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1
135-184

  • I said to him: “It is better that the secret of the Friend should be disguised: do thou hearken (to it as implied) in the contents of the tale. 135
  • It is better that the lovers' secret should be told in the talk of others.”
  • He said: “Tell this openly and nakedly: talk of religion is better overt than covert.
  • Lift the veil and speak nakedly, for I do not wear a shirt when I sleep with the Adored One.”
  • I said: “If He should become naked in (thy) vision, neither wilt thou remain nor thy bosom nor thy waist.
  • Ask thy wish, but ask with measure: a blade of straw will not support the mountain. 140
  • If the Sun, by whom this world is illumined, should approach a little (nearer), all will be burned.
  • Do not seek trouble and turmoil and bloodshed: say no more concerning the Sun of Tabriz!”
  • This (mystery) hath no end: tell of the beginning. Go, relate the conclusion of this tale.
  • How that saint demanded of the king to be alone for the purpose of discovering her malady.
  • He said: “O king, make the house empty; send away both kinsfolk and strangers.
  • Let no one listen in the entrance-halls, that I may ask certain things of this handmaiden.” 145
  • The house was left empty, and not one inhabitant (remained): nobody save the physician and that sick girl.
  • Very gently he said (to her), “Where is thy native town? for the treatment suitable to the people of each town is separate.
  • And in that town who is related to thee? With what hast thou kinship and affinity?”
  • He laid his hand on her pulse and put questions, one by one, about the injustice of Heaven.
  • When a thorn darts into any one's foot, he sets his foot upon his knee, 150
  • And keeps searching for its head with the point of a needle, and if he does not find it, he keeps moistening it (the place) with his lip.
  • A thorn in the foot is so hard to find: how (then) is it with a thorn in the heart? Answer (that)!
  • If every base fellow had seen the thorn in the heart, when would sorrows gain the upper hand over any one?
  • Somebody sticks a thorn under a donkey's tail: the donkey does not know how to get rid of it: he starts jumping.
  • He jumps, and the thorn strikes more firmly (pierces deeper): it needs an intelligent person to extract a thorn. 155
  • In order to get rid of the thorn, the donkey from irritation and pain went on kicking and dealing blows in a hundred places,
  • (But) that thorn-removing physician was an expert: putting his hand on one spot after another, he tested (it).
  • He inquired of the girl concerning her friends, by way of narrative,
  • And she disclosed to the physician (many) circumstances touching her home and (former) masters and town and dwelling.
  • He listened to her story (while) he continued to observe her pulse and its beating, 160
  • So that at whosoever's name her pulse should begin to throb, (he might know that) that person is the object of her soul's desire in the world.
  • He reckoned up the friends and town; then he mentioned another town by name.
  • He said: “When you went forth from your own town, in which town did you live mostly?”
  • She mentioned the name of a certain town and from that too she passed on (to speak of another, and meanwhile) there was no change in the colour of her face or in her pulse.
  • Masters and towns, one by one, she told of, and about dwelling-place and bread and salt. 165
  • She told stories of many a town and many a house, (and still) no vein of her quivered nor did her cheek grow pale.
  • Her pulse remained in its normal state, unimpaired, till he asked about Samarcand, the (city) sweet as candy.
  • (Thereat) her pulse jumped and her face went red and pale (by turns), for she had been parted from a man of Samarcand, a goldsmith.
  • When the physician found out this secret from the sick (girl), he discerned the source of that grief and woe.
  • He said: “Which is his quarter in passing (through the town)?” “Sar-i Pul (Bridgehead),” she replied, “and Ghátafar street.” 170
  • Said he: “I know what your illness is and I will at once display the arts of magic in delivering you.
  • Be glad and care-free and have no fear, for I will do to you that which rain does to the meadow.
  • I will be anxious for you, be not you anxious: I am kinder to you than a hundred fathers.
  • Beware! tell not this secret to any one, not though the king should make much inquiry from you.
  • When your heart becomes the grave of your secret, that desire of yours will be gained more quickly.” 175
  • The Prophet said that any one who hides his inmost thought will soon attain to the object of his desire.
  • When the seed is hidden in the earth, its inward secret becomes the verdure of the garden.
  • If gold and silver were not hidden, how would they get nourishment (grow and ripen) in the mine?
  • The promises and soothing words of the physician made the sick (girl) safe (free) from fear.
  • There are true promises, grateful to the heart; there are false promises, fraught with disquietude. 180
  • The promise of the noble is a flowing (bountiful) treasure; the promise of the unworthy becomes anguish of soul.
  • How the saint, having discovered the (cause of) the illness, laid it before the king.
  • Then he arose and went to see the king and acquainted him with a portion of that matter.
  • “The (best) plan,” said he, “is that we should bring the man here for the sake of (curing) this malady.
  • Summon the goldsmith from that far country; beguile him with gold and robes of honour.”
  • How the king sent messengers to Samarcand to fetch the goldsmith.