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2
2667-2716

  • O you that on this chessboard, for the sake of remembrance, have checkmated hundreds of thousands of masters,

  • O you by whose difficult attacking moves (our) hearts have been burned and your (own) heart has been blackened,

  • You are the sea of cunning, (and all) the creatures (are but) a drop: you are like a mountain and (we) simple ones (are but) a mote.

  • Who shall escape from your cunning, O adversary? We are drowned in the flood, except them that are protected (by God). 2670

  • By you many a fortunate star has been burned: by you many an army and host have been scattered.”

  • How Iblís again replied to Mu‘áwiya.

  • Iblís said to him, “Unravel these knot (and apprehend the matter): I am the touchstone for the false coin and the true.

  • God hath made me the test of lion and cur, God hath made me the test of genuine coin and counterfeit.

  • When have I blackened the false coin's face? I am the money-changer: I have (only) valued it.

  • To the good I act as guide, the dry branches I rip off. 2675

  • I lay these (different) sorts of fodder (before people)—for what purpose? In order that it may be seen of what kind the animal is.

  • When a wolf bears young to an antelope, and there is some doubt whether it (the young one) has the nature of wolf or antelope,

  • Drop you grass and bones in front of it (and see) to which side it quickly steps.

  • If it comes towards the bones, it is canine; and if it craves the grass, it is assuredly of the antelope race.

  • A wrath and a mercy were wedded to one another: from these twain was born the world of good and evil. 2680

  • Offer grass and bones, offer the food of the flesh and the food of the spirit.

  • If he seek the food of the flesh, he is bobtailed (worthless), and if he desire the food of the spirit, he is a (spiritual) chief.

  • If he serve the body, he is an ass; and if he go into the sea of the spirit, he will find pearls.

  • Although these twain—good and evil—are different, yet these twain are (engaged) in one work.

  • The prophets offer devotions, the enemies (of God) offer lusts. 2685

  • How should I make the good man bad? I am not God. I am (only) a prompter, I am not their creator.

  • (How) should I make the fair foul? I am not the Lord. I am (only) a mirror for the foul and the fair.

  • The Hindoo burnt a mirror in vexation, saying, ‘This (mirror) causes a man to look black-faced.’

  • He (God) hath made me an informer and truth-teller, that I may tell where the ugly one is and where the beautiful.

  • I am a witness: how is prison (the right place) for a witness? I do not deserve (to go to) prison, God is the witness (to my innocence). 2690

  • Wherever I see a fruitful sapling, I foster (it) diligently like a nurse.

  • Wherever I see a sour and dry tree, I cut it down, in order that the musk may be delivered (separated) from the dung.

  • The dry (tree) says to the gardener, ‘O young man, why do you cut off my head without fault (on my part)?’

  • The gardener says, ‘Be silent, O evil-natured one! Is not thy dryness sin enough in thee?’

  • The dry (tree) says, ‘I am straight, I am not crooked: why are you houghing me (who am) without guilt?’ 2695

  • The gardener says, ‘Hadst thou been blest, would that thou wert crooked (if only) thou wert moist (full of sap).

  • Thou wouldst have drawn (into thyself) the Water of Life: thou wouldst have been steeped in the Water of Life.

  • Thy seed and thy root were bad, and thou hast not been joined to a good tree.

  • If the sour branch be joined to a sweet one, that sweetness will strike (impress itself) on its nature.’”

  • How Mu‘áwiya dealt sternly with Iblís.

  • Said the Amír, “O brigand, do not argue: there is no way for you (to penetrate) into me, (so) do not seek the way. 2700

  • You are a brigand, and I am a stranger and merchant: how should I purchase any garments that you may bring?

  • Do not prowl about my property, infidel as you are: you are not one to buy the property of anybody.

  • The brigand is not a buyer for (from) any person, and if he seem to be a buyer, ’tis (only his) deceit and artfulness.

  • I wonder what this envier has in his gourd! O God, help us against this enemy!

  • If he pronounce one more screed (of his spells) over me, this brigand will rob me of the mantle (of my faith). 2705

  • How Mu‘áwiya complained of Iblís to the most high God and besought His aid.

  • O God, this talk of his is like smoke: take my hand (and help me), or else my raiment is blackened.

  • I cannot prevail in argument with Iblís, for he leads every one, noble and base (alike), into temptation.

  • Adam, who is the lord of He taught (him) the Names, is powerless before the lightning-like onset of this cur.

  • He cast him from Paradise upon the face of the earth: he (Adam) fell from Simák into his net, like a fish,

  • Crying in lamentation, ‘Verily, we have wronged (ourselves).’ There is no bound to his (Satan's) guile and imposture. 2710

  • In his every saying there is mischief: myriads of enchantments are concealed in his mind.

  • He unmans men in a moment: he kindles vain desire in man and woman.

  • O Iblís, you that consume the people and seek to tempt them (to their ruin), on what ground did you awaken me? Tell the truth!”

  • How Iblís once more exhibited his deceit.

  • He said, “No man that thinks evil (is suspicious) would hearken to the truth notwithstanding a hundred signs (that pointed it out).

  • Every mind that has conceived fancies (suspicions)—when you bring forward proof, its fancy is increased. 2715

  • When (sound and true) words enter it, they become a disease (they are corrupted and falsified): the holy warrior's sword becomes a tool for the thief.