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1
2856-2905

  • He has come (hither) by way of the desert and by travelling (on land): it will be nearer for him (to return) by way of the Tigris.”
  • When he (the Arab) embarked in the boat and beheld the Tigris, he was prostrating himself in shame and bowing (his head),
  • Saying, “Oh, wonderful is the kindness of this bounteous King, and ’tis (even) more wonderful that he took that water.
  • How did that Sea of munificence so quickly accept from me such spurious coin as that?”
  • Know, O son, that everything in the universe is a jug which is (filled) to the brim with wisdom and beauty. 2860
  • It (everything in the universe) is a drop of the Tigris of His beauty, which (beauty) because of its fullness is not contained under the skin (that should enclose it).
  • ’Twas a hidden treasure: because of its fullness it burst forth and made the earth more shining than the heavens.
  • ’Twas a hidden treasure: because of its fullness it surged up and made the earth (like) a sultan robed in satin.
  • And if he (the Arab) had seen a branch of the Divine Tigris, he would have destroyed that jug, destroyed it.
  • They that saw it are always beside themselves: like one beside himself, they hurled a stone at the jug (of their self-existence). 2865
  • O thou who from jealousy hast hurled a stone at the jug, and thy brokenness has in truth become soundness,
  • The jar is shattered, (but) the water is not spilled from it: from this shattering have arisen a hundred soundnesses.
  • Every piece of the jar is in dance and ecstasy, (though) to the partial (discursive) reason this seems absurd.
  • In this state (of ecstasy) neither the jug is manifest nor the water. Consider well, and God knoweth best what is right.
  • When you knock at the door of Reality, it will be opened to you: beat the pinion of thought, in order that you may be made a king-falcon. 2870
  • The pinion of your thought has become mud-stained and heavy because you are a clay-eater: clay has become to you as bread.
  • Bread and meat are (originally) clay: eat little thereof, that you may not remain in the earth, like clay.
  • When you become hungry, you become a dog: you become fierce and ill-tempered and ill-natured.
  • When you have eaten your fill, you have become a carcase: you have become devoid of understanding and without feet (inert), like a wall.
  • So at one time you are a carcase and at another time a dog: how will you run well in the road of the lions (follow the saints)? 2875
  • Know that your only means of hunting is the dog (the animal soul): throw bones to the dog but seldom,
  • Because when the dog has eaten its fill, it becomes rebellious: how should it run to the goodly chase and hunt?
  • Want of food was leading the Arab till he arrived at that (exalted) court and that (high) fortune.
  • We have related in the (foregoing) story the kindness shown by the King to that needy one who had no refuge.
  • Whatsoever the man in love (with God) speaks, the scent of Love is springing from his mouth into the abode of Love. 2880
  • If he speak (formal) theology, it all turns to (spiritual) poverty: the scent of poverty comes from that man of sweet and beguiling discourse.
  • And if he speak infidelity, it has the scent of (the true) religion, and if he speak doubtfully, his doubt turns to certainty.
  • The perverse froth that has risen from a sea of sincerity— that branch (derivative) has been adorned by the pure root (source).
  • Know that its froth is pure and worthy: know that it is like revilement from the lips of the beloved,
  • Whose unsought reproaches have become sweet (to the lover) for the sake of her cheek which he desires. 2885
  • If he (the lover of God) speak falsehood, it seems (like) the truth. O (fine) falsehood that would adorn (even) the truth!
  • If you cook (a confection) of sugar in the form of a loaf of bread, it will taste of candy, not of bread, while you are sucking it.
  • If a true believer find a golden idol, how should he leave it (there) for the sake of every idolator?
  • Nay, he will take it and cast it into the fire: he will break (destroy) its borrowed (unreal) form,
  • In order that the idol-shape may not remain on the gold, because Form hinders and waylays (those who seek Reality). 2890
  • The essence of its gold is the gift of Lordship (Divinity): the idol-stamp on the sterling gold is borrowed (unreal).
  • Do not burn a blanket on account of a flea, and do not let the day go (to waste) on account of every gnat's headache.
  • You are an idol-worshipper when you remain in (bondage to) forms: leave its (the idol's) form and look at the reality.
  • If you are a man (bound) for the Pilgrimage, seek a pilgrim (as your) companion, whether he be a Hindoo or a Turcoman or an Arab.
  • Do not look at his figure and colour, look at his purpose and intention. 2895
  • If he is black, (yet) he is in accord with you: call him white, for (spiritually) his complexion is the same as yours.
  • This story has been told up and down (confusedly), like the thoughts of lovers, without foot (end) or head (beginning).
  • It hath no head, inasmuch as it existed before eternity; it hath no foot: it has (always) been akin to everlastingness.
  • Nay, it is like water: every drop thereof is both head and foot, and at the same time without both.
  • This is not a story, mark you! God forbid! This is the ready money (presentation, here and now) of my state and yours. Consider (it) well, 2900
  • Because the Súfí is grand and glorious (in his spiritual vision): whatever is past is not remembered (does not enter his mind).
  • We are both the Arab and the jug and the King; we are all: he that has been turned away from it (the Truth) shall be turned away.
  • Know that the husband is Reason, and this wife is the appetitive soul and cupidity: these twain are dark and deniers (of Reason); Reason is the (bright) candle.
  • Now hear the origin of their denial, whence it arose: (it arose) from the fact that the Whole hath various parts.
  • The parts of the Whole are not parts in relation to the Whole — (they are) not like the scent of the rose, which is a part of the rose. 2905