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4
3087-3136

  • His water-skin (eye) was dried up by the heat of the fire (of anguish), for because of the glow of the fire his tears remained not.
  • The king became so full of smoke and grief that sighs were finding no way (of entrance) into him.
  • He was about to die, his body became inert; (but) his life had been left (for completion): the king awoke.
  • From awaking, there came to him a joy which he had not experienced in (all) his life; 3090
  • For (now) from joy likewise he was about to perish: this spirit and body is mightily shackled with the collar (of death).
  • This lamp dies from (is extinguished by) the breath of sorrow, and it also dies from the breath of joy. Here, look you, is a pleasant jest!
  • He (Man) is living between these two deaths: this (being) that resembles one shackled with a collar is an occasion for laughter.
  • The king said to himself, “In consequence of the Lord's causation such a sorrow as that was the cause of joy.”
  • Oh, wonderful (that) the same thing from one aspect (is) death and from another aspect a quickening with life and a provision! 3095
  • The same thing is destructive in relation to one circumstance, while again it is preservative in regard to another.
  • Bodily joy is perfection in regard to that which is of the present world, (but it is) defect and failure in regard to the Day of the latter end.
  • The oneiromancer, too, declares laughter in dreams to be (a presage of) weeping with regrets and griefs,
  • (While) for weeping in dreams joy and gladness are (presaged) in the interpretation, O gleeful man.
  • The king pondered, saying, “This sorrow, indeed, is past, but my soul has become suspicious (has misgivings and fears) of (being afflicted by) one of the same kind; 3100
  • And if such a thorn enter my foot (if such a calamity befall me) that the rose departs (that my son dies), I must needs have a keepsake.”
  • Since the causes of mortality are infinite, which road, then, shall we bar?
  • A hundred windows and doors facing towards mordant death are ever creaking as they are opened,
  • (But) from greed for (worldly) provision the ear of the covetous does not hear the harsh creaking of those doors of death.
  • From the side of the body, pains are the noise of the door; and from the side of enemies, maltreatment is the noise of the door. 3105
  • My dear friend, read for one moment the table of contents of (books on) Medicine; look at the flaming fire of diseases!
  • Through all those tumours (maladies) there is a way (for death) into this house: at every two steps there is a pit full of scorpions.
  • (The king said), “The wind is fierce and my lamp is a docked (imperfect) one: I will light another lamp from it,
  • So that maybe one complete (lamp) will arise from them both, if that one lamp be put out by the wind,”
  • Like the gnostic who, for the sake of (gaining) freedom from care, has lit the candle of the heart (spirit) from this defective lamp of the body, 3110
  • In order that, one day when this (bodily lamp) dies of a sudden, he may place before his eye the candle of the spirit.
  • He (the king) did not understand this; therefore in his heedlessness he applied the perishing candle to another perishable.
  • How the king brought his son a bride for fear of his race coming to an end.
  • (The king said to himself), “It is necessary, then, to seek a bride for him, that from this marriage offspring may appear,
  • (So that) if this falcon (my son) return to the state of mortality his young may become a falcon after (the death of) the falcon,
  • (And that) if the form of this falcon go from here, his inward meaning may endure in his son. 3115
  • On account of this, that renowned (spiritual) king, Mustafá (Mohammed), said, ‘The son is the marrow of his father.’
  • For this reason all people, (being moved) by heartfelt love, teach their children (their own) trades,
  • To the end that these inward meanings may remain in the world when that body of theirs becomes hidden.
  • God in His wisdom has given them intense desire for the right guidance of every little one capable (of learning).
  • I too, for the purpose of (ensuring) the continuance of my race, will seek for my son a wife of good principles. 3120
  • I will seek a girl who is the offspring of a righteous man, not the offspring of a stern-visaged king.”
  • This righteous man is himself a king, he is free, he is not the prisoner of lust and gluttony.
  • They (the people) have given (those) prisoners the title of “king” by inversion, just as Káfúr (Camphor) is the name of that negro.
  • The blood-drinking (deadly) wilderness is named mafáza (place of safety); the vulgar call the leper Níkbakht (Fortunatus).
  • They have described the prisoner of lust and anger and ambition by the name of Mír or Sadr-i ajall (most honourable prince). 3125
  • To those prisoners of Doom (asírán-i ajal) the vulgar in (all) the lands have given the title of “most honourable Amírs” (amírán-i ajall).
  • They call high-placed (Sadr) him whose soul is (placed) low in the vestibule, that is to say, (worldly) power and riches.
  • When the king chose (matrimonial) relationship with an ascetic, this news came to the ears of (his) ladies.
  • How the king chose the daughter of a poor ascetic for his son and how the ladies of the harem raised objections and disdained the (proposed) alliance with the dervish.
  • The prince's mother, from deficiency of understanding, said, “According to reason and tradition equality (of rank) is requisite.
  • Thou from stinginess and miserliness and shrewdness wishest to ally our son with a beggar.” 3130
  • He (the king) said, “It is a fault to call the righteous man a beggar, for through the grace of God he is spiritually rich.
  • He is taking refuge in contentment because of piety, not because of meanness and laziness, like the beggar.
  • The penury which arises from contentment and piety is distinct from the poverty and penury of the base.
  • If that one (the beggar) find a single groat, he bows his head (in homage), while this one (the righteous man) in his lofty aspiration recoils from a treasure of gold.
  • The king who from cupidity is betaking himself to everything unlawful— the man of noble mind calls him a beggar.” 3135
  • She (the prince's mother) said, “Where are his cities and castles (to furnish) the wedding-outfit, or (where are his means of) scattering gems and pieces of gold?”