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5
372-421

  • From that hidden goblet (of Thine) Thou hast poured out of the cup of the noble (prophets and saints) a draught over the dusty earth.
  • From the draught thereof there is a trace on the locks and cheeks (of the fair): hence kings lick the earth (of which the bodies of the fair are made).
  • ’Tis the draught of (Divine) beauty—(mingled) in the lovely earth—that thou art kissing with a hundred hearts day and night.
  • Since the draught, when mingled with dust, makes thee mad, think how its pure essence would affect thee! 375
  • Every one is tattered (torn with emotion) in the presence of a clod that has received a draught of Beauty.
  • (There is) a draught (poured) on the moon and the sun and Aries; (there is) a draught (poured) on the Throne and the Footstool and Saturn.
  • Oh, I wonder, wilt thou call it a draught or an elixir, since from contact with it so many splendours arise?
  • Earnestly seek contact with it, O accomplished man: none shall touch it except the purified.
  • One draught (is poured) on gold and rubies and pearls; one draught (is poured) on wine and dessert and fruits; 380
  • One draught on the faces of the charming fair: (consider, then,) how (marvellous) must be that pure wine!
  • Inasmuch as thou rubbest thy tongue (even) on this (earthly draught), how (enamoured of it) wilt thou be when thou seest (tastest) it without the clay!
  • When at the hour of death that pure draught is separated from the bodily clod by dying,
  • Thou quickly buriest that which remains, since it had been made such an ugly thing by that (separation).
  • When the Spirit displays its beauty without this carcase, I cannot express the loveliness of that union. 385
  • When the Moon displays its radiance without this cloud, ’tis impossible to describe that glory and majesty.
  • How delightful is that Kitchen full of honey and sugar, of which these (worldly) monarchs are (only) the lick-platters!
  • How delightful is that Stack in the spiritual field, of which every (other) stack is (only) the gleaner!
  • How delightful is the Sea of painless Life, of which the Seven Seas are (only) a dewdrop!
  • When the Cup-bearer of Alast poured a draught upon this nitrous abject earth, 390
  • The earth seethed, and we are (the result) of that seething. (O God, pour) another draught, for we are very effortless (unaspiring).
  • If ’twas permitted, I sang of non-existence; and if ’twas not to be told, lo, I was silent.
  • This is the account of the bent (grovelling) duck, which is greed: learn of Khalíl (Abraham) that the duck ought to be killed.
  • In the duck there is much good and evil besides this, (but) I am afraid of missing other (more important) topics of discourse.
  • Description of the Peacock and its nature, and the cause of its being killed by Abraham, on whom be peace.
  • Now we come to the two-coloured (double-faced) peacock, who displays himself for the sake of name and fame. 395
  • His desire is to catch people: he is ignorant of good and evil and of the result and use of that (catching).
  • He catches his prey ignorantly, like a trap: what knowledge has the trap concerning the purpose of its action?
  • What harm (comes) to the trap, or what benefit, from catching (its prey)? I wonder at its idle catching.
  • O brother, thou hast uplifted thy friends with two hundred marks of affection, and (then) abandoned (them).
  • This has been thy business from the hour of (thy) birth: to catch people with the trap of love. 400
  • From that pursuit (of people) and throng (of friends) and vainglory and self existence wilt thou get any warp or woof? Try and see!
  • Most (of thy life) is gone and the day is late; (yet) thou art still busy in pursuit of people.
  • Go on catching one and releasing another from the trap and pursuing another, like mean folk;
  • Then again release this one and seek the other! Here's a game of heedless children!
  • Night comes, and nothing is caught in thy trap: the trap is naught but a headache (affliction) and shackle to thee. 405
  • Therefore (in reality) thou wert catching thyself with the trap, for thou art imprisoned and disappointed of thy desire.
  • Is any owner of a trap in the world such a dolt that, like us, he tries to catch himself?
  • Pursuit of the vulgar is like hunting pig: the fatigue is infinite, and ’tis unlawful to eat a morsel thereof.
  • That which is worth pursuing is Love alone; but how should He be contained in any one's trap?
  • (Yet) perchance thou mayst come and be made His prey, thou mayst discard the trap, and go into His trap. 410
  • Love is saying very softly into my ear, “To be a prey is better than to be a hunter.
  • Make thyself My fool and be a dupe: renounce the (high) estate of the sun, become a mote!
  • Become a dweller at My door and be homeless: do not pretend to be a candle, be a moth,
  • That thou mayst see (taste) the savour of Life and contemplate the sovereignty hidden in servitude.”
  • In this world you see the shoes upside down: the title of “kings” is conferred on (those who are really) bondsmen. 415
  • Many a one who deserves to mount the scaffold with a halter on his throat—a crowd (gathers) round him, crying, “Behold, an emperor!”
  • (They are) like the tombs of infidels, outwardly (resembling) the robes ofParadise, (while) within (them) is the wrath of God Almighty and Glorious.
  • He (the worldling) has been plastered like the tombs: the veil of self-conceit has been brought before him (drawn over him).
  • Thy miserable nature is plastered with virtues, like a palm-tree of wax without (real) leaves and fruit.
  • Explaining that every one knows the mercy of God, and every one knows the wrath of God; and all are fleeing from the wrath of God and clinging to the mercy of God; but the Most High God has concealed wraths in mercy and mercies in wrath. This is God's mystification and disguise and contrivance to the end that the discerning who see by the Light of God may be separated from those who see (only) the present and the visible; for (He created death and life) that He might try you, which of you is most righteous in his works.
  • One dervish said to another, “Tell (me), what was thy vision of the Presence of God?” 420
  • He replied, “My vision was ineffable; but for the sake of argument I will briefly declare a parable thereof.