were all on the alert, expecting That the Prince would burn him or hang him, Saying, " Moth-like he has seen the blaze of the light, And fool-like has plunged therein and lost his life." But the torch of love is not like that torch, 'Tis. light, light in the midst of light, 'Tis the reverse of torches of fire, It appears to be fire, but is all sweetness. Love generates love. " If ye love God, God will love you" 1 (p. 289). That Bokharian then cast himself into the flame, But his love made the pain endurable ; And as his burning sighs ascended to heaven, The love of the Prince was kindled towards him. The heart of man is like the root of a tree, Therefrom grow the leaves on firm branches. 2 Corresponding to that root grow up branches As well on the tree as on souls and intellects. The tops of the perfect trees reach the heavens. The roots firm, and the branches in the sky. Since then the tree of love has grown up to heaven, How shall it not also grow in the heart of the Prince ? A wave washes away the remembrance of the sin from his heart, For from each heart is a window to other hearts. Since in each heart there is a window to other hearts, They are not separated and shut off like two bodies. Thus, even though two lamp-dishes be not joined, Yet their light is united in a single ray. No lover ever seeks union with his beloved, But his beloved is also seeking union with him. 1 Koran iii. 29. tree, its root firmly fixed, and its 2 " Seest thou not to what God branches in the heaven " (Koran likeneth a good word ? To a good xiv. 29). story xvii.] THE VAKIL OF BOKHARA. ' 161 But the lover's love makes his body lean, While the beloved's love makes hers fair and lusty. When in this heart the lightning spark of love arises, Be sure this love is reciprocated in that heart. When the love of God arises in thy heart, Without doubt God also feels love for thee. The noise of clapping of hands is never heard From one of thy hands unaided by the other hand. The man athirst cries, " Where is delicious water ? " Water too cries, " Where is the water-drinker ? " This thirst in my soul is the attraction of the water ; I am the water's and the water is mine. God's wisdom in His eternal foreknowledge and decree Made us to be lovers one of the other. Nay more, all the parts of the world by this decree Are arranged in pairs, and each loves its mate. Every part of the world desires its mate, Just as amber attracts blades of straw. Heaven says to earth, " All hail to thee ! i^ We are related to one another as iron and magnet." Heaven is man and earth woman in character ; t- Whatever heaven sends it, earth cherishes. When earth lacks heat, heaven sends heat ; When it lacks moisture and dew, heaven sends them. ' The earthy sign 1 succours the terrestrial earth, The watery sign (Aquarius) sends moisture to it ; The windy sign sends the clouds to it, To draw off unwholesome exhalations. The fiery sign (Leo) sends forth the heat of the sun, Like a dish heated red-hot in front and behind. The heaven is busily toiling through ages, Just as men labour to provide food for women. And the earth does the woman's work, and toils In bearing offspring and suckling them. Know then earth and heaven are endued with sense, ' Since they act like persons endued with sense. 1 I.e., of the Zodiac. 1 62 THE MASNAVI. [book in. If these two lovers did not suck nutriment from each other, Why should they creep together like man and wife ? Without the earth how could roses and saffron grow ? For naught can grow from the sole heat and rain of heaven. This is the cause of the female seeking the male, That the work of each may be accomplished. God has instilled mutual love into man and woman, That the world may be perpetuated by their union. Earth says to the earth of the body, " Come away, Quit the soul and come to me as dust. Thou art of my genus, and wilt be better with me, Thou had'st better quit the soul and fly to me ! " Body replies, " True, but my feet are fast bound, Though like thee I suffer from separation." Water calls out to the moisture of the body, " moisture, return to me from your foreign abode ! " Fire also calls out to the heat of the body, " Thou art of fire ; return to thy root ! " In the body there are seventy-and-two diseases ; It is ill compacted owing to the struggle of its elements. Disease comes to rend the body asunder, And to drag apart its constituent elements. The four elements are as birds tied together by the feet ; Death, sickness and disease loose their feet asunder. The moment their feet are loosed from the others, The bird of each element flies off by itself. The repulsion of each of these principles and causes Inflicts every moment a fresh pang on our bodies. That it may dissolve these composite bodies of ours, The bird of each part tries to fly away to its origin ; But the wisdom of God prevents this speedy end, And preserves their union till the appointed day. He says, " parts, the appointed time is not yet ; It is useless for you to take wing before that day." story xvil] THE VAKIL OF BOKHARA. 163 But as each part desires reunion with its original, How is it with the soul who is a stranger in exile ? It says, " parts of my habitation here below, My absence is sadder than yours, as I am heaven-born. The body loves green pastures and running water, For this cause that its origin is from them. The love of the soul is for life and the living one, Because its origin is the Soul not bound to place. The love of the soul is for wisdom and knowledge, That of the body for houses, gardens, and vineyards ; The love of the soul is for things exalted on high, That of the body for acquisition of goods and food. The love too of Him on high is directed to the soul : Know this for ' He loves them that love Him.' " x The sum is this, that whoso seeks another, The soul of that other who is sought inclines to him. Let us quit the subject. — Love for that soul athirsfc Was kindled in the breast of the Prince of Bokhara. The smoke of that love and the grief of that burning heart Ascended to his master and excited his compassion. The praises addressed to the Prince by the Vakil (p. 296) . He said, "O phoenix of God and goal of the spirit I thank thee that thou hast come back from Mount Qaf ! Israfil of the resurrection-day of love, love, love, and heart's desire of love ! Let thy first boon to me be this, To lend thine ear to my orisons. Though thou knowest my condition clearly, protector of slaves, listen to my speech. A thousand times, prince incomparable, Has my reason taken flight in desire to see thee, And to hear thee and to listen to thy words, 1 Koran v. 59. 1 64 THE MA SNA VI. [book ill. And to behold thy life-giving smiles. Thy inclining thine ear to my supplications Is as a caress to my misguided soul. The baseness of my heart's coin is known to thee, But thou hast accepted it as genuine coin. Thou art proud towards the arrogant and proud ; All clemencies are as naught to thy clemency. First hear this, that while I remained in absence, First and last alike escaped me. Secondly, hear this, prince beloved, That I searched much, but found no second to thee. Thirdly, that when I had departed outside thee, I said it was like the Christian Trinity. 1 Fourthly, when my harvest was burned up, I knew not the fourth from the fifth. Wheresoever thou findest blood on the roads, Trace it, and 'tis tears of blood from my eyes. My words are thunder, and these sighs and tears Are drawn by it as rain from the clouds. I am distracted between speaking and weeping. Shall I weep, or shall I speak, or what shall I do ? If I speak, my weeping ceases ; If I weep, I cease to praise and magnify thee." He spoke thus, and then fell to weeping, So that high and low wept with him. So many " Ahs " and " Alases " proceeded from his heart, That the people of Bokhara formed a circle round him. Talking sadly, weeping sadly, smiling sadly, Men and women, small and great, were all assembled. The whole city wept in concert with him ; Men and women mingled together as on the last day. Then Heaven said to Earth, " If you never saw a resurrection-day, see it here ! " Beason was amazed, saying, "What love, what ecstasy ! Is his separation more wondrous, or his reunion ? " 1 ",^ he , y surely are inMeIs who *nr there is no God but one God " say, 'God is the third of three,' (Koran v. 77). story xviii.] ' THE DEADLY MOSQUE. 165 Story XVIII. The Deadly Mosque (p. 278). In the suburbs of a certain city there was a mosque in which none could sleep a night and live. Some said it was haunted by malevolent fairies ; others, that it was under the baneful influence of a magic spell ; some pro- posed to put up a notice warning people not to sleep there, and others advised that the door should be kept locked. At last a stranger came to that city and desired to sleep in the mosque, saying that he did not fear to risk his life, as the life of the body was naught, and God has said, " Wish for death if you are sincere." 1 The men of the city warned him again and again of the danger, and re- buked him for his foolhardiness, reminding him that not improbably Satan was tempting him to his own destruc- tion, as he tempted the men of Mecca at the battle of Bedr. 2 The stranger, however, would not be dissuaded, but per- sisted in his purpose of sleeping in the mosque. He said that he was as one of the devoted agents of the Ismailians, who were always ready to sacrifice their lives at the bid- ding of their chiefs, and that the terrors of death did not appal him any more than the noise of a little drum beaten by a boy to scare away birds could appal the great drum- bearing camel that used to march at the head of King Mahmud's army. Accordingly, he slept in the mosque, and at midnight he was awakened by a terrible voice, as of one about to attack him. But instead of being dismayed, he bethought himself of the text " Assault them with thy horsemen and thy footmen," 3 and confronted his unseen foe, challenging him to show himself and stand to his arms. At these words the spell was dissipated, and showers of gold fell on all sides, which the brave hero proceeded to appropriate. 1 Koran li. 88. 2 Koran viii. 50. 3 Koran xvii. 66. i66 THE MASNAVI. [book in. The " knowledge of certainty " and the "eye of certainty " (p. 283). Our body and substance are snow, doomed to perish, God is He who buys them, for " God hath bought them." You prefer this perishing snow to God's price Because you are in doubt and hare not certainty ; And, strange to say, opinion abides in you, O weak one, And never flies away to the garden of certainty. Every opinion is aiming at certainty, son, And more and more moves its wings towards certainty. When it reaches knowledge it stands erect, And its knowledge again hastes on towards certainty, Because in the approved road of the faith Knowledge is lower than certainty, but above opinion. Know knowledge aspires to certainty, And certainty again to sight and ocular evidence. In the chapter, "Desire of riches occupieth you," 2 After " Nay," read " Would that ye knew ! " Knowledge conducts you to sight, O knower ! " If ye are certain, ye shall see hell-fire." Sight follows on certainty with no interval, Just as reasoned knowledge is born of opinion. See the account of this in the chapter cited, How knowledge of certainty becomes the eye of certainty. As for me, I am above both opinion and certainty ; My head is not affected by your cavils. Since my mouth has eaten of His sweetmeats, I am become clear-sighted, and see Him face to face ! 1 " Verily of the faithful hath but in the end ye shall know. Nay ! God bought their persons and their would that ye knew it with hnow- substance, on condition of Paradise ledge of certainty. Surely ye shall for them in return " (Koran ix. 112). see hell-fire. Ye shall surely see it 2 "The desire of riches occupieth with the eye of certainty" (Koran you till ye come to the grave. Nay 1 cii.) story xviii. J THE DEADLY MOSQUE. 167 The righteous are exposed to trials for their improvement, as potherbs are boiled to make them fit for food (p. 284). Behold these potherbs boiling in the pot, How they jump and toss about in the heat of the fire. Whilst they are boiling, they keep leaping up, Even to the top of the pot, and utter cries, Saying to the housewife, " Why do you set us on the fire ? Now you have bought us, why should you afflict us ? " The housewife pushes them down with her spoon, saying, " Be still, and boil well, and leap not off the fire. I do not boil you because I dislike you, But that you may acquire a good savour and taste. When you become food you will be mingled with life ; This trial is not imposed on you to distress you. In the garden you drank water soft and fresh ; That water-fed one was reserved for this fire. Mercy was first shown to it before vengeance, That mercy might train it to be proof against trial ; Mercy was shown to it previously to vengeance, That it might acquire its substance of being. Because flesh and skin grow not without tender care, How should they not grow when warmed by the Friend's love. If vengeance follows as a necessary consequence, That you may make an offering of that substance, Mercy follows again to compensate for it, That you may be purified and raised above your nature. I am Abraham, and you his son under the knife. Lay down your head ! ' I have seen I must sacrifice you.' x Yield your head to vengeance, your heart to constancy, That I may cut your throat like an Ismailian's. I cut off your head, but that head is such That it is restored to life by being cut off! " 1 Koran xxxvii. 101. 1 68 THE MA SNA VI. [book m. My main object herein is to inculcate resignation, Musulman ! it behoves you to seek resignation. x O potherbs, you boil in trials and sufferings That neither existence nor self may remain in you. Though you once smiled in that earthly garden, You are really roses of the garden of life and sight. If you are torn away from the garden of earth, You become sweet food to revive man's life ; Yea, become his food and strength and thought ! 2 You were only milk, you become a lion of the forest ! You issue from God's attributes at first ; Eeturn again back to those attributes with all speed ! You come from the clouds and sunshine and sky, Then assume moral qualities and ascend the sky. You come in the form of rain and sunshine, You depart endued with excellent attributes. You begin as a part of the sun, clouds, and stars, You rise to be breath, act, word, and thought ! The life of animals comes from the death of plants. True is the saying, ' Kill me, faithful ones ! ' Since such exaltation awaits us after death. True it is that ' In our death is life.' Acts, words, and faith are the food of the King, . So that in this ascent one attains to heaven. Thus, as potherbs become the food of men, They rise above the grade of minerals to that of animals. Objections of fools to the Masnavi (p. 285). A certain goose pops his head out of his coop, And displays himself as a critic of the Masnavi, Saying, " This poem, the Masnavi, is childish ; 1 According to its etymology, Islam means self-surrender to God, as well as safety, peace, and obedience to divine laws. 2 Cp. Milton, Paradise Lost, v. 482 — "Flow'rs and their fruit, Man's nourishment, by gradual scale sublim'd To vital spirits aspire, to animal, To intellectual." story xviii. J THE DEADLY, MOSQUE. i£. 9 'Tis but a story of the prophets, and so on. 'Tis not an account of the arguments and deep mysteries, Whereto holy men direct their attention ; — Concerning asceticism, and so on to self-annihilation, Step by step, up to communion with God ; — An explanation and definition of each several state, Whereto the men of heart ascend in their flight." Whereas the Book of God resembles the Masnavi in this, . The infidels abused it in the same manner, Saying, ' It contains old tales and stories ; 1 ' There is no deep analysis or lofty investigation therein. Little boys can understand it ; It only contains commands and prohibitions, Accounts of Yusuf and his curled locks, Accounts of Jacob, of Zulaikha and her love, Accounts of Adam, of the wheat, and of the serpent Iblis, Accounts of Hud, of Noah, of Abraham, and the fire." Know the words of the Koran are simple, But within the outward sense is an inner secret one. 2 Beneath that secret meaning is a third, Whereat the highest wit is dumbfoundered. The fourth meaning has been seen by none Save God, the Incomparable and All-sufficient. Thus they go on, even to seven meanings, one by one, According to the saying of the Prophet, without doubt. Do thou, son, confine not thy view to the outward meaning, Even as the demons saw in Adam only clay. 3 The outward meaning of the Koran is like Adam's body, For its semblance is visible, but its soul is hidden. reviling dog ! thou makest a clamour, } Koran xxvii. 7. that each word of the Koran has 2 There is a Hadis to the effect seven meanings. See Koran iii. 5. 3 Koran xvii. 63. i 7 o THE MASNAVI. [book in. Thou makest thy abuse of the Koran thy destruction. 1 This is not a lion, wherefrom thou canst save thy life, Or canst secure thyself from his talons ! The Koran cries out even to the last day, " people, given up as a prey to ignorance, If ye have imagined me to be only empty fables, Ye have sown the seed of reviling and infidelity. Ye yourselves who abuse me will see yourselves Annihilated, and made like a tale that is told ! " Solomon and the gnat (p. 295). A gnat came in from the garden and fields, And called on Solomon for justice, Saying, " Solomon, you extend your equity Over demons and the sons of Adam and fairies. Pish and fowl dwell under the shelter of your justice ; Where is the oppressed one whom your mercy has not sought ? Grant me redress, for I am much afflicted, Being cut off from my garden and meadow haunts." Then Solomon replied, " seeker of redress, Tell me from whom do you desire redress ? Who is the oppressor, who, puffed up with arrogance, Has oppressed you and smitten your face ? " The gnat replied, " He from whom I seek redress is the Wind, 'Tis he who has emitted the smoke of oppression at me ; Through his oppression I am in a grievous strait, Through him I drink blood with parched lips ! " Solomon replied to him, " sweet-voiced one, 1 The Lucknow commentator says Masnavi, and on the leaves being that Faizi (brother of Abul Fazl, turned over, this passage presented Akbar's minister) once spoke dis- itself, respectfully of the Koran and the story xviii.] THE DEADLY MOSQUE. 171 You must hear the command of God with all your heart. God has commanded me saying, ' dispenser of justice, Never hear one party without the other ! ' Till both parties come into the presence, The truth is never made plain to the judge." When the Wind heard the summons, it came swiftly, And the gnat instantly took flight. In like manner the seekers of God's presence-seat, — When God appears, those seekers vanish. Though that union is life eternal, Yet at first that life is annihilation. The book ends with the beginning of a story which is finished in the fourth book. ( 172 ) BOO?? 3EF. Story I. The Lover and his Mistress (p. 303). The fourth book begins with an address to Husamu-'d- Din, and this is followed by the story of the lover and his mistress, already commenced in the third book. A certain lover had been separated from his mistress for the space of seven years, during which he never relaxed his efforts to find her. At last his constancy and perseverance were rewarded, in accordance with the promises "The seeker shall find," and "Whoso shall have wrought an atom's weight of good shall behold it." x One night, as he was wandering through the city, he was pursued by the patrol, and, in order to escape them, took refuge in a garden, where he found his long-sought mistress. This occasioned him to reflect how often men " hate the things that are good for them," 2 and led him to bless the rough patrol who had procured him the bliss of meeting with his mistress. Apropos of this, an anecdote is told of a preacher who was in the habit of blessing robbers and oppressors, because their evil example had turned him to righteousness. The moment the lover found himself alone with his mistress, he attempted to embrace her, but his mistress repulsed him, saying, that though no men were present, yet the wind was blowing and that showed that God, the mover of the wind, was also present. The lover replied, " It may be I am lacking in good manners, but I am not lacking in constancy and fidelity towards you." His mistress re- plied, " One must judge of the hidden by the manifest ; I see for myself that your outward behaviour is bad, and 1 Koran xcix. 7. 2 Koran ii. 213. story I.] THE LOVER AND HIS MISTRESS. 173 thence I cannot but infer that your boast of hidden virtues is not warranted by actual facts. You are ashamed to misconduct yourself in the sight of men, but have no scruple to do so in the presence of the All-seeing God, and hence I doubt the existence of the virtuous sentiments which you claim to possess, but which can only be known to yourself." To illustrate this, she told the story of a Sufi and his faithless wife. This wife was one day enter- taining a paramour, when she was surprised by the sudden return of her husband. On the spur of the moment she threw a woman's dress over her paramour and presented him to her husband as a rich lady who had come to pro- pose a marriage between her son and the Sufi's daughter, saying she did not care for wealth, but only regarded modesty and rectitude of conduct. To this the Sufi replied, that as from her coming unattended it was plain that the lady had not the wealth she pretended to have, it was more than probable that her pretensions to extra- ordinary modesty and humility were also fictitious. The lover then proceeded to excuse himself by the plea that he had wished to test his mistress, and ascertain for himself whether she was a modest woman or not. He said he of course knew beforehand that she would prove to be a modest woman, but still he wished to have ocular demon- stration of the fact. His mistress reproved him for trying to deceive her with false pretences, assuring him that after he had been detected in a fault, his only proper course was to confess it, as Adam had done. Moreover, she added that an attempt to put her to the test would have been an extremely unworthy proceeding, only to be paralleled by Abu Jahl's attempt to prove the truth of the Prophet's claims by calling on him to perform a miracle. 174 THE MASNAVI. [book iv. The soul of good in things evil. Evil only relative (P- 303)- The lover invoked blessings on that rough patrol, Because their harshness had wrought bliss for him. They were poison to most men, but sweets to him, Because those harsh ones had united him with his love. In the world there is nothing absolutely bad ; Know, moreover, evil is only relative. In the world there is neither poison nor antidote, Which is not a foot to one and a fetter to another ; To one the power of moving, to another a clog ; To one a poison, to another an antidote. Serpents' poison is life to serpents, In relation to mankind it is death. To the creatures of the sea the sea is a garden, To the creatures of the land it is fatal. In the same way, man, reckon up with intelligence The relations of these things in endless variety. In relation to this man Zaid is as Satan, In relation to another he is as a Sultan. The latter calls Zaid a sincere Mussulman, The former calls him a Gueber deserving to be killed. Zaid, one and the same person, is life to the one, And to the other an annoyance and a pest. If you desire that God may be pleasing to you, Then look at Him with the eyes of them that love Him. Look not at that Beauty with your own eyes, Look at that Object of desire with His votaries' eyes ; Shut your own eyes from beholding that sweet Object, And borrow from His admirers their eyes ; Nay, borrow from Him both eyes and sight, And with those eyes of His look upon His face In order that you may not be disappointed with the sight. God says, "Whoso is God's, God also is his." story I.] THE LOVER AND HIS MISTRESS. 175 God says, " I am his eye, his hand, his heart," 1 That his good fortune may emerge from adversity. "Whatsoever is hateful to you, if it should lead you To your beloved, at once becomes agreeable to you. Why God is named " Hearing" " Seeing" and " Knowing " (P- 307)- God calls himself " Seeing," to the end that His eye may every moment scare you from sinning. God calls himself " Hearing," to the end that You may close your lips against foul discourse. God calls himself " Knowing," to the end that You may be afraid to plot evil. These names are not mere accidental names of God, As a negro may be called KafUr (white) ; They are names derived from God's essential attributes, Not mere vain titles of the First Cause. For if so, they would be only empty pleasantries, Like calling the deaf a hearer and the blind a seer, Or a name like " impudent " for a modest man, Or " beautiful " for an ugly negro, Or such a title as " H&ji" for' a new-born boy, Or that of " Ghdzi" applied to a noble idler. If such titles as these are used in praising persons Who do not possess the qualities implied, 'tis wrong ; 'Twould be jesting or mockery or madness. " God is exalted above " what is said by evil men. 2 I knew yon before I met you face to face, That you had a fair face but an evil heart ; Yea, I knew you before I saw you, That you were rooted in iniquity through guile. When my eye is red owing to inflammation, I know 'tis so from the pain, though I see it not. 1 " My servant draws nigh to me and by me he sees, hears, talks, by pious deeds till I love him, and, walks, and feels."— Sadis. when I love him, I am his eye, his 2 Cp. Koran xvL 3. ear, his tongue, his foot, his hand, i 7 6 THE MASNAVI. [book I v. You regarded me as a lamb without a shepherd ; You fancied that I had no guardian. Lovers have suffered chastisement for this cause, That they have cast ill-timed looks at fair ones. They have supposed the fawn to have no shepherd, They have supposed the captive to be going a begging ; Till in the twinkling of an eye an arrow pierces them, Saying, " I am her guardian ; look not at her rashly ! " What ! am I less than a lamb or a fallow deer, That I should have none to shepherd me ? Nay, I have a Guardian worthy of dominion, Who knows every wind that blows upon me. He is aware whether that wind is chill or mild, He is not ignorant nor absent, mean one. The carnal soul is made by God blind and deaf ; I saw with the heart's eye your blindness afar off. For this cause I never inquired about you for eight years. Because I saw you filled with ignorance and duplicity. Why indeed should I inquire about one in the furnace, Who is bowed down with reproach, like yourself? Comparison of the world to a bath stove, and of piety to the hot bath (p. 307). The lust of the world is like a bath stove, Whereby the bath of piety is heated ; But the lot of the pious is purity from the stove's filth, Because they dwell in the bath and in cleanliness. The rich are as those that carry dung To heat the furnace of the bath withal. God has instilled into them cupidity, That the bath may be warmed and pleasant. Quit this stove and push on into the bath ; Know quitting the stove to be the bath itself. Whoso is in the stove-room is as a servant To him who is temperate and prudent. Your lust is as fire in the world. story ii.] THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE. 177 With a hundred greedy mouths wide open. In the judgment of reason this gold is foul dung, Although, like dung, it serves to kindle the fire. Whoso was born in the stove-room and never saw purity, The smell of sweet musk is disagreeable to him. In illustration of this, a story follows of a tanner who was accustomed to bad smells in the course of his trade, and who was half killed by the smell of musk in the bazaar of the perfumers, but was cured by the accustomed smell of dung. Story II. The Building of the "Most Remote Temple" at Jerusalem, (p. 3 1 1). King David purposed to build a temple at Jerusalem, but was forbidden to do so by a divine voice, because he had been a man of blood. But, it was added, the work should be accomplished by his son Solomon, and Solomon's work would be reckoned the same as David's, in accord- ance with the texts, " The faithful are brethren," and " Sages are as a single soul," and " We make no distinction between any of the apostles." x Accordingly, when Solo- mon came to the throne, he set about the building, which was attended with many miraculous circumstances, e.g., the stones in the quarry crying out and moving of them- selves to the site of the temple. Bilqis, Queen of Saba, sent Solomon a present of forty camels laden with ingots of gold ; but Solomon would not receive them, and sent her messengers back with a letter commanding her to abandon the worship of the sun and embrace Islam. 2 At the same time he charged the messengers to report fully to the Queen all they had seen in his kingdom, and to urge her to comply with his commands to renounce her sovereignty and present herself in all humility at his 1 Koran xlix. 10 ; xxxi. 27 ; ii. 2 The letter is given in Koran 285. xxvli - So- li i 7 8 THE MASNAVI. [book rv. court. As she delayed to come, Solomon again sent to assure her that he had no sinister views regarding her, and desired her attendance at his court solely for her own spiritual benefit. At last Bilqis renounced her royal state and cast away all care for worldly things, and, impelled by earnest desire to learn the true faith, presented herself at the court of King Solomon. Then Solomon commanded that the throne of Bilqis should be brought from Saba, and an 'Afrit offered to fetch it, but Asaf, the vizier, anticipated him. 1 Afterwards Solomon proceeded with the building of the temple, wherein he was assisted by devils and fairies. Then God tried Solomon by placing on his throne a false counterpart of him. His miracle- working signet was stolen by a devil named Sakhar, who thereupon assumed his shape and personated him for forty days, during which Solomon had to wander about and beg his bread. After this he regained his throne, and having completed the temple, began to worship therein. One day he observed that a tuft of coarse grass had sprung up in a corner of the temple, and he was greatly distressed because he thought it portended the ruin of the building, but he took comfort from the thought that while he himself lived the temple would not be allowed to fall into ruin ; so long as he lived, at least, he would root up all evil weeds that threatened the safety of the temple, as well the temple built with hands as the spiritual temple in his heart. In the course of this story, which is told at great length, there occur anecdotes of the beginning' of the reiam of 'Othman, of the miracles of 'Abd Ullah Moghrabi, and others, of which abstracts are given below. 1 All these legends are derived from Koran xxi., xxvii., and xxxviii. See Sale's notes. btoeyii.] THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE, 179 Though philosophers call man the microcosm, divines call ■ him the macrocosm (p. 314). In outward form thou art the microcosm, But in reality the macrocosm. 1 Seemingly the bough is the cause of the fruit, 2 But really the bough exists because of the fruit. Were he not impelled by desire of fruit, The gardener would never have planted the tree. Therefore in reality the tree is born from the fruit, Though seemingly the fruit is born from the tree. For this cause Mustafa said, " Adam and all prophets Are my followers and gather under my standard. Though to outward view I am a son of Adam, In reality I am his first forefather, Because the angels worshipped him for my sake, And 'twas in my footsteps that he ascended to heaven. Hence in reality our first parent was my offspring, As in reality the tree is born of its own fruit." What is first in thought is last in act. Thought is the special attribute of the Eternal. This product goes forth from hea,ven very swiftly, And comes to us like a caravan. 3 "lis not a long road that this caravan travels ; Can the desert stop the deliverer ? The heart travels to the Ka'ba every moment, And by divine grace the body acquires the same power. Distance and nearness affect only the body, What do they matter in the place where God is ? When God changes the body, It regards not parasangs or miles. Even on earth there is hope of approaching God. Press on like a lover, and cease vain words, son ! 1 This refers to Muhammad, who thee, the worlds had not been is at once the " First reason " (Logos) created." and the ' ' Perfect man," who is " the 3 Muhammad as the Logos is the sum of all the worlds " and the channel by which divine grace is "Great world." See Notices et Ex- conveyed to man. The change of traits des MSS., x. p. 86. the body" is an allusion 1 to the 2 He was also the final cause of ascension of Muhammad (Mi raj). creation. "If it had not been for 180 THE MA SNA VI. [book iv. In the course of his rebuke to the messengers of Bilqis for bringing him mere gold instead of a humble heart, Solomon tells the story of the druggist who used soap- stone or Persian earth for a weight. A man came to him to buy sugar-candy, and as he had no weight at hand, he used a lump of soapstone instead ; but, while his back was turned, the purchaser stole a bit of the soapstone. The druggist, though he saw what he was doing, would not interrupt him, for he knew that the more soapstone the purchaser stole, the less sugar-candy he would get. In like manner the more men grasp at the transitory wealth of this World, the less they will obtain of the stable wealth of the world to come. Part of Solomon's message to Bilqis (p. 317). Eeport to Bilqis what marvels ye haye seen, And what plains of gold belong to Solomon ; How ye beheld forty mansions faced with gold, And how ye were ashamed of your presents ; That she may know Solomon is not covetous of gold ; He has received gold from the Creator of gold. The moment he wills it, every grain of earth's dust Is changed into gold and precious pearls. For this cause, thou that lovest gold, On the last day God will make earth all silver (white). 1 Quit thy wealth, even if it be the realm of Saba ; Thou wilt find many realms not of this earth. What thou callest a throne is only a prison ; Thou thinkest thyself enthroned, but art outside the door. Thou hast no sovereignty over thine own passions, How canst thou sway good and evil ? Thy hair turns white without thy concurrence, Take shame to thyself for thy evil passions. Whoso bows his head to the King of kings Will receive a hundred kingdoms not of this world ; 1 A Iladis. story ii.] THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE. 181 But the delight of bowing down before God Will seem sweeter to thee than countless glories." An anecdote follows of a darvesh who saw in a dream some saints, and prayed them to provide him with his daily bread without obliging him to mix in worldly affairs. The saints ordered him to go to the forest, and there he found that all the wild fruits were rendered fit for his food. Having a few grains of gold by him, which he had gained by worldly labour before this miracle had been wrought for him, he was about to give them to a poor woodcutter who was passing that way. But this wood- cutter was a saint, and at once read his thoughts, and to show, like Solomon, that he had no need of worldly wealth, he offered up a short prayer to God, and straightway his bundle of firewood was changed into gold, and immediately after, at another prayer, was changed back again into firewood. Ibrahim bin Adham and his fondness for music 1 (p. 318). Haste to renounce thy kingdom, like Borahim bin Adham, To obtain, like him, the kingdom of eternity. At night that king would sleep on his throne, With his guards of state surrounding his palace, Though he needed no guards for the purpose Of warding off robbers and vagabonds ; For he who is a just king knows everything, And is safe from harm and his mind is at peace. •Justice is the guardian of his steps, Not guards with drums round his palace. His purpose in having this band of music was this, To recall to his longing heart that call of God. 2 The wailing of horn and the thunder of drum 1 Music is much used in the reli- Dervishes," by J. P. Brown, p. gious services of the "Maulavi" 197. order of Darveshes, founded by a " Am not I your lord ? (Koran Jalalu-d-Din Rumi. See "The vii. 171). 1 82 THE MASNAVT. [book iv. Kesemble in some sort that dread " trumpet blast." 1 Wherefore philosophers say that we have learned Our melodies from those of the revolving spheres. The song of the spheres in their revolutions Is what men sing with lute and voice. The faithful hold that the sweet influences of heaven Can make even harsh voices melodious. As we are all members of Adam, We have heard these melodies in Paradise ; Though earth and water have cast their veil upon us, We retain faint reminiscences of those heavenly songs. But while we are thus shrouded by gross earthly veils, How can the tones of the dancing spheres reach us ? 2 Hence it is that listening to music is lovers' food, Because it recalls to them their primal union with God. The inward feelings of the mind acquire strength, Nay, are shown outwardly, under influence of music. The fire of love burns hotter under stimulus of music, Even as occurred in the case of the nut-gatherer. Ibrahim's abdication (p. 318). Once that noble Ibrahim, as he sat on his throne, Heard a clamour and noise of cries on the roof, Also heavy footsteps on the roof of his palace. He said to himself, " Whose heavy feet are those ? " He shouted from his window, " Who goes there ? 'Tis no man's step ; surely 'tis a fairy." His guards, filled with confusion, bowed their heads, Saying, " It is we who are going the rounds in search." He said, " What seek ye ? " They said, " Our camels." 3 He said, " Who ever searched for camels on a housetop ? " 1 " When there shall be a trumpet spheres" was as well known to blast, that shall be a dreadful day " Persian poets as to Shakespeare. (Koran lxxiv. 7). 3 This is an allusion to the story - The so-called Pythagorean doc- of the "Believer's lost camel." Book trine of the " Harmony of the ii., Story xi. story II.] THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE. 183 They said, " We follow thy example, Who seekest union with God while sitting on a throne." This was all, and no man ever saw him again, Just as fairies are invisible to men. ' His substance was hid from men, though he was with them, For what can men see save the outward aspect and dress ? As he was removed from the sight of friends and strangers, His fame was noised abroad like that of the 'Anka. For the soul of every bird that reaches Mount Qaf Confers glory on the whole family of birds. 1 The anecdote of the nut-gatherer, introduced in the above story, is only another version of the story of the thirsty man who threw bricks into the water in order to hear the sound of the splash. 2 This is followed by an address to Husamu-'d-Din, in which the poet says that his object in writing the Masnavi was to elicit words from Husam, as his words were the same as the words of God. Solomon's preaching to the people of Bilqis. The art of preaching (p. 321). I tell the tale of Saba in lovers' style. When the breeze bore Solomon's words to that garden, 'Twas as when bodies meet souls at the resurrection, Or as when boys return to their loved homes. The people of love are hidden amongst the peoples, As a liberal man encompassed by the contumely of the base. Souls are disgraced by union with bodies, Bodies are ennobled by union with souls. Arise, lovers ; this sweet draught is yours ; Ye are they that endure ; eternal life is yours. Ho ! ye that seek, arise and take your fill of love, Snuff up that perfume of Tusuf ! 1 This alludes to the well-known poem of Faridu-d-Din 'Attar, the "Mantiqu-t-Tair." 2 Book ii., Story v. 1 84 THE MA SNA VI. [book ™ Approach, Solomon, thou that knowest birds' language, Sound the note of every bird that draws near. 1 When God sent thee to the birds, He taught thee first the notes of all the birds. To the predestinarian bird talk predestination, To the bird with broken wings preach patience, To the patient well-doer preach comfort and pardon, To the spiritual 'Anka relate the glories of Mount Qaf, To the pigeon preach avoidance of the hawk, To the lordly hawk mercy and self-control ; As for the bat, who lingers helpless in the dark, Acquaint him with the society of the light ; To the fighting partridge teach peace, To the cock the signs of dawning day. In this way deal with all from the hoopoo to the eagle. Then follows a long account of various miraculous inci- dents that occurred during the childhood of the Prophet, — how he was suckled by Halima, a woman of the Bani Sa'ad, — how the idols bowed down before him, — how he strayed from home, — how his grandfather, Abd ul Muttalib, prayed to God that he might be found, — and how he was at last found in the Ka'ba and restored to his grandfather. Next a story is told of a cur who attacked a blind man (Kur) in the street, rather than hunt the wild ass (Gor) on the mountains in company with well-bred dogs. This is an illustration of the thesis that mankind is prone to run after mean earthly objects, and to neglect aspiring to the spiritual world. Solomon's admonitions to Bilqis (p. 327). Ah ! Bilqis, bestir thyself now the market is thronged, Flee away from them whose traffic is unprofitable ! 2 Arise, Bilqis, now that thou hast the choice, 1 Koran xxvii. 16. There is a bought error at the price of guidance, TJadis, " Speak to men according to but their traffic hath not been gain- the amount of their intelligence." ful " (Koran ii. 15). 2 " These are they who have story II.] THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE. 185 Before that death, lays his heavy hand upon thee. Soon will death pnll thy ears, as if thou wert A thief dragged before the officer in deadly fear. How long wilt thou steal shoes from asses of the world ? If thou must steal, steal pearls of the world above. Thy sisters have found the kingdom that lasts for ever, Thou cleavest to the kingdom of darkness. Happy is he who quits this earthly kingdom, Which sooner or later death will destroy. Arise ! Bilqis, at least behold The kingdom of the royal kings of the faith ! In reality they are seated in the garden of the spirit, Though to outward view they are guiding their friends. That spiritual garden accompanies them everywhere, Yet it is never revealed to the eyes of the people, — Its fruits ever asking to be gathered, Its fount of life welling up to be drunk ! Go round about the heavens without aid of wings, Like sun or full moon or new moon ! Thou wilt move as a spirit without aid of feet, Thou wilt eat sweet viands without mouth or palate. No crocodile of sorrow will attack thy bark, Nor will sad thoughts of death assail thee. Thou wilt be at once queen, army, and throne, Endued with good fortune and fortune itself. 1 Thou sayest thou art a great queen of good fortune ; But thy fortune is apart from thee and will soon fade, Thou wilt be left like a beggar without sustenance ; Therefore, chosen one, become thy own fortune. When, spiritual one, thou hast become thy own fortune, Then, being thyself thy fortune, thou wilt never lose it. How, fortunate one, canst thou ever lose thyself, When thy real self is thy treasure and thy kingdom ? 1 Union attained, all duality and non). (See Gulshan i Raz, 1. 835 separate phenomenal existence are and 845). swallowed up in the One (Noume- 1 86 THE MA SNA VI. [book iv. How men and demons helped Solomon in building the temple (p. 327). When Solomon laid the foundations of the temple, Men and Jinns came and lent their aid to the work, Some of them with good- will, and others on compulsion, Even as worshippers follow the road of devotion. Men are as demons, and lust of wealth their chain, Which drags them forth to toil in shop and field. This chain is made of their fears and anxieties. Deem not that these men have no chain upon them. It causes them to engage in labour and the chase, It forces them to toil in mines and on the sea, It urges them towards good and towards evil. God saith, " On their necks is a rope of palm fibre," 1 And " Verily on their necks have we placed ropes," 2 " We make this rope out of their own dispositions; There is none either impure or intelligent, But we have fastened his work about his neck." 3 Thy lust is even as fire burning in thy evil deeds ; The black coal of these deeds is lighted by the fire ; The blackness of the coal is first hidden by the fire, But, when it is burnt, the blackness is made visible. The building of the prophets was without lust, And accordingly its splendour ever increased. Yea, many are the noble temples they have raised, Though all were not named " The Most Remote Temple." The Ka'ba, whose renown waxes greater every moment, Owed its foundation to the piety of Abraham. Its glory is not derived from stones and mortar, But from being built without lust or strife. Neither are the prophets' writings like other writings ; „ Koran iii. 5. him a book, which shall be shown to 3 « T a ? XXXvl - 7 ' him wide °P en - Read th y book ; And every man's work have there needeth none but thyself to we fastened about his neck, and on make out an account against thee he last day will we bring forth to that day " (Koran xvii. 14) story II.] THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE. 187 Nor their temples, nor their works, nor their families ; Nor their manners, nor their wrath, nor their chastise- ments ; Nor their dreams, nor their reason, nor their words. Each one of them is endued with a different glory, Each soul's bird winged with different feathers. Ho ! pious ones, build the lively temple of the heart, That the Divine Solomon may be seen, and peace be upon you! And if your demons and fairies be recalcitrant, Your good angels must place collars on their necks. If your demons go astray through guile and fraud, Chastisement must overtake them swift as lightning. Be like Solomon, so that your demons May dig stones for your spiritual edifice. Be like Solomon, free from evil thoughts and guile, So that carnal demons and Jinns may be submissive to you. Your heart is as Solomon's signet ; take good care That it falls not a prey to demons, For then demons will rule over you as over Solomon. Guard then your signet from the demons, and be at peace. Then follows a story of a poet who recited a panegyric in honour of a liberal king. The king commanded that he should receive one thousand pieces of gold, but the vazir, named Abu-'l- Hasan, gave him ten thousand. The poet went to his home well contented, but after some years fell into poverty, and naturally bethought him of the generous king and his vazir, who had before assisted him. Sibawayh, the grammarian of Shiraz, says " Allah " is derived from " Alah " (fleeing for refuge), and thus we see all creatures, and even the elements themselves, ever looking to Allah to sustain them in existence. The poet, therefore, again presented himself to the king with a new panegyric, and the king, on hearing it, commanded as before that a thousand pieces of gold should be given him. But the new vazir, who was also named Abu-'l-Hasan, 1 88 THE MASNAVI. [book iv. persuaded the king that the exchequer could not afford this large outlay, and kept the poet waiting so long for his money, that at last he was glad to get away with only one hundred pieces of gold. These two vazirs recall Asaf, the good vazir of King Solomon, who deserves the title " Light upon light," J and Haman, the evil vazir of Pharaoh, who turned his heart against Moses, and brought many plagues upon the kingdom of Egypt. How all creatures cry to God for sustenance (p. 329). Yea, all the fish in the seas, And all feathered fowl in the air above, All elephants, wolves, and lions of the forest, All dragons and snakes, and even little ants, Yea, even air, water, earth, and fire, Draw their sustenance from Him, both winter and summer. Every moment this heaven cries to Him, saying, " Lord, quit not Thy hold of me for a moment ! The pillar of my being is Thy aid and protection ; The whole is folded up in that right hand of Thine." 2 And earth cries, " keep me fixed and steadfast, Thou who hast placed me on the top of waters ! " All of them are waiting and expecting His aid, All have learned of Him to represent their needs. Every prophet extols this prescription, " Seek ye help with patience and with prayer." 3 Ho ! seek aid of Him, not of another than Him Seek water in the ocean, not in a dried-up channel. The next anecdote is that of the raven who taught Cain the art of digging graves and burying corpses, as told in Koran v. 34. This is designed to illustrate the thesis that unaided human reason can discover no new truth, unless inspired by Divine wisdom, of which the prophets, and especially " Universal Reason," or the Prophet Muhammed, 1 Koran xxiv. 35. s Koran xxxix. 67. s Koran ii. 14S. story II. J THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE. j8g are the channels. Thus physicians and herbalists have derived their knowledge of the virtues of plants from the instructions originally given by King Solomon when he classified the plants that grew in the court of the temple. The inner eye sees more than is visible to the sight of the vulgar. To illustrate this, an anecdote is told of a Sufi who had accompanied his friends to a beautiful garden, but instead of looking about and enjoying the fragrance of the flowers and fruits, sat with his head sunk on his breast in Sufi fashion. His friends said to him, in the words of the Koran, " Look at the signs of God's mercy, how after its death He quickeneth the earth!" 1 He answered them that these signs were far more plainly visible to him in his heart than in the outward creation, which was merely as it were a blurred reflection from the spiritual creation enshrined in his heart. For God says, " The life of the world is naught but a cheating fruition." 2 In other words, " Nature con- ceals God, but the supernatural in man reveals Him." 3 On cleansing the inward temple of the heart from self-conceit and reliance on carnal reason (p. 333). When the body bows in worship, the heart is a temple, And where there is a temple, there bad friends are weeds. When a liking for bad friends grows up in you, Flee from them, and avoid converse with them. Boot up those weeds, for, if they attain full growth, They will subvert you and your temple together. beloved, this weed is deviation from the " right way," You crawl crookedly, like infants unable to walk. Fear not to acknowledge your ignorance and guilt, That the Heavenly Master may not withhold instruction. 1 Koran xxx. 49. but by reason of the supernatural 2 Koran iii. 182. in man, which alone reveals him 3 "Butisitunreasonabletoconfess and proves him to exist ?" (Jaeobi, that we believe in God, not by reason quoted in Sir W. Hamilton's Leo- of the nature which conceals him, tures on Metaphysics, vol. i. p. 40). i9o THE MA SNA VI. [book iv. When you say, " I am ignorant ; teach me," Such open confession is better than false pride. O ingenuous one, learn of our father Adam, Who said of yore, " Lord, we have dealt unjustly." 1 He made no vain excuses and prevaricated not, Nor did he raise the standard of guile and craft. On the other hand, Iblis raised arguments, saying, " I used to be honourable ; Thou hast disgraced me. My stain is owing to Thee ; Thou art my dyer ; Thou hast caused my sin and transgression." Read the text, " Lord, Thou hast caused me to err," 2 That you plead not compulsion, and so err (like Iblis). How long will you climb into that tree of compulsion ? How long cast out of sight your own freewill ? How long, like Iblis and his evil crew, Throw the blame of your own sins upon God ? How were you compelled to sin when you took such pleasure And pride in engaging in those sins ? Does a man feel such pleasure in acting on compulsion As he exhibits when committing wrong actions ? You battle like twenty men against those Who give you good advice not to do that act ; Saying to them, " This is right, and quite proper ; Who dissuades me from it but men of no account ? " Does a man acting on compulsion talk like this ? Or rather one who is erring of his own freewill ? Whatever your lust wills you deem freewill, What reason demands you deem compulsion. Whoso is wise and prudent knows this, That cleverness comes from Iblis, but love from Adam. Cleverness is like Canaan's swimming in the ocean ; 3 'Tis no river or small stream ; 'tis the mighty ocean. Away with this attempt to swim ; quit self-conceit. 1 Koran vii. 22. is the burden of many of 'Omar 2 He said, " That thou hast caused Khayyam's poems. me to err" (Koran vii. 15). This s Koran xi. 43. See Book iii., Story v. story II.] THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE. 191 'Twill not save you ; Canaan was drowned at last. Love is as the ark appointed for the righteous, Which annuls the danger and provides a way of escape. Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment ; Cleverness is mere opinion, bewilderment intuition. Make sacrifice of your reason at the feet of Mustafa, Say, " God sufficeth me, for He is sufficient for me." * Do not, like Canaan, hang back from entering the ark, Being puffed up with vain conceit of cleverness. He said, " I will escape to the top of high mountains, Why need I put myself under obligation to Noah ? " Ah ! better for him had he never learnt swimming ! Then he would have based his hopes on Noah's ark. Would he had been ignorant of craft as a babe ! Then like a babe he would have clung to his mother. Would he had been less full of borrowed knowledge ! Then he would have accepted inspired knowledge from his father. When, with inspiration at hand, you seek book-learning, Your heart, as if inspired, loads you with reproach. 2 Traditional knowledge, when inspiration is available, Is like making ablutions with sand when water is near. Make yourself ignorant, be submissive, and then You will obtain release from your ignorance. For this cause, son, the Prince of men declared, " The majority of those in Paradise are the foolish." 3 Cleverness is as a wind raising storms of pride ; Be foolish, so that your heart may be at peace ; Not with the folly that doubles itself by vain babble, But with that arising from bewilderment at " The Truth." Those Egyptian women who cut their hands were fools 4 — 1 Koran ix. 130. 3 Freytag, Arabum Proverbia, 2 Knowledge of " The Truth " is to vol. ii. p. 898 ; 1 Cor. iv. 10. be attained not by exercise of the 4 " They were amazed at Yusuf, reason, but by illumination from and out their hands, and said, ' God above. When the light of " The keep us, this is no man ! ' " (Koran Truth "is revealed, reason is drowned xii. 31). in bewilderment. Gulshan i Raz, Answer ii. i g 2 THE MASNAVI. [book iv. Pools as to their hands, being amazed at Yusuf s face. Make sacrifice of reason to love of " The Friend," True reason is to be found where He is. Men of wisdom direct their reason heavenwards, Vain babblers halt on earth where no " Friend " is. If through bewilderment your reason quits your head, Every hair of your head becomes true reason and a head. Then follow commentaries on the text, " thou enfolded in thy mantle -," 1 on the proverb, " Silence is the proper answer to a fool ; " on the ITadis, " God created the angels with reason and the brutes with lust, but man he created with both reason and lust ; the man who follows reason is higher than the angels, and the man who follows lust is lower than the brutes ; " on the text, " As to those in whose heart is a disease, it will add doubt to their doubt, and they shall die infidels," 2 and a comparison of the struggle between reason and lust to that between Majnun and his she-camel, he trying to get to his mistress Laila, and the she-camel trying to run home to her foal. Story III. The Youth who wrote a letter of complaint about his rations to the Xing (p. 337). A certain youth in the service of a great king was dissatisfied with his rations, so he went to the cook and reproached him with dishonouring his master by his stinginess. The youth would not listen to his excuses, but wrote off an angry letter of complaint to the king, in terms of outward compliment and respect, but betraying an angry spirit. On receiving this letter, the king observed that it contained only complaints about meat and drink, and evinced no aspirations after spiritual food, and therefore needed no answer, as " the proper answer to a fool is silence." 3 When the youth received no answer * Koran lxxiii. i. s g ee F re yt a g, Arabum Proverbia, - Koran ix. 126. i. 551, for a parallel. story in.] THE YOUTH AND HIS RATIONS, 193 to his letter, he was much surprised, and threw the blame on the cook and on the messenger, ignoring the fact that the folly of his own letter was the real reason of its being left unanswered. He wrote in all five letters, but the king persisted in his refusal to reply, saying that fools are enemies to God and man, and that he who has any dealings with a fool fouls his own nest. Fools only regard material meat and drink, whereas the food of the wise is the light of God, as it is said by the Prophet, " I pass the night in the presence of my Lord, who giveth me meat and drink," 1 and again, " Fasting is the food of God," i.e., the means by which spiritual food is obtained. 2 Explanation of the text, "And Moses conceived a secret fear within him. We said, 'Fear not, for thou shalt be uppermost (over Pharaoh's magicians) ' " 3 (p. 340). Moses said, " Their sorcery confuses them ; What can I do ? These people have no discernment." God said, " I will generate in them discernment ; I will make their undiscerning reason to see clearly. Although like a sea their waves cast up foam, Moses, thou shalt prevail over them ; fear not ! " The magicians gloried in their own achievements, ,But when Moses' rod became a snake, they were con- founded. Whoso boasts of his beauty and wit, The stone of death is a touchstone of his boasts. Sorcery fades away, but the miracles of Moses advance. Both resemble a dish falling from a roof: The noise of the dish of sorcery leaves only cursing ; The noise of the dish of faith leaves edification. When the touchstone is hidden from the sight of all, Then come forth to battle and boast, base coin ! Your time for boasting is when the touchstone is away ; 1 Koran xxvi. 79. 2 See Mishkat ul Masabih, vol. i. p. 463. 3 Koran xx. 70. N i 9 4 THE MASNAVI. [book i v. The hand of power will soon crush your exaltation. The base coin says to me with pride every moment, " pure gold, how am I inferior to you ? " The gold replies, " Even so, comrade ; But the touchstone is at hand ; be ready to meet it ! " Death of the body is a benefaction to the spiritual ; What damage has pure gold to dread from the shears ? If the base coin were of itself far-sighted, It would reveal at first the blackness it shows at last. If it had showed its blackness at first on its face, 'Twould have avoided hypocrisy now and misery at last. 'Twould have sought the alchemy of grace in due time ; Its reason would have prevailed over its hypocrisy. If it became broken-hearted through its own bad state, 'Twould look onward to Him that heals the broken ; 'Twould look to the result and be broken-hearted, And be made whole at once by the Healer of broken hearts. Divine grace places base copper in the alembic, Adulterated gold is excluded from that favour. adulterated gold, boast not, but see clearly That thy Purchaser is not blind to thy defects. The light of the judgment-day will enlighten his eyes And destroy the glamour of thy fascinations. Behold them that have regard to the ultimate result, And also the regrets of foolish souls and their envy. Behold them that regard only the present, And cast away thoughts of evil to come from their minds. Stoky IV. Bayazid and his impious sayings when beside himself (p. 343). The holy saint Bayazid before his death predicted the birth of the saint Abu-'l-Hasan Khirqani, and specified all the peculiar qualities which would be seen in him. And after his death it came to pass as he had predicted, and Abu-'l-Hasan, hearing what Bayazid had said, used to fre- quent his tomb. One day he visited the tomb as usual, story IV.] BAYAZID AND HIS SAYINGS. 195 and found it covered with snow, and a voice was heard saying, " The world is fleeting as snow. I am calling thee ! Follow me and forsake the world ! " How Bayazid cried out, when beside himself, " Glory be to me ! " and how his disciples were scandalised at this saying, and how Bayazid answered them (p. 349). Once that famous saint Bayazid came to his disciples, Saying, " Lo, I myself am God Almighty." That man of spiritual gifts being visibly beside himself, Said, " There is no God beside me ; worship me ! " Next morning, when his ecstatic state had passed, They said, "You said so and so, which was impious." He answered, " If I do so again, Straightway slay me with your knives ! God is independent of me ; I am in the body. If I say that again you must kill me ! " When that holy person had given this injunction, Bach of his disciples made ready his knife. Again that overflowing cup became beside himself, And his recent injunctions passed from his mind. Alienation came upon him, reason went astray, The dawn shone forth and his lamp paled at its light. Reason is like an officer when the king appears ; The officer then loses his power and hides himself. Reason is God's shadow ; God is the sun. What power has the shadow before the sun ? When a man is possessed by an evil spirit The qualities of humanity are lost in him. Whatever he says is really said by that spirit, Though it seems to proceed from the man's mouth. When the spirit has this rule and dominance over him, The agent is the property of the spirit, and not himself; His self is departed, and he has become the spirit. The Turk without instruction speaks Arabic ; x 1 Alluding to the story of the Kurd, Syad Abu-'l-Wafa, Book i Story xiv. note. i 9 6 THE MASNAVI. [book iv. When lie returns to himself he knows not a word of it. Seeing God is lord of spirits and of man, How can He be inferior in power to a spirit ? When the eagle of alienation from self took wing, Bayazid began to utter similar speeches ; The torrent of madness bore away his reason, And he spoke more impiously than before. " Within my vesture is naught but God, Whether you seek Him on earth or in heaven." His disciples all became mad with horror, And struck with their knives at his holy body. Each one, like the assassins of Kardkoh, 1 Without fear aimed at the body of his chief. Each who aimed at the body of the Shaikh, — His stroke was reversed and wounded the striker. No stroke took effect on that man of spiritual gifts, But the disciples were wounded and drowned in blood. Each who had aimed a blow at his neck, Saw his own throat cut, and gave up the ghost ; He who had struck at his breast Had cleft his own breast and killed himself. They who knew better that lord of felicity, Who had not courage enough to strike a deadly blow, Their half- knowledge held their hands back ; They saved their lives but slightly wounded themselves. On the morrow those disciples, diminished in number, liaised lamentations in their houses. They went to Bayazid, thousands of men and women, Saying, " The two worlds are hidden in thy vesture ; If this body of thine were that of a man, It would have perished of sword-wounds, like a man's." The man in his senses fought with him beside himself, And thrust the thorn into his own eyes." Ah ! you who smite with your sword him beside himself, You smite yourself therewith ; Beware ! 1 A hill in Mazandaran. story IV.] BAYAZID AND HIS SAYINGS. 197 For lie that is beside himself is annihilated and safe ; Yea, he dwells in security for ever. His form is vanished, he is a mere mirror ; Nothing is seen in him but the reflection of another. If you spit at it, you spit at your own face, And if you hit that mirror, you hit yourself ; And if you see an ugly face in it, 'tis your own, And if you see an 'Isa there, you are its mother Mary. He is neither this nor that — he is void of form ; 'Tis your own form which is reflected back to you. But when the discourse reaches this point, lip is closed ; When^pen reaches this point, it is split in twain. Close then your lips, though eloquence be possible. Keep silence ; God knows the right way ! This is followed by an anecdote of the Prophet appoint- ing an Hudhaili youth to be captain of a band of warriors amongst whom were many older and more experienced soldiers, and of the objections made to this appointment, and of the Prophet's answer to the objectors. Why the Prophet promoted the youth to command his seniors (P- 350- The Prophet said, " ye who regard only the outside, Eegard him not as a youth void of talents. Many are they whose beards are black yet are old, Many too have white beards and hearts like pitch. I have made trial of his wisdom often and often, And that youth has shown himself old in his actions. Age consists in maturity of wisdom, son, Not in whiteness of the beard and hair. How can any one be older than Iblis ? Yet, if he has no wisdom, he is naught. Suppose him an infant, if he has 'Isa's soul, He is pure from pride and from carnal lust. That whiteness of the hair is a sign of maturity 1 98 THE MA SNA VI. [book iv. Only to purblind eyes whose vision is limited. Since that shortsighted one judges by outward signs, He seeks the right course by outward tokens. For his sake I said that if ye desire counsel Ye ought to make choice of an old man. He who has emerged from the veil of blind belief Beholds by the light of God all things that exist. His pure light, without signs or tokens, Cleaves for him the rind and brings him to the kernel. To the regarder of externals, genuine and base coin are alike. How can he know what is inside the basket ? Many are the gold coins made black with smoke, So that they elude the clutches of greedy thieves ; Many are the copper coins gilded with gold, And sold as gold to men of slender wits. We who regard the inside of the world, We look at the heart and disregard the outside. The judges who confine their view to externals And base their decisions on outward appearances, As they testify and make outward show of faith, 1 Are straightway dubbed faithful by men of externals. Therefore these heretics, who regard only externals, Have secretly shed the blood of many true believers. Strive then to be old in wisdom and in faith, That, like Universal Reason, you may see within." 2 Stoey V. The Three Fishes (p. 352). This story, which is taken from the book of Kalila and Damnah, 3 is as follows. There was in a secluded place a lake, which was fed by a running stream, and in this lake were three fishes, one very wise, the second half wise, 1 " And some there are who say, to Muhammad. " The first thing ' We believe in God and in the last which God created was ('aql) Reason day,' yet they are not believers" or Intelligence," i.e., the Logos. (Koran ii. 7). 3 Anvar i Suhaili, Book i. Story -' Universal Reason, here applied 15. SlOET v.] THE THREE FISHES. 199 and the third foolish. One day some fishermen passed by that lake, and having espied the fish, hastened home to fetch their nets. The fish also saw the fishermen and were sorely disquieted. The very wise fish, without a minute's delay, quitted the lake and took refuge in the running stream which communicated with it, and thus escaped the impending danger. The half wise fish delayed doing anything till the fishermen actually made their appearance with their nets. He then floated upon the surface of the water, pretending to be dead, and the fisherman took him up and threw him into the stream, and by this device he saved his life. But the foolish fish did nothing but swim wildly about, and was taken and killed by the fishermen. The marks of the wise man, of the half wise, and of the fool (P- 350- The wise man is he who possesses a torch of his own ; He is the guide and leader of the caravan. That leader is his own director and light ; That illuminated one follows his own lead. He -is his own protector; do ye also seek protection From that light whereon his soul is nurtured. The second, he, namely, who is half wise, Knows the wise man to be the light of his eyes. He clings to the wise man like a blind man to his guide, So as to become possessed of the wise man's sight. But the fool, who has no particle of wisdom, Has no wisdom of his own, and quits the wise man. He knows nothing of the way, great or small, And is ashamed to follow the footsteps of the guide. He wanders into the boundless desert, Sometimes halting and despairing, sometimes running. He has no lamp wherewith to light himself on his way, Nor half a lamp which might recognise and seek light. He lacks wisdom, so as to boast of. being alive, And also half wisdom, so as to assume to be dead ? 2co THE MA SNA VI. [book iv. That half wise one became as one utterly dead In order to rise up out of his degradation. If you lack perfect wisdom, make yourself as dead Under the shadow of the wise, whose words give life. The fool is neither alive so as to companion with 'Isa, Nor yet dead so as to feel the power of Tsa's breath. His blind soul wanders in every direction, And at last makes a spring, but springs not upwards. The counsels of the bird (p. 253). A man captured a bird by wiles and snares ; The bird said to him, " noble sir, In your time you have eaten many oxen and sheep, And likewise sacrificed many camels ; You have never become satisfied with their meat, So you will not be satisfied with my flesh. Let me go, that I may give you three counsels, Whence you will see whether I am wise or foolish. The first of my counsels shall be given on your wrist, The second on your well-plastered roof, And the third I will give you from the top of a tree. On hearing all three you will deem yourself happy. As regards the counsel on your wrist, 'tis this, — ' Believe not foolish assertions of any one ! ' " When he had spoken this counsel on his wrist, he flew Up to the top of the roof, entirely free. Then he said, " Do not grieve for what is past ; When a thing is done, vex not yourself about it." He continued, " Hidden inside this body of mine Is a precious pearl, ten drachms in weight. That jewel of right belonged to you, Wealth for yourself and prosperity for your children. You have lost it, as it was not fated you should get it, That pearl whose like can nowhere be found." Thereupon the man, like a woman in her travail, Gave vent to lamentations and weeping. story vi.] MOSES AND PHARAOH. 2 oi The bird said to him, " Did I not counsel yon, saying, ' Beware of grieving over what is past and gone ? ' When 'tis past and gone, why sorrow for it ? Either you understood not my counsel or are deaf. The second counsel I gave you was this, namely, ' Be not misguided enough to believe foolish assertions.' fool, altogether I do not weigh three drachms, How can a pearl of ten drachms be within me ? " The man recovered himself and said, " Well then, Tell me now your third good counsel ! " The bird replied, " You have made a fine use of the others, That I should waste my third counsel upon you ! To give counsel to a sleepy ignoramus Is to sow seeds upon salt land. Torn garments of folly and ignorance cannot be patched. counsellors, waste not the seed of counsel on them ! " Story VI. Moses and Pharaoh (p. 354). 1 Then follows a very long account of the dealings of Moses, an incarnation of true reason, with Pharaoh, the exponent of mere opinion or illusion. It ' begins with a long discussion between Moses and Pharaoh. Moses tells Pharaoh that both of them alike owe their bodies to earth and their souls to God, and that God is their only lord. Pharaoh replies that he is lord of Moses, and chides Moses for his want of gratitude to himself for nurturing him in his childhood. Moses'replies that he recognises no lord but God, and reminds Pharaoh how he had tried to kill him in his infancy. Pharaoh complains that he is made of no account by Moses, and Moses retorts that in order to cultivate a waste field it is necessary to break up the soil ; and in order to make a good garment, the stuff must first be cut up ; and in order to make bread, the wheat must first be ground in the mill, and so on. The best 1 This story is an expansion of Koran xliii. 50 and following verses, and of Koran xi. 202 THE MASNAVI. [book iv. return he can make to Pharaoh for his hospitality to him in his infancy is to set him free from his lust-engendered illusions, like a fish from the fish-hook which has caught him. Pharaoh then twits Moses with his sorceries in changing his staff into a serpent, and thereby beguiling the people. Moses replies that all this was accomplished not by sorcery, like that of Pharaoh's own magicians, but by the power of God, though Pharaoh could not see it, owing to his want of perception of divine things. The ear and the nose cannot see beautiful objects, but only the eye, and similarly the sensual eye, blinded by lust, is impotent to behold spiritual truth. On the other hand, men of spiritual insight, whose vision is purged from lust, become as it were all eyes, and no longer see double, but only the One sole real Being. Man's body, it is true, is formed of earth, but by discipline and contrition it may be made to reflect spiritual verities, even as coarse and hard iron may be polished into a steel mirror. Pharaoh ought to cleanse the rust of evil-doing from his soul, and then he would be able to see the spiritual truths which Moses was displaying before him. The door of repentance is always open. Moses then promised that if Pharaoh would obey one admonition he should receive in return four advantages. Pharaoh was tempted by this promise, and asked what the admonition was. Moses answered that it was this, that Pharaoh should confess that there is no God except the One Creator of all things in heaven and on earth. Pharaoh then prayed him to expound the four advantages he had promised, saying that possibly they might cure him of infidelity, and cause him to become a vessel of mercy, instead of one of wrath. Moses then explained that they were as follows: — (i.) Health. (2.) Long life, ending in the conviction that death is gain. Even as one who knows of a treasure hid in a ruined house pulls down the house to find that treasure, so does the wise man, full of years and experience, pull down the house of the body to gain the treasure of eternal life. story vi.] MOSES AND PHARAOH. 203 The tradition " I was a hidden treasure," &c, bears on this matter. (3.) A better kingdom than that of Egypt, one of peace in place of one of enmity and contention. (4.) Perpetual youth. Pharaoh then proceeded to take counsel with his wife, Asiya, whether it would be advisable to quit his infidelity and believe in the promises of Moses. Asiya, being a pious woman and well inclined to Moses, whom she had nurtured in his infancy, urged him to do so, but Pharaoh said he would first consult his vazir Haman. Asiya had a bad opinion of Haman, whom she knew to be as blind to spiritual truths as Pharaoh him- self, and she did her best to dissuade Pharaoh from consulting him. To illustrate Haman's spiritual blind- ness, she told the story of a royal falcon who fell into the hands of an ignorant old woman. This old woman knew nothing of the virtues of a falcon, and was displeased at the falcon's appearance, and said to it, " What was your mother about to leave your claws and beak so long ? " She then proceeded to trim them short, according to her fancy, and of course spoiled the falcon for all purposes of falconry. Pharaoh, however, would not be diverted from his purpose of consulting Haman, and Asiya was fain to console herself with the reflection that like always herds with like, and so Pharaoh must needs consort with Haman, who was in so many respects a duplicate of himself. To illustrate this she recalled the story of a woman whose infant had crawled to the brink of a canal, where it persisted in remaining, at the imminent peril of its life, despite all her calls and entreaties. In her distress she asked aid of 'Ali, who told her to place another infant on the top of the bank. She did so, and her own infant, seeing its playfellow, left the brink of its own accord and came to join its fellow. The spirit of man is of like genus with the holy prophets, but man's animal lust with the demons. And as things of like nature attract one another, so unlike things repel one another. Thus it is said that when holy men pray to be delivered from 2o 4 THE MASNAVI. [book it. hell, hell also prays that they may be kept away from it. Pharaoh then proceeded to consult Haman, and Haman, on hearing that Moses had proposed to Pharaoh to humble himself and confess the supreme lordship of Allah, was indignant and rent his clothes, saying, " Is not the king- dom of Egypt thine ? Art thou not mightier than this despicable fellow ? 1 Who is he to degrade Pharaoh from his ' supreme lordship ?'" So Pharaoh listened to Haman and refused to be converted to the true faith. Then Moses was much discouraged, but he was consoled by a voice from heaven assuring him that he was well-beloved of God, because in spite of disappointments and through good and evil he clung to God. On the tradition, " I was a hidden treasure and I desired to be known, and I created the world in order to be known " (p. 360). Destroy your house, and with the treasure hidden in it 2 You will be able to build thousands of houses. The treasure lies under it ; there is no help for it ; Hesitate not to pull it down ; do not tarry ! For with the coin of that treasure A thousand houses can be built without labour. At last of a surety that house will be destroyed, And the divine treasure will be seen beneath it. But 'twill not belong to you, because in truth 3 That prize is the wages for destroying the house. When one has not done the work he gets no wages ; " Man gets nothing he has not worked for." i Then you will bite your finger, saying, " Alas ! That bright moon was hidden under a cloud. 1 See Koran xliii. 50. lates ruh by Haqq Toluna, " for the 2 Compare the Iladis, "Die before sake of truth," "in the way of truth." you die," i.e., mortify your carnal The Lucknow commentator, as desires, and you will find spiritual usual, shirks the difficulty, treasure. * Koran liii. 40. 3 The Turkish commentator trans- story VI.] MOSES AND PHARAOH. 205 I did not do what they told me for my good ; Now house and treasure are lost and my hand is empty." You have taken your house on lease or hired it ; 'Tis not your own property to buy and sell. As to the term of the lease, it is till your death ; In that term you have to turn it to use. If before the end of the term of the lease You omit to derive profit from the house, Then the owner puts you out of it, And pulls it down himself to find the gold-mine. While you are now smiting your head in deep regret, And now tearing your beard to think of your folly, Saying, " Alas ! that house belonged to me ; I was blind and did not derive profit from it. Alas ! the wind has carried' off my dwelling For ever ! ' O misery that rests on slaves ! ' 1 In that house of mine I saw but forms and pictures ; I was enchanted with that house so fleeting ! I was ignorant of the treasure hidden beneath it, Otherwise' I would have grasped an axe as a perfume. Ah ! if I had administered the justice of the axe, I should now have been quit of sorrow. But I fixed my gaze on outward forms, Like an infant I sported with playthings. Well said the famous Hakim Sanai, ' Thou art a child ; thy house is full of pictures.' In his divine poem he gives .this advice, ' Sweep away the dust from thy house ! ' ' They who recognise the almighty power of God do not ash ivhere heaven is or where hell is (p. 366). "0 Pharaoh, if you are wise, I show you mercy; But if you are an ass, I give you the stick as an ass. So I will drive you out of your stable, 1 Koran xxxvi. 29. 2 o6 THE MASNAVI. [book iv. Even as I make your head and ears bleed with my stick. In this stable asses and men alike Are deprived of peace by your oppressions. See ! I have brought a staff for the purpose of correcting Every ass who does not prove tractable. It turns into a serpent in vengeance against you, Because you have become a serpent in deed and character. You are an evil serpent, swelled to the size of a hill. Yet look at the Serpent (constellation) in heaven. This staff is a foretaste to you of hell, Saying, ' Ho, take refuge in the light ! Otherwise you will fall into my jaws, And will find no escape from my clutches ! ' This staff even now became a serpent, So that you need not ask, ' Where is God's hell ? ' God makes a hell wheresover He wills ; He makes the very sky a snare and trap for birds. He produces pains and aches in your teeth, So that you say, ' 'Tis a hell and serpent's bite.' Or again He makes your spittle as honey, So that you say, ' 'Tis heaven and wine of Paradise.' He makes sugar to grow in your mouth, That you may know the might of the divine decrees. Therefore, bite not the innocent with your teeth ; Bear in mind the divine stroke that tarries not." God made the Nile blood to the Egyptians, He preserved the Israelites from the peril, That you might know how God discerns Between the wise and the foolish wayfarers. The Nile learned of God discernment When it let the ones through and engulphed the others. God's mercy made the Nile wise, His wrath made Cain foolish. Of His mercy He created wisdom in inanimate things, And of His wrath He deprived the wise of wisdom. Of His mercy wisdom accrued to inanimate things, As a chastisement He took wisdom from the wise. story vi.] MOSES AND PHARAOH. 207 Here at His command wisdom was shed down like rain, Whilst there wisdom saw His wrath and fled away. Clouds and sun, and moon and lofty stars, All come and go in obedience to His ordinance ; No one of them comes save at His appointed time ; It lingers not behind nor anticipates that time. Whereas you understood not this secret, the prophets Have instilled this knowledge into stone and staff; So that you may infer that other inanimate things Without doubt resemble in this stones and staves. The obedience of stone and staff is shown to you, And informs you of that of other inanimate things. They cry, " We are all aware of God and obey Him ; We are not destructive by mere fortuitous chance." Thus you know the water of the Nile when in flood Made distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites. You know the others are wise as earth, who, when cleft, Knew Qarun and swallowed him up in vengeance. Or like the moon, who heard the command and hasted To sever itself into two halves in the sky. 1 Or like the trees and stones, which in all places Were seen to bow down at the feet of Mustafa. The arguments between a Sunni and a Materialist 2 (Dahri) decided by the arbitrament of fire (p. 367). Last night a Sunni said, " The world is transitory ; The heavens will pass away ; ' God will be the heir.' " 3 A philosopher replied, " How know you they are transi- tory? How knows the rain the transitory nature of the cloud ? Are you not a mere mote floating in the sunbeams ? How know you that the sun is transitory ? A mere worm buried in a dung-heap, 1 Koran liv. I. y« n - Schmolders, Ecoles Philoso- 2 Ghazzali divides the ancient phiques, p. 29. Greek philosophers into three classes 3 Koran xv. 23. — Dahriyun, Tabayi'un, and Ilahi- 2o8 THE MASNAVI. [book iv. How can it know the origin and end of the earth ? In blind belief you have accepted this from your father, And through folly have clung to it ever since. Tell me what is the proof of its transitoriness, Or else be silent and indulge not in idle talk." The Sunni said, " One day I saw two persons Engaged in argument on this deep question, — Yea, in dispute and controversy and argument. At last a crowd was gathered round them. I proceeded towards that company To inform myself of the subject of their discourse. One said, ' This sky will pass away ; Doubtless this building had a builder.' The other said, ' It is eternal and without period ; It had no builder, or it was its own builder.' The first said, ' Do you then deny the Creator, The Bringer of day and night, the Sustainer of men ? ' He answered, ' Without proof I will not listen To what you say ; 'tis only based on blind belief. Go ! bring proof and evidence, for never Will I accept this statement without proof.' He answered, ' The proof is within my heart, Yea, my proofs are hidden in my heart. From weakness of vision you see not the new moon ; If I see it, be not angry with me ! ' Much talk followed, and the people were perplexed About the origin and end of the revolving heavens. Then the first said, ' friend, within me is a proof Which assures me of the transitoriness of the heavens. I hold it for certain, and the sign of certainty In him who possesses it is entering into fire. Know this proof is not to be expressed in speech, Any more than the feeling of love felt by lovers. The secret I labour to express is not revealed Save by the pallor and emaciation of my face. When the tears course down my cheeks, They are a proof of the beauty and grace of my beloved.' story vil.] THE COURTIER WHO QUARRELLED. 209 The other said, " I take not these for a proof, Though they may be a proof to common people." The Sunni aaid, " When genuine and base coin boast, Saying, ' Thou art false, I am good and genuine,' Fire is the test ultimately, When the two rivals are cast into the furnace." Accordingly both of them entered the furnace, Both leapt into the fiery flame ; And the philosopher was burnt to ashes, But the God-fearing Sunni was made fairer than before. Story VII. The Courtier who quarrelled with his Friend for saving his Life (p. 369). A king was enraged against one of his courtiers, and drew his sword to slay him. The bystanders were all afraid to interfere, with the exception of one who boldly threw himself at the king's feet and begged him to spare the offender. The king at once stayed his hand, and laid down his sword, saying, " As you have interceded for him, I would gladly pardon him, even if he had acted as a very demon. I cannot refuse your entreaties, because they are the same as my own. In reality, it is not you who make these entreaties for him, but I who make them through your mouth. I am the real actor in this matter, you are only my agent. Bemember the text, ' You shot not when you shot ; ' x you are, as it were, the foam, and I the mighty ocean beneath it. The mercy you show to this offender is really shown by me, the king." The offender was accord- ingly released and went his way ; but, strange to say, he showed no gratitude to his protector, but, on the contrary, omitted to greet him when he met him, and in other ways refused to recognise the favour he had received from him. This behaviour excited remark, and people questioned him as to the cause of his ingratitude to his benefactor. He 1 Koran viii. 17. O 210 THE MA SNA VI. [book i v. replied, " I had offered up my life to the king when this man intervened. It was a moment when, according to the tradition, 'I was with God in such a manner that neither prophet nor angel found entrance along with me, 1 ' and this man intruded between us. I desired no mercy- save the king's blows ; I sought no shelter save the king. If the king had cut off my head he would have given me eternal life in return for it. My duty is to sacrifice my life ; it is the king's prerogative to give life. The night which is made dark as pitch by the king scorns the brightness of the brightest festal day. He who beholds the king is exalted above all thoughts of mercy and vengeance. Of a man raised to this exalted state no description is possible in this world, for he is hidden in God, and words like ' mercy ' and ' vengeance ' only express men's partial and weak views of the matter. It is true ' God taught Adam the names of all things,' 2 but that means the real qualities of things, and not such names as ordinary men use, clad in the dress of human speech. The words and expressions we use have merely a relative truth, and do not unfold absolute truth." He illustrates this by the reply made to the angel Gabriel by Abraham when he was cast into the fire by Nimrod. 3 Gabriel asked him if he could assist him, and Abraham answered, " No ! I have no need of your help." When one has attained union with God he has no need of intermediaries. Prophets and apostles are needed as links to connect ordinary men with God, but he who hears the " inner voice " within him has no need to listen to outward words, even of apostles. Although that intercessor is himself dwelling in God, yet my state is higher and more lovely than his. Though he is God's agent, yet I desire not his intercession to save me from evil sent me by God, for evil at God's hand seems to me good. What seems mercy and kindness to the vulgar seems wrath and ven- 1 See Gulshan i Raz, 1. 120. 3 See Koran xxi. 68, and the Com- 2 Koran ii. 29. msntators thereon. story vii.] THE COURTIER WHO QUARRELLED. 211 geance to God-intoxicated saints. God's severity and chas- tisements serve to exalt his saints, though they make the vulgar more ungodly than before, even as the water of the Nile was pure water to the Israelites, but blood to the Egyptians. Moses asks the Almighty, " Why hast Thou made men to destroy them?"' 1 (p. 371). Moses said, " Lord of the day of account, Thou makest forms; wherefore, then, destroyest Thou them? Thou makest charming forms, both men and women ; Wherefore, then, dost Thou lay them waste ? " God answered, " I know that this query of thine Proceeds not from negation or vain curiosity. Otherwise I should chastise and punish thee ; Yea, I should rebuke thee for this question. But thou seekest to discover in my actions The ruling principle and the eternal mystery, In order to inform the people thereof, And to make ' ripe ' every ' raw ' person. Yea, messenger, thou questionest me that I may reveal My ways to the people, though thou knowest them. Moses, go and sow seed in the ground In order to do justice to this question." When Moses had sowed and his seed had grown up, He took a sickle and reaped the corn, And then a divine voice reached his ears : — "Why hast thou sown and nurtured the corn, And then cut it down directly it was ripe ? " Moses replied, " Lord, I cut it and lay it low Because here I have grain and straw. Grain is out of place in the straw-yard, And straw is useless in the wheat-barn. 1 So Job x. 8 : " Thy hands have made me, yet Thou dost destroy me.' - 212 THE MA SNA VI. [book it. "lis wrong to mix these two, It is needful to sift them one from the other." God said, " Prom whom learnest thou this knowledge Whereby thou hast constructed a threshing-floor ? " Moses said, " Lord, Thou hast given me discernment." God said, " Then have not I also discernment ? Amongst my creatures there are pure spirits, And also dark and befouled spirits. The oyster-shells are not all of the same value ; Some contain pearls, and others black stones. It is needful to discern the bad from the good, Just as much as to sift wheat from straw. The people of this world exist in order to manifest And to disclose the ' hidden treasure.' Eead, ' I was a hidden treasure, and desired to be known ; ' Hide not the hidden treasure, but disclose it. Your true treasure is hidden under a false one, Just as butter is hidden within the substance of milk. The false one is this transitory body of yours, The true one your divine soul. Long time this milk is exposed to view, And the soul's butter is hidden and of no account. Stir up your milk assiduously with knowledge, So that what is hidden in it may be disclosed ; Because this mortal is the guide to immortality, As the cries of revellers indicate the cup-bearer." Story VIII. The Prince who, after having been beguiled by a Courtesan, returned to his True Love (p. 373). A certain king dreamed that his dearly beloved son, a youth of great promise, had come to an untimely end. On awaking he was rejoiced to find that his son was still alive ; but he reflected that an accident might carry him off at any moment, and therefore decided to marry him with- out delay, in order that the succession might be secured. STORY viii. J THE PRINCE AND THE COURTESAN. 213 Accordingly he chose the daughter of a pious Darvesh as a bride for his son, and made preparations for the wedding. But his wife and the other ladies of his harem did not approve of the match, considering it below the dignity of the prince to marry the daughter of a beggar. The king rebuked them, saying that a Darvesh who had renounced worldly wealth for the sake of God was not to be con- founded with an ordinary beggar, and insisted on the consummation of the marriage. After the marriage the prince refused to have anything to do with his bride, though she was very fair to look on, and he carried on an intrigue with an ugly old woman who had bewitched him by sorcery. After a year, however, the king found some physicians who succeeded in breaking the spell, and the prince returned to his senses, and his eyes were opened to the superior attractions of his wife, and he renounced his ugly paramour and fell in love with his wife. This is a parable, the true wife being the Deity, the old paramour the world, and the physicians the prophets and saints. Another illustration is a child who played at besieging a mimic fort with his fellows, and succeeded in capturing it and keeping the others out. At this moment God " be- stowed on him wisdom, though a child," x and it became to him a day " when a man flees from his brethren," 2 and he recognised the emptiness of this idle sport, and engaged in the pursuit of holiness and piety. This is followed by an anecdote of a devotee who had so concentrated his thoughts on things above that he was utterly careless of all earthly troubles, and was cheerful and rejoicing even in the midst of a severe famine. 1 Koran xix. 13. * Koran lxxx. 34. 2 i 4 THE MA SNA VI. [book iv. The world is the outward form of " Universal Season" (Muhammad), and he who grieves him must expect trouble in the world 1 (p. 377). The whole world is the outward form of Universal Eeason, For it is the father of all creatures of reason. When a man acts basely towards Universal Reason, Its form, the world, shows its teeth at him. Be loyal to this father and renounce disobedience, That this earthy house may furnish you golden carpets. Then the judgment-day will be the "cash of your state," Earth and heavens will be transfigured before you. 2 I am ever in concord with this father of ours, And earth ever appears to me as a Paradise. Each moment a fresh form, a new beauty, So that weariness vanishes at these ever-fresh sights. I see the world filled with blessings, — Fresh waters ever welling up from new fountains. The sound of those waters reaches my ears, My brain and senses are intoxicated therewith. Branches of trees dancing like fair damsels, Leaves clapping hands like singers. These glories are a mirror shining through a veil ; If the mirror were unveiled, how would it be ? I tell not one in a thousand of them, Because every ear is stopped with doubt. To men of illusions these tales are mere good tidings, But men of knowledge deem them not tidings, but ready cash. This is illustrated by an anecdote of Ezra or 'Uzair and his sons. 3 On his return from Babylon, whither he had been carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar, Ezra beheld the ruins of Jerusalem, and he said, " How shall God give life to this city after it hath been dead ? " And God caused 1 " A ql i Kull, Universal Reason, 2 Koran xiv. 49. or the Logos, was identified with the s This story comes from Koran prophet Muhammad." ii. 261. STORY IX.] THE MULE AND THE CAMEL. 215 him to die for a hundred years, and then raised him again to life, and said to him, " How long hast thou waited ? " He said, "I have waited a day." God said, "Nay, thou hast waited a hundred years. Look at the dead bones of thine ass ; we will raise them and clothe them with flesh." Ezra was raised from the dead as a young man, whereas his sons were then, of course, very old men. They met him, and asked if he had seen their father. He replied, "I have seen him ; he is coming." Some of them rejoiced, considering this good news ; but others, who had loved him more dearly, knew him and fainted with joy. What was mere good tidings to the men of opinion was the " ready money of their state " to men of real knowledge. Story IX. The Mule and the Camel (p. 379). A male said to a camel, " How is it that I am always stumbling and falling down, whilst you never make a false step ? " The camel replied, " My eyes are always directed upwards, and I see a long way before me, while your eyes look down, and you only see what is immediately under your feet." The mule admitted the truth of the camel's statement, and besought him to act as his guide in future, and the camel consented to do so. Just so partial reason cannot see beyond the grave, but real reason looks onward to the day of judgment, and, therefore, is enabled to steer a better course in this world. For this cause, men having only partial reason or mere opinion of their own ought to follow the guidance of the saints, according to the text, " believers, enter not upon any affair ere God and his "Apostle lead the way." x Then follows another anecdote of an Egyptian who asked an Israelite to draw water for him from the Nile, because the water of the Nile turned to blood when drawn by an Egyptian. Afterwards the Egyptian asked the 1 Koran xlix. 1. 2i6 THE MASNAVI. [book iv. Israelite to pray for him, and the Israelite admonished him to renounce his egotism and conceit of his own exist- ence, which blinded his eyes to divine verities. In illus- tration of this he tells the same story of an adulterous woman, which is known as the " Merchant's Tale " in Chaucer. This woman, desiring to carry on an intrigue with her paramour, climbed up a pear-tree to gather the fruit, and when she had reached the top she looked down, and pretended that she saw her husband misconducting himself with another woman. The husband assured her there was no one but himself there, and desired her to come down and see for herself. She came down and ad- mitted there was no one there. Her husband then, at her request, ascended the tree, and she at once called her paramour, and began to amuse herself with him. Her husband saw her from his post in the tree, and began to abuse her ; but she declared there was no man with her, and that the pear-tree made her husband see double, just as it had made her see double previously. The evolution of man (p. 385). First he appeared in the class of inorganic things, 1 Next he passed therefrom into that of plants. For years he lived as one of the plants, Eemembering naught of his inorganic state so different ; And when he passed from the vegetive to the animal state He had no remembrance of his state as a plant, Except the inclination he felt to the world of plants, Especially at the time of spring and sweet flowers. Like the inclination of infants towards their mothers, Which know not the cause of their inclination to the breast, Or the excessive inclination of young disciples Towards their noble and illustrious teachers. 1 See the parallel passage in Gul- of the ascending grades of the soul, shan i Raz, 1. 317, and the note. It or vital principle, is based on the Aristotelian doctrine STORY IX.] THE MULE AND THE CAMEL. 217 The disciple's partial reason comes from that Reason, The disciple's shadow is from that bough. When the shadows in the disciples cease, They know the reason of their attachment to the teachers. For, fortunate one, how can the shadow move, Unless the tree that casts the shadow move as well ? Again, the great Creator, as you know, Drew man out of the animal into the human state. Thus man passed from one order of nature to another, Till he became wise and knowing and strong as he is now. Of his first souls he has now no remembrance, And he will be again changed from his present soul. In order to escape from his present soul full of lusts He must behold thousands of reasonable souls. 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 griefs 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 griefs, On the other hand, will be joy when you awake. 21 8 THE MA SNA VI. [book iv. 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 coma Therefore God calls the world " a pastime and a sport," 1 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, 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 2 (p. 387). 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, 1 Koran xxix. 64. 2 Zu'l Qarnain, Chaucer's Dulkarn, means " He of the two horns," and here denotes Alexander the Great. story IX.] THE MULE AND THE CAMEL. 219 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 vapours." 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 (p. 388). Mustafa said to the angel Gabriel, " 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, 220 THE MASNAVL [book iv. But lie possesses within him a mighty property. 1 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 (p. 389). 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 for ever 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 Eeal Spiritual Being ! When my spirit recognises thy spirit, We remember our essential union and origin. 1 See the parallel passage in Gul- mystic " inner light " or spiritual shan i Ras, 1. 431, and the note intuition, thereon. This property is the Boofe V. Story I. The Prophet and his Infidel Guest (p. 393). Aftee 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." x The birds are explained to be the duck of gluttony, the cock of concupiscence, the peacock of ambi- tion 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 1 Koran ii. 262. 222 THE MASNAVI. [book v. 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 test, " As thou livest, O Muhammad, they were bewildered by drunkenness," 1 and being, in fact, urged to it by a divine command. 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 occu- pation 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;" 2 and again, " Lend God a liberal loan ; " 3 and again, " God only desireth to put away filthiness from you as His household, and with cleansing to cleanse you." i The Prophet then urged him to bear witness that God was the Lord, even as was done by the sons of Adam, 5 and 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 know- ledge of the true faith and regenerating him, even as Tsa had regenerated 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 1 Koran xv. 72. s Koran Ixxiii. 20. 2 Koran ix. 33. * Koran xxxiii. 33. 6 Koran vii. 171. story I.] THE PROPHET AND HIS GUEST. 233 by- one goat, and steadfastly refused to take more, saying he felt perfectly satisfied with the little he had already taken. The other guests marvelled 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 hear witness of the state of the heart within (P- 396)- 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, " 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 (Pasting 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 224 THE MA SNA VI. [book v. 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. 1 Thus acts and words are witnesses of the mind within, Prom 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." Eequire 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 traveller 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. 1 " Islam is the baptism of God " (Koran ii. 132). story I.] THE PROPHET AND HIS GUEST. 225 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. Tour words and acts must be without self-contradiction In order to be accepted without question. " Your aims are different," x and yon 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, stiff-necked one ; " Stand aloof and wait for them, for they too wait." 2 Prayers for spiritual enlightenment (p. 399). God, who hast no peer, bestow Thy favour 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, Lord of faith ! Of Thy bounty all partake, both men and women, Thou art ungrudging in bounties, Hearer of prayer. Prayers are granted by Thee before they are uttered, 1 Koran xcii. 4. for their punishment, as they wait 2 Koran xxxii. 30. I.e. , Wait thou for thy downfall (Rodwell). P 226 THE MASNAVI. [book v. Thou openest the door to admit hearts every moment ! How many letters Thou writest with Thy Almighty pen ! Through marvelling 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, skilful Pair- writer ! Imprinting every moment on Not-being the fair forms Of the world of ideals, to confound all thought ! x 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. 2 God made reason a reader of all these letters, To suggest to it reflections on that outpouring of grace. 3 Eeason, like Gabriel, learns day by day Its daily portion from the " Indelible Tablet." 4 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, " the misery that rests upon my servants." s Then follow reflections on the sacrifice by Abraham of the peacock of ambition and ostentation. Next comes a discourse on the thesis that all men can recognise the mercies of God and the wrath of God ; but God's mercies are often hidden in His chastisements, and vice versa, and 1 Here we have another Platonic 3 The Bulaq translator renders doctrine. " Some say the belief of An naward thus. the Sufis is the same as that of the 4 The " Indelible Tablet " (of Ishraqin (Platonists)." Dabistan i God's decrees) is here applied to the Muzahib, by Shea and Troyer, iii. Logos, — the channel through whom 281. God renews the " world of creation " 2 I.e., I will recognise the nonen- day by day. tity of all this phenomenal being, E Koran xxxvi. 29. and court self-annihilation. stoey II.] THE ARAB AND HIS DOG. 227 it is only men of deep spiritual discernment who can re- cognise acts of mercy and acts of wrath concealed in their opposites. The object of this concealment is to try and test men's dispositions ; according to the text, " To prove which of you will be most righteous in deed." 1 Stoey II. The Arab and his Dog (p. 402). The doctrine of the Mu'tazilites, 2 already mentioned, that all men's intellects are alike and equal at birth, is again controverted, and the poet dwells on the essen- tial differences which characterise the intellects akin to Universal Eeason 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, running after worldly rank and power, to their own destruction. In order to make pro- bation of men, as already explained, God fills the world with deceptions, 3 — making apparent blessings destructive to us, and apparent evils salutary. On the other hand, if men try to deceive God, they fail signally. Hypocritical weeping and wailing like that of Joseph's 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 neighbourhood by his ostentatious grief. One of the neighbours came and inquired into the matter, 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 principle not to part with any of it to any one who could not pay for it ; but that, as his tears cost him 1 Koran Ixvii. 2. 3 " Of them who devise strata- 2 The Mu'tazilites were one of gems, God is best " (Koran iii. 47). the principal unorthodox sects. See Sale, Prelim. Disc, p. 112, 228 THE MASNAVI. [book v. nothing, he was pouring them forth in token of the sorrow he felt for his dog's death. The neighbour, on hearing this, rebuked him for his hypocrisy, and went his way. Then follows a commentary on the text, " Almost would the infidels strike thee down with their very looks when they hear the reading of the Koran." x Story III. The Sage and the Peacock (p. 404). 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 mutilating himself and spoiling his beauty in so wanton a manner. 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 constantly pursued by hunters, whom he had no strength to contend against ; and he had accord- ingly 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 accomplishments 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 " 2 (p. 405). Tear not thy plumage off, it cannot be replaced ; Disfigure not thy face in wantonness, 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 ! , 1 Koran Ixviii. 51. 2 A Hadis. btortiii.] THE SAGE AND THE PEACOCK. 229 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. Eend 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. 1 Hadst thou no concupiscence there could be no abstinence. Where no antagonist exists, what need is there of armies ? Ah ! make not thyself an eunuch, 2 become 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 ; " 3 wherefore earn money. Since expenditure is impossible without previous gain ? Although the passage contains only the word " Expend," Bead " 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. 6 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 1 Cp. Bp. Butler, " On a state of 6 Koran vi. 142 : "Eat of their probation as implying trial and dan- fruit, but be not prodigal, and exceed ger" (Analogy, Chap. iv. Pt. 1). not." 2 Probably referring to Origen. 6 Or, " If there be no supporter, 3 Koran ii. 264. there can be nothing supported." 4 Koran iii. 200. 230 THE MASNAVI. [book v. to be safe from one's internal enemies is to annihilate self, and 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 barrier, and behind them a barrier, so that they shall not see." x 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 pur- pose of reforming himself, but only to do mischief to mankind. 2 Prayers to God to change our base inclinations and give us higher aspirations (p. 409). Thou that changest earth into gold, And out of other earth madest the father of mankind, Thy business is changing things and bestowing favours, My business is mistakes and forgetfulness and error. Change my mistakes and forgetfulness to knowledge ; 1 am altogether vile, make me temperate and meek. 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 ; 3 Thou makest some earth-born men as heaven, And multipliest 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 1 Koran xxxvi. 8. 2 Koran vii. 13. s Koran xciii. 7. STOBTin.] THE SAGE AND THE PEACOCK. 231 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 lieu 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. Eegard 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, 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 ! 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 2 32 THE MA SNA VI. [book v. 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 — Story IV. Muhammad Khwarazm Shah and the Bdfizis of Sabzawar (p. 411). 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 a.d. 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 was inhabited by Rafizis or rank Shi'as, naturally most obnoxious to a Sunni prince claiming descent from the first Khalif 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 con- dition, 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 traveller lying at the roadside at the point of death, who bore the name of Abu Bakr. As he was un- able 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 say- ing of the Prophet, " God regards not your outward show and your wealth, but your hearts and your deeds." In this btoky IV.] MUHAMMAD SHAH AND THE RAFIZIS. 233 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 (p. 413). 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 Imng 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, cursed one." But Iblis said, " Give me more, blessed Defender." God gave him succulent and sweet and costly wines, And also store of silken garments. But Iblis said, " 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 ; " J 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." 1 Koran xcv. 4. 234 THE MA SNA VI. [book v. Story V. The Man who claimed to he a Prophet (p. 417). 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, " 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, 1 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 ? " 2 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. 3 God taught them to make wax and honey, and He teaches me nobler things than these. Whoso has his face reddened with celestial wine 1 Koran iii. 12. 2 Koran xcvi. 9. 3 Koran xvi. 70. story v.] THE PRETENDED PROPHET. 235 is a prophet of like disposition with Muhammad, and whoso is unaffected by that spiritual drink is to be ac- counted an enemy to God and man." The Prophet 1 s prayer for the envious people (p. 419). 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," 1 Release them from the arts of deceivers. Eedeem them from envying, O gracious One, That through envy they be not stoned like Iblis. 2 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 Bamin " 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 1 Koran ci. 5. 2 Koran xv. 17. The sin of Iblis was his envy of Adam. 23 6 THE MA SNA VI. [book v. 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, " thou soul which art at rest, return to thy Lord, pleased, and pleasing Him." 1 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. 2 And, apparently in allusion to the name Abu Hanifa, the poet recalls the text, "They followed the faith of Abraham, the orthodox " (Hanifun)? Story VI. The Disciple who Mindly imitated his Shaikh (p. 421). 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 behaviour, and wept as copiously himself, though he understood not a word of the discourse. In fact, he behaved just like a deaf man who sees those around him laughing, and laughs himself out of compliment 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 Shaikh's true disciples, being jealous for the honour 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.' Tour ignorant and mere imitative weeping is totally unlike the weeping of that holy saint. Such weeping as his is only 1 Korau lxxxix. 27. 2 Mishkat ul Masabih, i. p. 209, note. 3 Koran iv. 124. story vi.] THE DISCIPLE AND HIS SHAIKH. 237 possible to one who has, like him, waged the spiritual war for thirty years. His weeping is not caused by worldly griefs, but by the deep concerns of the spirit. You can- not perceive by reason or sense the spiritual mysteries that are open and plain to his enlightened vision, any more than the darkness can behold the light. His breath- ings 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. Pools 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 under- standing 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 spoken by " Universal Eeason " or the " Word of God " behind the mirrors of the saints. The worthlessness of mere Mind imitation (taglid) of religious exercises (p. 421). 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, 238 THE MASNAVI. [book v. 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 wrong. 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 ! " x 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 ! 2 1 Koran lxxiv. 2. Dawn smiles of the " Sahih Bokhari," the first first as " false dawn," and the second and most esteemed collection of time as "true dawn." traditions. 2 Alluding to Bokhari, the author story vi.] THE DISCIPLE AND HIS SHAIKH. 239 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," l But he who is " carried by sea " is the truly learned one. The King of kings showers special favours upon him ; Know this, man pledged to vain illusions ! The mere legal theologian is impotent to behold the light of the Spirit (p. 422). 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</