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4
2847-2896

  • ‘The proof,’ he replied, ‘is within my soul: my evidence is hidden within my soul.
  • You, from weakness of eye, are not seeing the new moon: (if) I am seeing it, do not you be angry with me.’
  • There was much debate, and the people became perplexed as to the beginning and end of this well-ordered celestial sphere.
  • He (the pious man) said, ‘Friend, within me is a (decisive) proof: I have a (manifest) sign indicating the temporal origin of the sky. 2850
  • I possess the certainty: for him that hath certain knowledge the token thereof is that he will go into the fire.
  • Like the inmost feelings of love in lovers, that proof, (you must) know, does not come (to utterance) on the tongue.
  • The inmost meaning of my words is not apparent, except (in) the pallor and haggardness of my face.
  • Tears and blood roll on my cheeks and become the proof of His (the Beloved's) comeliness and beauty.’
  • He (the philosopher) replied, ‘I do not deem these things to be such a proof as would be a manifest sign to the vulgar.’ 2855
  • He (the other) said, ‘When a base and a genuine coin boast, saying (to each other), “Thou art base; I am good and valuable,”
  • Fire is the final test: (the test is) that these two rivals should be dropped into the fire.
  • (Then) the vulgar and the elect will become acquainted with their (real) state and will advance from opinion and doubt to certain knowledge.
  • Water and fire, O (dear) soul, are the test for the pure and the base coin that is hidden.
  • Let me and thee, both of us, go into the fire and become a lasting proof for the perplexed. 2860
  • Let me and thee, both of us, fall into the sea, for thou and I are a sign unto this multitude.’
  • Even so they did and entered the fire: both cast themselves upon the heat of the fire.
  • The God-proclaiming man who engaged in controversy was saved, while that bastard (impostor) was burnt in the fire.
  • Hear from the muezzin this announcement, to the confusion of the foolish transgressors,
  • That this name (Mohammed) has not been burnt (destroyed) by Death, since its bearer was a prince and most noble. 2865
  • In the course of time hundreds of thousands of the veils of the unbelievers have been rent by this laying down of stakes.
  • When they (the devout men and the philosopher) made the wager, the truth prevailed as regards immortality and evidentiary miracles and the answer (given to unbelievers).
  • I perceived that he who spoke (in support) of the priority (of non-existence) and of the temporal origin of the celestial sphere was victorious and in the right.”
  • The unbeliever's argument is always shamefaced: where is a single sign that indicates the truth of that unbelief?
  • Where in this world is (to be found) a single minaret in praise (honour) of the unbelievers, so that it should be a sign (of their veracity)? 2870
  • Where is (to be found) a single pulpit where a preacher commemorates the life of an unbeliever?
  • The face of gold and silver coins, from (bearing) their (the prophets') names, is giving a token of this truth till the Resurrection.
  • The dies of the kings are ever being changed: behold the die of Ahmad (Mohammed) till the end of the world.
  • Show (me) the name of a single unbeliever on the design (stamped) on the face of any piece of silver or gold!
  • Even (supposing that you) do not admit (arguments), behold this Miracle, (manifest) like the sun, hundred-tongued, whereof the name is Ummu ’l-Kitáb. 2875
  • None dares either steal (take away) a single letter thereof or add to the plain Word.
  • Become a friend to the conqueror, that thou mayst conquer: beware, do not become a friend to the vanquished, O misguided man!
  • The unbeliever's argument is just this, that he says, “I see no place of abode except this external (world).”
  • He never reflects that, wherever there is anything external, that (object) gives information of hidden wise purposes.
  • The usefulness of every external object is, indeed, internal: it is latent, like the beneficial quality in medicines. 2880
  • Commentary on the Verse, "And We did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between them save with real ground": (i.e.) "I did not create them for the sake of just this which ye see; nay, but for the sake of the essential meaning and everlasting providence which ye see not."
  • Does any painter paint a beautiful picture for the sake of the picture itself, without hope of conferring benefit?
  • Nay, (he paints it) for the sake of guests and young people who by diverting themselves (with it) may be relieved from cares.
  • From his picture (arises) the joy of children and the remembering of departed friend's by their friends.
  • Does any potter make a pot in haste for the sake of the pot itself and not in hope of the water?
  • Does any bowl-maker make a finished bowl for the sake of the bowl itself and not for the sake of the food? 2885
  • Does any calligrapher write artistically for the sake of the writing itself and not for the sake of the reading?
  • The external form is for the sake of the unseen form; and that took shape for the sake of another unseen (form).
  • Count up these corollaries to the third, fourth, or tenth in proportion to (your) insight.
  • As (for example) the moves in chess, O son: behold the result of each move in the next one.
  • They made this (move) for the sake of that concealed move, and that for the next, and that (again) for such and such. 2890
  • Even so (proceed), having perceived reasons within reasons, one after the other, in order that you may arrive at victory and checkmate.
  • The first is for the sake of the second, like mounting on the steps of a ladder;
  • And deem the second to be for the sake of the third, (and so on) to the end, in order that you may arrive, step by step, at the roof.
  • The desire to eat is for the sake of the semen: that semen is for the sake of procreation and the light (which glows in the eyes of parents).
  • The man of dull sight sees naught but this: his intelligence is without motion, like the plants of the earth. 2895
  • Whether the plant is summoned (to move) or not summoned, its foot remains stuck fast in the mud.