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5
1049-1098

  • “(I have come) as far as here: I accompany thee no farther, I will stand a (little) while at thy grave.”
  • Thy deeds (alone) are faithful: make of them thy refuge, for they will come with thee into the depths of the tomb. 1050
  • Commentary on the saying of Mustafá (Mohammed), on whom be peace, “Thou must needs have a familiar who is buried with thee, he being alive, and with whom thou art buried when thou art dead; if he be generous, he will treat thee generously, and if he be base, he will forsake thee. That familiar is thy works, so make them right as far as thou art able.” The Messenger of Allah spake the truth.
  • Therefore the Prophet said, “For the purpose of (traversing) this Way there is no comrade more faithful than works.
  • If they be good they will be thy friends for ever, and if they be evil they will be (as) a snake in thy tomb.”
  • How, O father, can one do this work and earning in the Way of righteousness without a master?
  • The meanest earning that goes on in the world, is it ever (practised) without the guidance of a master?
  • Its beginning is knowledge; then (follows) action, that it may yield fruit after a time or after death. 1055
  • Seek help in (acquiring) crafts, O possessor of intelligence, from a generous and righteous craftsman.
  • Seek the pearl in the oyster-shell, my brother, and seek technical skill from the craftsmen.
  • If ye see sincere (spiritual) advisers, deal fairly (with them) and be eager to learn: do not show disdain.
  • If the man (engaged) in tanning wore a threadbare garment, that did not diminish the master's mastery (of his trade);
  • If the ironsmith wore a patched frock when blowing the bellows, his reputation was not impaired in the eyes of the people. 1060
  • Therefore strip the raiment of pride from thy body: in learning, put on the garment of humility.
  • If thou wouldst learn (theoretical) knowledge, the way of (acquiring) it is oral; if thou wouldst learn a craft, the way of (acquiring) it is practical (by practice).
  • If thou desire (spiritual) poverty, that depends on companionship (with a Shaykh): neither thy tongue nor thy hand avails.
  • Soul receives from soul the knowledge thereof, not by way of book nor from tongue.
  • If those mysteries (of spiritual poverty) are in the traveller's heart, knowledge of the mystery is not yet possessed by the traveller. 1065
  • (Let him wait) until the expansion (illumination) of his heart shall make it (full of) the Light: then God saith, “Did not We expand …?
  • For We have given thee the expansion (illumination) within thy breast, We have put the expansion into thy breast.”
  • Thou art still seeking it from outside; thou art a source of milk: how art thou a milker of others?
  • There is an illimitable fountain of milk within thee: why art thou seeking milk from the pail?
  • O lake, thou hast a channel to the Sea: be ashamed to seek water from the pool; 1070
  • For did not We expand…? Again, hast not thou the expansion? How art thou become a seeker of the expansion and a mendicant?
  • Contemplate the expansion of the heart within (thee), lest there come the reproach, Do not ye see?
  • Commentary on “And He is with you.”
  • There is a basket full of loaves on the crown of thy head, and thou art begging a crust of bread from door to door.
  • Attend to thine own head, abandon giddy-headedness; go, knock at the door of thy heart: why art thou (knocking) at every door?
  • Whilst thou art up to the knee in the river-water, thou art heedless of thyself and art seeking water from this one and that one. 1075
  • Water in front; and behind, too, an unfailing supply of water; (but) before thine eyes is a barrier and behind them a barrier.
  • The horse is under the (rider's) thigh, and the rider is seeking the horse. (When asked), “What is this?” he says, “A horse, but where is the horse?”
  • “Eh, is not this a horse under thee, plain to see?” “Yes,” says he, “but who ever saw a horse?”
  • He (such a one) is mad with thirst for the water, and it (the water) is before his face: he is in the water and unconscious of the running water.
  • Like the pearl in the sea, he says, “Where is the sea?” and that shell-like phantasy is his wall. 1080
  • His saying “Where?” becomes for him a screen: it becomes for him a cloud over the radiance of the sun.
  • His bad (sensual) eye is a bandage on his (inward) eye: his very (awareness of) removing the barrier has become a barrier for him.
  • His (self-)consciousness has become the plug of his (inward) ear: keep thy consciousness (directed) towards God (alone), O thou who art bewildered in Him.
  • Commentary on the saying of Mustafá (Mohammed), on whom be peace, “Whosoever shall make his cares one care, God will relieve him of all his cares; and whosoever is distracted by his cares, God will not care in what valley He destroys him.”
  • Thou hast distributed thy consciousness in (all) directions: those vanities are not worth a cress.
  • Every thorn-root draws the water of thy consciousness (towards itself): how should the water of thy consciousness reach the fruit? 1085
  • Hark, smite that evil bough, lop it off: water this goodly bough, refresh it.
  • Both are green at this (present) time, (but) look to the end (and see) that this one will come to naught, (while) fruit will grow from that one.
  • To this one the water in the orchard is lawful, to that one (it is) unlawful. In the end thou wilt see the difference, and (so) farewell.
  • What is justice? Giving water to trees. What is injustice? To give water to thorns.
  • Justice is (consists in) bestowing a bounty in its proper place, not on every root that will absorb water. 1090
  • What is injustice? To bestow (it) in an improper place that can only be a source of calamity.
  • Bestow the bounty of God on the spirit and reason, not on the (carnal) nature full of disease and complications.
  • Load the conflict of (worldly) cares upon thy body: do not lay thy anxiety upon the heart and spirit.
  • The pack is laid upon the head of Jesus, (while) the ass is frisking in the meadow.
  • ’Tis not right to put collyrium in the ear: ’tis not right to demand from the body the work of the heart (spirit). 1095
  • If thou art a (devotee of the) heart, go, scorn (the world), do not suffer contumely (from it); and if thou art a (devotee of the) body, do not eat sugar but taste poison.
  • Poison is beneficial to the body, and sugar noxious: ’tis better that the body should be deprived of supplies.
  • The body is fuel for Hell, do thou weaken it; and if it produce a (new) growth of fuel, go, destroy it.